If you are eligible to apply for the recognition of your Italian citizenship by descent, the next steps can be exciting and full of anticipation. While you may need to apply through your local Italian consulate, other cases must be submitted via the Italian courts. Many wonder exactly what this process will entail and what happens after the judge’s decision has been made. This article will review what types of cases need to be petitioned to the Italian courts and what happens after the judicial proceeding.
Eligibility for a 1948 case
The first step, even before submitting your citizenship application, is determining your eligibility. To qualify for Italian citizenship by descent, you must have an Italian ancestor who was born after March 17, 1861 or still living in Italy on this date, when Italy became a unified country. The Citizenship Law passed on June 14, 1912 allowed descendants of Italian-born ancestors to claim Italian citizenship through right of blood, jure sanguinis. The 1912 law stipulated that acquiring a foreign citizenship would mean automatically renouncing one’s Italian citizenship. Therefore, it’s necessary that your Italian-born ancestor never acquired a foreign naturalization, such as US citizenship, or they did so after June 14, 1912 and after the birth of their child, the next descendant in line.
The 1912 law also did not permit women to pass citizenship down to their children. This did not change until January 1, 1948, when the Italian constitution went into effect and women were given the same rights as men, to transmit citizenship to their children born after this date. Therefore, if there is a woman in your Italian lineage who gave birth to her child outside of Italy before January 1, 1948, you are not eligible to file your citizenship application through an Italian consulate or municipality. Although, in recent years, a case in the Italian courts challenged this as unlawful and discriminatory and now legal precedent states that principles in the constitution should be applied retroactively, including events that occurred prior. Therefore, now you can pursue citizenship via the Italian courts through what is called a “1948 case”. These 1948 cases serve as an alternative for those with a male Italian-born ancestor who naturalized while their child was still a minor, but their female Italian-born ancestor either never naturalized, naturalized when their child was an adult or naturalized involuntarily.
Process for 1948 Cases
The process for a judicial proceeding starts much in the same way as it does for an application at a consulate. First, you must retrieve all the necessary documents to prove that citizenship was passed down correctly one generation from the next. This includes the vital records (birth, marriage, divorce and death) for everyone in the Italian lineage and the naturalization records pertaining to your Italian-born ancestor or proof they never naturalized. Records need to be legalized by means of an Apostille and translated into Italian. When applying via the Italian courts, the translations also need to be certified.
For petitioners residing abroad, the lawsuit will be filed at the court covering the jurisdiction of the municipality where your Italian ancestor was born. It’s not required for you to be present in Italy for any of the court hearings. You are able to sign power of attorney to have Italian legal representation throughout the duration of the judicial proceeding. Your attorney will proceed with filing the case and submitting your citizenship documents. Then a judge will be assigned to the case and they will schedule the first hearing.
Each case operates slightly differently, depending on the judge and the complexity of the case. Sometimes the judge makes a decision on the day of the hearing and other times, they will grant or deny the claim between one and six weeks later. If ruled positively, the ruling will be filed with the clerk of the court, after which there will be a waiting period of 60 days before the decision becomes final and no longer subject to appeal. Then your attorney can retrieve a certified copy of the final judgment from the court.
What Happens After the Case is Won
After a successful judicial proceeding in a 1948 case, your attorney will be able to register the final judgment with your local Italian consulate abroad. If there are multiple petitioners on the claim residing under different consulate jurisdictions, multiple copies will be retrieved and registered at each consulate.
At this time, your vital records, birth and marriage certificate (if applicable) will also need to be registered with the consulate. If you have any minor children, it’s important to register their birth certificates in order for them to be registered as Italian citizens. After the court proceeding, all of the vital records used in presenting your case will be returned to you. This way, you can easily use your birth certificate that has already been apostilled and translated into Italian to register at the Italian consulate. This varies from the process of applying through the Italian consulate, where they will keep your packet of documents, including the certified copies of vital records that you present.
The consulate will then send the final judgment and your vital records to the Italian municipality where your ancestor was born. Your birth certificate will be entered into the registry that the municipality has, meaning you will have your own Italian birth certificate.
If you are living abroad, you will also need to register with AIRE (Registry of Italian Citizens Residing Abroad). AIRE is the database that holds the details of Italian citizens living abroad, ensuring they have access to the services they are entitled to as Italian citizens, such as voting in Italian national elections.
Once the registration of your vital records in Italy is complete, you are now officially an Italian citizen and there is no further action needed. Of course, many people proceed with applying for an Italian passport. While your Italian passport is a travel and identification document, your Italian citizenship status will not expire and does not require maintenance or renewal. It’s important to remember that recognition of Italian citizenship through the Italian courts is the same as having your citizenship recognized through an Italian consulate. If you choose to apply for an Italian passport, it is advisable to keep the passport current and not expired. An Italian passport expires after 10 years and you can apply for a renewal six months before the expiration date.
In order to keep the Italian government up to date with all future life events that occur after your citizenship is recognized, such as marriages and births, it’s important to register those vital records in Italy. To do so, simply procure a certified copy of the necessary vital record, legalize it with an apostille and translate it into Italian. By submitting the record to your local consulate, they will send the record to the Italian municipality where you are also registered. Registering the birth records for future children you have before they turn 18 years old will also recognize them as Italian citizens.
Conclusion
This article has outlined the process to apply for the recognition of your Italian citizenship via the Italian courts with a 1948 case. It also details the steps that will be taken after the case is won and what you should expect once becoming an official Italian citizen. If you have any questions or would like more information about Italian court cases, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@italiancitizenshipassistance.com.
