How To Reunite With Your Italian Family Through Your Bloodline

Having an ancestral background in another country may entice you to reunite with your family. Sooner or later, everyone wants to get back to their roots, but it can take a lot of effort. It may get a little easier if you hail from a country like Italy, where you have the option to claim citizenship by descent. But you need to understand the eligibility norm and process well enough to complete it and claim your rights. Luckily, the team of can show you how to acquire citizenship by descent if you plan to start afresh in the country of your origin. Here are the key facts you need to understand before going ahead.

Determine your eligibility

The first step is determining your eligibility, which is not as easy as it looks on the surface. There are some norms and exceptions for availing of the second passport, and they can get more confusing than you imagine. Here are the eligibility guidelines you have to follow to claim Italian citizenship by descent:

  • You must have an Italian parent, and you can qualify even as an adopted child. Jure Sanguinis” has no generational limits, so you can claim it via your grandparents and great-grandparents too.
  • Your ancestor did not naturalize to another country’s citizenship before the birth of their child.
  • If claiming through a maternal ascendant, she must have given birth after 1948. For those who gave birth before 1948, the 1948 Rule allows their descendants to claim their rights through a court process.

Gather your documents

The next step to claim your citizenship rights requires collecting a list of documents to validate your eligibility. The list is long, and you even need to collect some documents from your ancestor’s comune, so it makes sense to start early. Here are the documents you require for the process:

  • Birth certificates from the Italian comune of your ancestor
  • Marriage certificates from Italy
  • Death certificates
  • Naturalization records
  • Your personal civil records
  • Identification documents like your passport, driver’s license, residence proof, etc

All paperwork originating outside Italy has to be translated and apostilled to make them legally valid for the process.

Apply in the consulate

The final step is an administrative process, where you have to apply at the Italian Consulate nearest to your current residence. You also have the option to apply at an Italian Comune if you want to expedite the process. The consulate provides an appointment for your interview and document submission, though the wait can be long and frustrating. Often, consulates have thousands of applications in line, and you have to wait your turn. Still, the wait is worthwhile because the process is simpler than the other routes.

Hiring a local Italian citizenship expert to assist you with document gathering and the application process is the best option. These professionals ensure that you make no errors and omissions in the process and close it without any glitches. Rest assured, reuniting with your Italian family through your bloodline is easy if you have expert guidance and do everything right.

Jeff Campbell


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