Many Italians use the holiday as an opportunity to visit cemeteries where their loved ones have been laid to rest, often bringing flowers and lighting candles at their graves. One flower you'll often spot around this time of year is the chrysanthemum, or crisantemo, which is strongly associated with remembrance and mourning in Italy. But, as with many Italian holidays, traditions vary from region to region.

Today, the date remains an occasion for families to visit cemeteries, bring flowers, light candles, attend Mass, and reflect on those they have lost. Although the customs may differ across Italy, the underlying meaning is the same: remembering the people who came before us, and keeping their memory alive.

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.

“Not Rome? Not Florence? Or Venice? You’re going to Italy for a month, and you’re planning to spend the entire time in Catania?!”

Of course, that’s not quite how things ended up. I did quite a bit of traveling during my month in Italy. Looking back, I’m incredibly glad I gave myself that initial month-long stay in the place I was considering calling home. And if you’re seriously thinking about moving, I highly recommend doing the same.

When I first landed in Catania that September, I felt a mix of excitement, overwhelm, and anxiety. I literally raced out of the airport the moment I landed, completely forgetting my checked bag. Apparently, retrieving my luggage wasn’t as important as seeing the place I had dreamt of for so long and breathing in a deep breath of Sicilian air.

From the airport, I took a cab into the city center and I then walked. And walked. And walked. I wandered around for hours until my legs hurt! I had just enough energy left to make my way back to the bus station and return to the airport for my long forgotten luggage.

And the heat. Mid-September in Sicily is certainly different from mid-September in New England.

None of these things were necessarily bad. They were just different.

And that became one of the most important things I learned during that month. Because when you’re thinking about moving to a new place, the question shouldn’t be, “Do I love it here?” Of course you do! That’s probably why you’re considering moving there in the first place. The better question is: “Can I see myself building an ordinary life here?”

And that is a much harder question to answer after a one-week vacation.

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.