Italian citizenship - special circumstances

Under the 1912 Italian Citizenship law, men were the only ones who could transmit Italian citizenship to their children (whether born inside or outside the country). Children of Italian men were automatically granted Italian nationality.

This law did not apply to women, meaning that children born to Italian women could not be considered Italian citizens. Changes were introduced to the Italian Constitution, and now Italian citizenship is granted to descendants of an Italian man or woman born after January 1, 1948. These judicial cases are often known as the 1948 case or 1948 rule and have become very popular in recent years, as they have now allowed an entire category of people the possibility of applying for Italian citizenship by descent and receiving all the benefits that they previously could not.

At that time, citizenship applications were denied when the ancestor was a woman born in Italy and the child had been born before 1948. Italian women who married non-Italian men before 1948 were also discriminated against, losing their right to citizenship because of their marriage.

The 2009 legislative change modifies the way of acquiring Italian citizenship

In 2009 a new legislative change occurred that has affected how Italian citizenship is granted. Each of the above situations was recently judged in the courts as being unjust and discriminatory towards women. Any applicant for dual Italian nationality who finds themselves in one of these situations can now apply for Italian nationality and potentially be approved. Since the 2009 precedent was set, many applicants have obtained dual Italian nationality. These changes have made the process of acquiring Italian nationality much clearer for people who find themselves in a 1948 case through a maternal ancestor.

Legal precedents stipulate that the principles of the 1948 Italian constitution, such as gender equality, must be applied retroactively. This includes facts that took place before the Italian Constitution was enacted. The courts declared that female ancestors transmitted their Italian citizenship to their biological children as long as they did not freely naturalize before the birth. The courts also declared that women remained Italian citizens despite marrying a man who was not Italian, and could therefore also transmit their citizenship benefits.

The Ministry of the Interior Office was the counterparty in the lawsuit, and claims of this type must be filed with the Civil Court of Rome. There are several reasons why Italian courts are likely to approve obtaining Italian citizenship by descent or Italian nationality by marriage:

●      Courts tend to grant nationality in any claim filed during and after 2009

●      The Italian government no longer represents itself in court: counterclaims are no longer filed, and State attorneys no longer represent the office of the Italian Ministry of the Interior.

●      In most new trials, the judge presiding over the case is the same one who granted dual Italian nationality in other cases

Although there have been a significant number of positive judicial outcomes, filing a claim is not guaranteed to give you the result you desire. Each court is empowered to issue whatever ruling it wishes at any time and you must continue to meet the requirements for dual nationality. However, in most cases, Italian courts will follow the widely accepted ruling in previous 1948 cases.

Understanding what the 1948 cases represent and how they apply to your ability to obtain dual Italian nationality

The year 1948 is incredibly significant in Italian history. Before that date, Italian citizenship was biased against women and only men could transmit citizenship. With the passage of a new law, civil rights were granted to all women, including the right to vote and to transmit Italian nationality to their children.
If your case entitles you to apply for nationality through the administrative route, or the traditional route, then you must have an Italian lineage composed of men. If your lineage is related through a woman, her child must have been born after January 1, 1948. If her child was born before 1948, you are likely to fall into what is called a 1948 case and you will need to proceed through the Italian judicial system with the help of our Italian lawyer to obtain Italian nationality.
Under Italian law, no man or woman born to an Italian woman before 1948 can inherit the right to citizenship in Italy. All children born after that date are entitled to Italian nationality through their mother. Anyone before 1948 must process their jure sanguinis case with the help of an Italian lawyer.
Let us examine sample cases that illustrate what can happen in both scenarios:

Case 1 - Application to the Consulate or the Italian Comune

●      If you have a great-grandfather who was born in 1890 in Italy and emigrated 25 years later. He never naturalized as an American citizen. Your grandmother was born in 1929 and your father in 1949. In this case, you can obtain nationality through administrative procedures because your grandmother was able to transmit her Italian nationality to your father, since he was born in 1949, after the law that was passed in 1948.

