NOTE: from June 22, 2022, all proceedings regarding Dual Citizenship by Descent no longer pass through the Court of Rome but must be submitted to the District Court of the Italian town where the ancestors were born. Hence, any reference to the Court of Rome must be systematically read as to the District Courts of Italy.
(September 1st, 2021) News update: The latest rulings regarding the status of a minor child and citizenship: the courts are sending mixed messages about whether the naturalization of a parent effects the ability of a minor child in your bloodline to retain the ability to pass citizenship. Some recent rulings permit and others do not. MLI suggests that we explore all possible alternatives to citizenship. If your only route is through that minor child as explained above, we will appeal if the initial ruling is negative. This issue is still in question.
Please read below articles if you wish to see how the history of this issue evolved.
In November 2019 we published a post detailing the Court of Rome’s new approach to citizenship cases wherein Italian parents had become naturalized citizens of the United States before their American-born children had come of age. According to the Court of Rome, Article 12 of Law No. 555 of 1912 was to be applied in such cases, thus affirming that minors lose their Italian citizenship status when their parents naturalize. Read this post.
This new approach has been staunchly opposed by lawyers dealing with citizenship cases in Rome. Their argument is that Article 7, and not Article 12, of Law No. 555 of 1912 must be applied in such cases. This article provides that children born to Italian parents in countries that confer birthplace citizenship do not lose Italian citizenship merely because foreign citizenship is automatically conferred at birth. The lawyers argue that Article 7 must therefore be interpreted as meaning that children born in countries that confer birthplace citizenship (such as the United States) do not lose Italian citizenship, even if their parents become naturalized citizens while they are still minors.
This reading of Article 7 was recently accepted by the Rome Court of Appeal (November 2020), which in two separate judgments ruled that Article 7 should be applied in such cases, specifying that the application of this rule excludes the application of Article 12.
Consequently, the many Italian descendants affected by the Court’s initial approach can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing they can appeal their case to the Court of Rome and potentially receive citizenship through their Italian descent.