Citizenship - Amendment to 1948 Law

Carole

I saw this information on another site and translated it for them. I thought it might be of interest to some people here too so here it is...

>Amendment to the 1948 Citizenship Rule<

Translation:

Italian Citizenship: It must be recognised also by the the descendants of Italians married to foreigners before 1948.

The United Section of Appeal extends the right to recognition of Italian Citizenship also to the descendants of those women who had lost it following marriage their marriages to a foreigner occuring before 1948.
The old law on Italian Citizenship of 1912 established that women married to a foreigner lost their citizenship, with the later consequence of being unable to transfer it through the 'blood line' to their descendants.

Only after it's entry into the contstitution was the principle declared unconstitutional but the effects of the judgement of the Constitutional Court of 1975 and of 1983 were stoppedat the date 1st january 1948. Nothing could be done for the descendants of the women who were married to foreigners prior to that date and who had lost their Italian Citizenship.
Now, following a judgement pronounced by the United Section of Appeal last week, this time clause has been swept away, with the result that even the descendants of Italians who had lost their Citizenship, following marriage to a foreign citizen, drawn up and agreed before 1948, and indipendantly from the wishes of the ancestor, have the right to regain Italian Citizenship

This matter then raises an hypothetical question:

If an Italian woman moved to the USA before 1948 and married an 'ex Italian Citizen' who has now become an American citizen, so he IS now a foreigner, irrespective of when he renounced his Italian Citizenship - right?

So even though both parents may have been 'born' in Italy, the man (father), at the time of the marriage WAS a foreign national!
.

Cathy · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 2681

WOW! Thanks Carole. So am I understanding this correctly? My grandmother never naturalized....she married my grandfather who had become a citizen less than a year before they married in 1920. So I can now qualify for citizenship through her?

Carole

Cathy wrote:

WOW! Thanks Carole. So am I understanding this correctly? My grandmother never naturalized....she married my grandfather who had become a citizen less than a year before they married in 1920. So I can now qualify for citizenship through her?

It does look that way Cathy - but best ask your Consulate to be certain that you now have the right to claim citizenship.

JamesBianco

That still leaves the issue that women could not pass citizenship to their children UNTIL after Jan 1, 1948.

This legislation would naturally provide a new avenue to citizenship for those born after 1948 because no longer would their mothers have lost citizenship through marriage. But it still doesn't change the fact that a woman can't pass citizenship before 1948 to her child, regardless of her alien status.

Here would be an example....

(The old scenario)

Rosa Aiello had come to the United States as an alien and married Giuseppe Romano in 1946. He was already a US citizen, and through marriage she lost her Italian citizenship. So when she had baby Antonio in 1949, she could not pass Italian citizenship to him.

Because of this New Legislation...

Rosa would NOT have lost her citizenship merely by her 1946 marriage to Giuseppe. Therefore when her son Antonio was born in 1949 she can now pass her citizenship to him, because she was (in the eyes of Italy) still an Italian citizen.

However, if Antonio (her son) was born in 1947 or before, he has no chance of obtaining citizenship as Italian law prohibits a woman from passing this on to her children born before January 1948.

As you can see this new legislation provides a minor loophole, nothing earth shattering.

Sad