Posted by Congregazione di San Bartolomeo Apostolo on 5 NOV 2010 19:12:15
Last night, the American Italian Cultural Center in New Orleans hosted a seminar
on obtaining Italian Citizenship. The speaker was Arnaldo Partesotti, Honorary
Consul of Italy. The seminar was well-attended with about 25 participants, four
of which were CSBA members - Chris Caravella, Diane Dempsey, Raymond Laque and
Toni Serpas.
dual citizenship". I'll review the guidelines in this memo.
you must be descended from an Italian citizen on your paternal lineage. This
rule was altered to include descent from an Italian citizen on your maternal
line, but the child of that Italian ancestor must be born after January 1, 1948.
For most of us, only the paternal lineage will apply.
the child of that Italian ancestor must be born before that Italian ancestor
became a US citizen. US citizenship prior to 1992 required that the applicants
renounce their former citizenship, so children (and their descendants) born
after their father obtained US citizenship are not eligible for Italian citizenship.
Ancestors who were never naturalized, present a difficult situation because
there is no documentary evidence of this. One attendee mentioned that it was
possible to get the state department to issue a document stating that the ancestor
never naturalized if this is indicated on a census record. Mr Partesotti had
not heard of this but it is certainly worth investigating further if the situation
applies.
certificates of every ancestor between (and including) yourself and that ancestor
who held Italian citizenship. This, again, can be problematic. Many of our
ancestors who were born outside of major metropolitan areas never had certificates
issued for their birth. You can try getting an affidavit declaring the birth
but there is no guarantee that this will be accepted.
mentioned by CSBA member, Raymond Laque, is a change to surname. Most of our
ancestors just adopted an altered surname with no official documentation ever
obtained. Remember that this is a bureaucratic process and it is not always
consistently handled amongst the Italian Consulates in the US. Even if some
of these obstacles apply to your case, you may overcome them whereas someone
with the same problems had not.
to complete if everything is in order. Having Italian citizenship relieves
you of the burden of getting a visa for work or extended stays in Europe (Italy
is part of the European Union, so your Italian citizenship applies to all EU
countries). The process of buying property is also easier. But, as Sal Serio
(president of the Cefalutana Society) pointed out, he is entitled by birth to
have Italian citizenship and it is a matter of pride and honor above all.
or already have pursued Italian citizenship. I, personally, fall in that category
where my grandfather, being born in Alabama prior to 1900, never had a birth
certificate issued. I'd like to have Italian citizenship but I don't know of
it's worth the trouble of overcoming this problem.
me an email if you would like a copy of the handout from the presentation.
Apostolo