At the rate that the Italian government has been making changes to the laws governing citizenship by descent, you may no longer qualify by the time your appointment comes around. On top of which, the consulates typically don’t accept documents older than a few years, and will not accept an Italian document older than six months. With extreme backlogs in the vital records offices across the US, it feels as though determining when to order your documents requires a mathematical equation! 

Unfortunately, the consulates’ interpretation of this law is that the two year period comes after the appointment date, not before. Hence the two year waiting period after your case is submitted, and a seemingly never-ending wait for an appointment to become available.

A permesso di soggiorno requires an application, which you can pick up from your local Poste, known as a Kit Giallo. In addition to bringing your physical passport to the appointment, make sure to stop by a cartoleria to print out copies of your passport (including your visa page, if applicable), and documents supporting your permesso application. 

• Financial proof
• Registered lease
• Health insurance
• School enrollment (if applicable)

After submitting your application, you will be given a receipt. Hold onto it! Best practice is to put your receipt inside your passport and keep it on you at all times until you receive your official permesso card. You will also be issued an appointment date. It is very important that you do not miss your appointment! If you have extenuating circumstances and cannot make your appointment, you will need to contact the local Questura to request a new appointment date. 

Nobody believes you when you’re in high school and you say, “When I grow up, I’m going to move to Italy.” I know, because nobody believed me. 

I ran into another issue with my grandfather’s death certificate. His name, along with his father’s, were spelled incorrectly. I had to amend them both in order to be accepted by Italy’s high bureaucratic standard. And unfortunately, the state of Massachusetts doesn’t make name corrections easy. I was surprised to find out that state documents, like marriage certificates, cannot be amended at all! The death certificate however, had more wiggle room. I was able to go directly to the funeral home and have them submit the request to amend the record. Although they fixed my grandfather’s name, they were unable to fix his father’s name because there was not enough room on the form! Luckily, the comune worker who accepted my application was unbothered by this minor misspelling.

One of the most frequently searched questions on google from the jure sanguinis community is: what documents do I need to apply for Italian citizenship by descent?

First thing first- do you qualify? Why waste all the time, money, headache and heartache of building your application portfolio if you don’t even qualify? If you know that you don’t currently qualify, but you’re prepared to make the investment in the hope that the rules will change, that’s fine, too. The point is- don’t walk blindly down this path without knowing where you stand. For a quick overview, take our Italian citizenship by descent eligibility quiz or book a free introductory call to learn more about our Genealogy & Eligibility services.

Next, build a family tree. It’s important to understand your ancestral line so that you can avoid ordering unnecessary documents. You may have more than one Italian ancestor who can serve as the anchor for your application, but you may not know which line is best for your application until after the genealogy research. And sometimes you won't know which line is best until after you start collecting documents. The key here is to pick the most direct line, with the fewest discrepancies, that conform with the strictest interpretation of the laws. That being said, these factors don’t always perfectly align. Sometimes, the best you can do is two out of three.

For example:

Was your grandfather married to someone else before your grandmother? You may need to collect his divorce certificate, or his first wife’s death certificate if her passing ended the marriage. But this is only true if your grandfather is in your direct line- if your grandmother is your last born Italian ancestor, these extra documents are unnecessary!

Are you applying judicially through an Italian court? You likely won’t need the death certificates, unless there is a name discrepancy- such as anglicization like Paolo > Paul- that can be explained on the death certificate with an AKA (also known as). But be careful that the death certificate doesn’t have any additional discrepancies that could cause more problems than it resolves!

Are you applying at a consulate? Which one? Because some consulates require the birth certificates for the spouses of your in-line ancestors, but usually a photocopy will suffice- no Apostille or translation needed! Check your consulate's website for exact information.

Does the surname of your last Italian born ancestor change multiple times across vital records or over the generations? Resolving this issue may require a Court Ordered Declaratory Judgement- sometimes referred to as OATS (One And The Same).

Preparing your documents for a successful application is a lot of hard work. To help you get started, we’ve created a free tool. Download The Ultimate Document Tracker & Checklist here and book a free introductory call to learn more about how we can help you.

It sounds simple, but as you probably know, Italian bureaucracy is fond of over complicating things. On October 3rd, 2024 a circolare was issued regarding the Minor Issue. The Minor Issue stated that if an Italian citizen born in Italy naturalized while their child, who was born abroad, was still a minor, that act of naturalization cut the line for the minor child and their descendants. 

If the minor child was also born in Italy, their parent's naturalization would have stripped them of Italian citizenship as well, thus cutting the line.

Original Italian

Sometimes, naturalization records can be located through NARA, but this is only true if your ancestor did naturalize. NARA holds the paperwork that would have been submitted by your ancestor in order to apply for naturalization, along with the Oath of Allegiance which was signed once their citizenship was approved. NARA records are much less expensive than USCIS records and usually arrive much more quickly. BUT please understand, it’s not a choice between the two- you need to understand if your ancestor naturalized, where they naturalized, and when. Once you know these things, then you will know where and how to collect the correct document from the correct authority.

As I write this recollection, I understand just how fortunate I am that I was able to locate this document- which was later waived away and dismissed by the comune worker as unnecessary. You can read all about my application in Italy in my article Piano, Piano. After my sister and I completed this process for ourselves, I became passionate about helping others achieve their goals of being recognized as an Italian citizen. Just as no two people are the same, neither are any two family lines, nor the issues or solutions for their applications. If you’re having trouble locating or replacing a missing record, book a free introductory call to find out how we can help.