One way of acquiring Italian American dual citizenship is by descent, meaning petitioners will need to identify their most recent ancestor born in Italy and work backwards from there. After searching for and collecting all the necessary documents, the pathway to citizenship goes through the local Italian Consulate in the United States.
Many cases for citizenship present major issues, and some applicants believe they have no chance to proceed with their petition of an Italian American Dual Citizenship.
But they can reclaim their citizenship…in Court.
No appointment dates at the local Consulate
One of the most common situations is when the local Consulate has no available dates to book a citizenship appointment. However, following a precedent in the Italian Consulate of San Francisco, Italian descendants were granted the possibility to take the case directly to Court in Italy.
According to the Italian citizenship by descent process, cases can only be brought before the Court if the Consulate has rejected the application or not taken a decision on the application within two years. In such cases, the applicant shows the judge the application papers or the booking receipt. But what if there is no booking receipt because the local Consulate never even had available dates?
In the case in question, handled by MY LAWYER IN ITALY®, the Court ruled in favor of our client, recognizing that the Italian San Francisco Consulate had failed to provide an appointment within the next two years. This entitled the Italian descendant to bring her citizenship case directly before the Court of Rome (at the time).
U.S. Local Consulate rejection
It is also possible to bring a citizenship case before the Court in Italy when the local Consulate rejects the application. Italian descendants who are applying for citizenship should always visit their local Italian Consulate, where all their documents and applications are reviewed. At the end of this process, they may receive positive feedback and can therefore continue with their application.
However, there are several reasons for refusal:
- Paperwork misspelling – for example, the immigrant’s name at birth was Calogero but in the U.S. went by Samuel.
- Data inconsistencies – for example, the Italian birth record says the immigrant was born on June 1, 1880, while all the other US documents report the immigrant was born on June 3, 1880, or even 1881.
- Missing certificate – for example, the applicant is not able to procure a birth or a marriage certificate of an ancestor.
Many precedents have shown that, in these situations, the Consulate rejects the case, returning the documentation to the applicant. The request of the petitioner then remains blocked, for as long as three or five years, while they try to amend some of the documents and certificates.
Claiming Citizenship before the Courts in Italy
What most people do not know is that in all these situations there is a way to proceed, despite the lack of available dates or rejection at the Consulate.
And that is claiming Citizenship before the Courts in Italy.
MY LAWYER IN ITALY® has handled many cases in which citizenship by descent applications were delayed or refused. The applicants were discouraged and turned to us in the hope of obtaining citizenship. Our team has always been successful in resolving these kinds of cases in Court, with our clients regaining their Italian citizenship to their delight.