Italian Citizenship by Judicial
Italian citizenship by iure sanguinis is acquired by birth from an Italian ascendant (whether man or woman), without limits of generation, but with some exceptions.
One of the most important exceptions is if in the genealogical tree of the person concerned, there is a woman ascendant in a straight line who married a foreigner and whose children were born before the 1948, the date of entry into force of the Italian Constitution.
The Italian Law, interpreted according to what established by the Constitutional Court in some important judgments, establishes that only the children of Italian women born on or after 01.01.1948 are Italian citizens.
Therefore, the children (and their descendants) of an Italian woman born after the 1948, may request the recognition of citizenship to the competent Consulate if residing abroad, or to the competent Municipality if residing in Italy, and this situation is exactly identical to the descent for paternal line.
Possibility of recognition of descent for maternal line by judicial justice.
Children (and descendants of the children) of Italian women who lost their citizenship after marriage contracted before the 1948 with a foreigner and who were born before 1948, can only proceed legally at the Court of Rome assisted by a lawyer qualified for the profession in Italy, to obtain the citizenship recognition.
To proceed the interested parties must sign a power of attorney in favor of the Italian lawyer and send in Italy the original documents attesting the Italian descent.
It is not necessary to come to Italy during the proceeding.
The proceeding duration depends on the Judge assigned to the process. The average duration of the process is 18 months. The Roman Court evaluate the documents attesting the descendant and issues and Order to officially recognize the Italian citizenship to the applicants and to get the record the proceeding of the trial made by the public authority.
After the res judicata of the judgment our office will send the documents to the competent offices in order to obtain the Italian birth certificate for the applicants. With this certificate the interested parties can register for the Italian Residents’ Registry (AIRE) and require the passport at the Italian Consulate in their living region.
Our legal office has been very successful in obtaining positive judgment and no legal action has never been rejected by the Court till today.
The legal action can be taken together with other relatives with same ascendants.
With this brand, new procedure, the Italian woman (or women with Italian ascending) can transfer the Italian citizenship to all her children born after 01/01/1948.
Descent for Paternal Line
If a foreign citizen is unable to obtain the citizenship by administrative procedure, or because not having habitual residence in Italy or not being able to go to a designated office on Italian territory and considering that the waiting times to obtain the recognition of citizenship for paternal descent at the Italian Consulates are very long, is it possible to sue the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs submitting an application to the Court of Rome in order to obtain the recognition of Italian citizenship by Judge (without waiting for the times of the Consulate). The Roman Court establishes that the excessive duration of waiting time at the Consulate, are not legally admittable, indeed, and results in an inadmissible rejection of the application. This is the reason why the Judges applies the same procedure established for the Maternal line descent, to the Paternal line descent too, even if in this case it would be sufficient to require the citizenship at their Consulate of residence.
As a general principle, citizens with Italian descent with only male ascendants (no women in the bloodline who gave birth before 01/01/1948) may apply for recognition of their Italian citizenship submitting all the relevant papers to the Consulate, under which jurisdiction their residence area falls.
At the moment, however, Italian consulates are receiving lots of applications for recognition and therefore there are extremely long waiting lists. For example, at the Consulate in San Paolo in Brazil you have to wait about 10 years before being able to get an appointment to deposit all the documents proving your descent. From the appointed day, then, it might take two more years, until the Consulate has reviewed all the documentation and concluded the process. For these reasons, applicants on the Consular list usually wait about 12 years to be recognized as Italian citizens.
Benefits of the judicial process:
- Shorter Waiting time;
- The court decision includes the entire family;
- It’s not necessary to come to Italy. It is sufficient to sign a power of attorney in favor of the Italian lawyer and send in Italy the original documents attesting the Italian descent;
- It is cost-effective, as applicants will not have to meet travel, room and board expenses.
The proceeding duration depends on the Judge assigned to the process. The average duration of the process is 18 months. The Roman Court evaluate the documents attesting the descendant and issues and Order to officially recognize the Italian citizenship to the applicants and ordering the public authority to record the proceeding of the trial.
After the res judicata of the judgment we will send the documents to the competent offices in order to obtain the Italian birth certificate for the applicants. With this certificate the interested parties can register for the Italian Residents’ Registry (AIRE) and require the passport at the Italian Consulate in their living region.
Our legal office has been very successful in obtaining positive judgment and no legal action has never been rejected by the Court till today.
The legal action can be taken together with other relatives with same ascendants.