Case 2 - Applying for Italian nationality before an Italian court

●      Suppose the great-grandfather in the previous example was born in 1890 and emigrated abroad in the 1920s. He never naturalized as an American citizen and then your mother was born in the late 1920s, but your father was born before 1948, in the year 1947. In this situation, you would not be able to access Italian nationality through the administrative route without the help of an Italian lawyer specializing in Italian nationality.

Additionally, the original 1912 citizenship law could only be transferred from a father to his children. There was no possibility of using "jure sanguinis," which is the right of blood, because at that time women did not have the same rights as men.

In this situation, you would want to claim Italian nationality through the judicial route. In most cases, judges tend to rule in favor of those who wish to obtain Italian nationality through a female ancestor who had a child before 1948. This has become very common and we will evaluate your case for free to determine your chances of obtaining Italian nationality.

For the last of the two scenarios above, it is useful to analyze what could happen in those trial cases to successfully obtain Italian nationality through a female ancestor.

Your male ancestor born in Italy obtained the nationality of the country to which he emigrated before the birth of his child.

●      This is one of the most frequent cases that occur. For example, if you have a male ancestor born in Italy who emigrated and obtained citizenship, doing so before having a child. If the child had been born before 1948, you can file a petition before a court in Italy claiming the right to be granted Italian nationality through his female ancestor of Italian origin, usually the spouse of the ancestor of Italian origin who naturalized.
 
  The same applies if you have as an ancestor an Italian woman who emigrated from Italy. If she is where your lineage begins and she married a man born abroad, you can claim rights. However, this is somewhat rarer, since Italian families in the past arranged marriages abroad to keep the Italian heritage strong in the family and because of the dominance of Catholicism. Additionally, at that time women were rarely taught to speak foreign languages.

Your lineage begins through a male ancestor born in Italy, but you have at least one female ancestor born abroad

●      If you have an ancestor who was born in Italy and then emigrated and did not naturalize or obtain the nationality of the country after having a child, this may apply to you. If you have other ancestors in between that time who were born abroad, were women, and had children born before 1948, you will fall into the 1948 case and we can help you through the judicial process on your behalf to obtain Italian nationality.

You have a female ancestor of Italian origin who was naturalized along with the man she married

●      In this last situation, the woman in question, only in the USA, was able to make decisions about citizenship thanks to the Cable Act, which took effect on September 22, 1922. Before this date, women who were in the USA could not obtain or lose citizenship except through their husbands. Women had to follow the status of their husbands and automatically obtained American citizenship by marriage when they married an American citizen.
 
  Given this situation, the ruling of the Italian Constitutional Court and the ruling of the Italian Supreme Court (No. 87 of 1975 and No. 4466 of 2009, respectively) affirmed that women who obtained foreign nationality this automatic way through marriage can still retain their Italian citizenship. That citizenship can also be granted to their children. Since she did not renounce her citizenship, it is valid to transfer it to future generations.

A look at recent judicial cases

Since obtaining Italian nationality and filing a 1948 application is a judicial process in Rome, it is necessary to hire a lawyer to represent you before the Italian courts, even if your case concerns a nationality application in which the descendant is male. 

You can also initiate the legal process in Italy, appearing before the Court and using the gathered citizenship evidence to make your application. The judge will schedule a hearing for your case and issue a ruling in place of the consulate.

In cases like this, the Court will be the one to process the application, and many rulings have been issued in favor of applicants. People to whom this 1948 rule applies can now opt for and obtain Italian nationality with the proper assistance.

The only case in which you should go to the Administrative Courts of Italy is when you believe your application to obtain Italian nationality has been unjustly denied.

If you are not sure whether you meet the requirements for dual Italian nationality, contact us. We will be happy to review the cost and fees of the 1948 Italian nationality with a free preliminary evaluation of your case to confirm your eligibility.