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Our Italian anniversary

By Jess
We're celebrating our third anniversary today, but also Paul's Italian citizenship! Thanks to cousin Dave for bringing this to our attention through his own quest to have his Italian citizenship recognized. According to the principle of jure sanguinis (Latin for "by the right of blood," in this case, meaning the right to citizenship through one's bloodline or ancestry.), any person who can trace their lineage back to an Italian ancestor who was born in Italy and emigrated after 1861, has actually been an Italian citizen since birth, and can go about the business of securing the proper paperwork to become officially recognized as such. The two caveats, as I understand them, are 1) that citizenship could only be passed from parent to child if that child was born before the parent naturalized and 2) that a female could not pass on her citizenship to any children born before January 1, 1948. By way of example on my mother's side, my great-grandfather was born in Italy in 1885, came to this country, married, and had my grandmother in March 1914. My grandmother had my mother after 1948. My mother had me after 1948. I had Alex after 1948. Spouses of Italian citizens living abroad can apply for citizenship after three years of marriage. From Italian Citizenship & Genealogy Services:
The principle of jure sanguinis is that, if you qualify for Italian citizenship through ancestry, you have actually been an Italian citizen since birth. This process simply recognizes the citizenship you already possess. The Italian law states that spouses of Italian citizens can apply for citizenship after six months of marriage if a couple is living in Italy and after three years of marriage if they are living abroad. Consider a person living outside of Italy who has already been married for over three years. Once he or she is recognized as an Italian citizen jure sanguinis, the spouse may apply for Italian citizenship immediately! Why? Because the Italian has been a citizen since birth and the couple has been married for over three years.
Interesting side note: My grandmother's next brother was born in May 1915. In June 1915, my great-grandfather became a naturalized American citizen, thereby relinquishing his Italian citizenship. This tidbit is especially juicy in the family, as it means that my great-grandfather's next five children were NOT Italian citizens! We had a good time zinging one of my great-uncles who likes (liked!) to engage Paul in some good-natured ribbing concerning his Polish -- and therefore non-Italian -- heritage, especially where Alex was concerned! Now Paul's "in" and he's "out"! I believe my uncle's reaction was "My old man did that?!" I'm unlikely to actually apply, but it's fun to know I could. There's a lot of paperwork necessary that would be interesting to have, simply to HAVE documents like my great-grandfather's birth certificate. Someday it might be fun to track it all down "just because".

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