If you have Italian ancestors in your lineage you may be eligible to apply for Italian citizenship by descent, as long as you meet all the requirements (see below).
Please note that you may only apply if:
- your Italian-born ancestor never naturalized;
- your Italian-born ancestor naturalized or renounced their Italian citizenship AFTER the birth of the next descendant, so that the bloodline is not interrupted.
Acquiring Italian citizenship through the maternal line is possible only for descendants born on or after January 1, 1948 through the consulate. Otherwise, it must be pursued through court action in Italy.
You can qualify for Italian citizenship via the blood, e.g., jure sanguinis, through your parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent, etc. There is no limit to how many generations you can go back, provided that your Italian ancestor was alive after March 17, 1861, the date of Italy’s unification. Prior to this date, there existed no such thing as an “Italian citizen”.
Your Italian ancestor must not have naturalized (become a citizen of the United States or elsewhere) before July 1, 1912. Ancestors who naturalized before July 1, 1912 cannot transmit Italian citizenship under Italian Law no. 555 of June 13, 1912. The foreign-born minor children of Italians who naturalized prior to this date were also stripped of their Italian citizenship as a result of this law.
The fundamentals of “jure sanguinis”
According to Italian Law 91 of February 5, 1992, Italian citizenship is conferred by bloodline. As a descendant of an Italian citizen, you may already be an Italian citizen since birth. It is just a matter of having that citizenship recognized by the Italian government. This is done by procuring documentation which proves an unbroken chain of citizenship going from you all the way back to your Italian ancestor.
LoBrutto Law, P.C. 