My Journey to Italian Citizenship
Becoming an Italian citizen is a dream I have had. It’s a lot of work, but well worth the long process involved.
I attended a seminar in San Jose, California about five years ago curious to learn more about becoming an Italian citizen. A gentleman gave a talk at a nearby Italian Heritage Center on dual-citizenship through Jure Sanguinis.
Jure Sanguinis is the right of blood conferred upon an Italian descendant connected to your last Italian-born relative in Italy.
It’s a pretty complicated and lengthy process, but to find out if you qualify, you must know when your last Italian-born relative naturalized here in the U.S., and then make sure the next person in your line was born before your Italian-born relative naturalized.
You must also research whether anyone in your line of descendants ever gave up their right to citizenship in Italy before the next person in the line was born.
If all of the people in your line handed down their right to citizenship in Italy through Jure Sanguinis, before the next descendant was born, and before they naturalized in the U.S., then you will most likely have a chance to become a citizen of Italy.
I chose to use my mother’s line. My mother’s grandfather was born in the Basilicata/Potenza region in Italy. He came to the United…
