Two important dates that affect your eligibility for Italian citizenship by descent PART 2: January 1, 1948
JANUARY 23, 2023 | BY NATOSHA FORTINI
Did you know that prior to January 1, 1948, an Italian woman didn’t have autonomy over her own citizenship status and also couldn’t pass Italian citizenship on to her offspring?
If you have females in the direct ancestral line you’re tracing for citizenship, this could have major implications for your Italian citizenship application.
Prior to January 1, 1948:
- Under Italian law, females did not have autonomy over their citizenship status and took on the citizenship of their husbands, meaning many women involuntary lost their Italian citizenship*
- Females were unable to transmit Italian citizenship to their children born before 1948. Citizenship could be transmitted through the fathers only.
[*NOTE: This was true unless the female was in a country (or married a man from a country) that protected her citizenship status prior to 1948, which is the case in Canada and the US. The US stopped automatically granting a female citizenship based on her husband’s citizenship status in September of 1922 and Canada a bit later in 1932. If you have an Italian female ancestor who married a non-Italian male or an Italian male who later naturalized after September 1922 in the US or 1932 in Canada, the female likely retained her Italian citizenship unless she voluntarily naturalized on her own at a later date. Unfortunately, the UK did not have a similar provision for females until 1949, so females continued to receive derivative citizenship through their husbands in the UK until January 1, 1948.]
So What Changed in 1948?
On January 1, 1948, Italy’s brand new constitution took effect and there are 2 main takeaways in terms of Italian citizenship transmission:
- Italian women were now given autonomy over their citizenship status. After January 1, 1948, an Italian woman could never lose her citizenship based on the citizenship status of her husband, so whether she married a non-Italian or married an Italian who naturalized as a citizen of another country (and regardless of the laws of the country she was in), she retained her Italian citizenship.
- Italian women could now transmit citizenship to their offspring, regardless of the citizenship status of the father. It didn’t matter if he was a non-Italian or if he was Italian and had naturalized before the birth of his child, as long as the mother had Italian citizenship at the time her child was born, her child received Italian citizenship.
How Do I Know if My Citizenship Line is Affected?
If you only have males in the citizenship line you’re tracing (e.g. great-grandfather – grandfather – father – you), then what we’re talking about today doesn’t affect you and you can continue on your merry way!
If you have females in the direct citizenship line you’re tracing, then you’ll need to know a few pieces of information to determine whether or not your line is affected:
1.The wedding date of your female Italian ancestor
2. If your female Italian ancestor was married to a non-Italian, an Italian, or an Italian that subsequently naturalized (and when this naturalization occurred)
3. When the first female in your citizenship line had her child (e.g. If your line is your great-grandfather — grandmother — father — you, when did your grandmother have your father?)
Let’s go through an example:
Antonio left Italy and immigrated to the UK in 1920. He married a British woman and had a daughter, Maria, in 1922. Maria received Italian citizenship from her father, who didn’t naturalize in the UK until after her birth. Maria had a son in 1946 and a daughter in 1949. Maria’s son did not receive Italian citizenship from Maria since he was born pre-1948 but her daughter, born in 1949, did.
Note that, because Maria’s father was Italian, it doesn’t matter when Maria was born since she received Italian citizenship from him. What matters is the birth dates of Maria’s children, as this will determine if Maria could pass on her Italian citizenship to them.
Because Maria’s son was born prior to 1948, Italian law did not permit her to transmit her Italian citizenship to him, therefore the citizenship line between Maria and her son was broken. Since Maria’s daughter was born after 1948, she was able to pass her Italian citizenship to her daughter and the lineage remained intact.
What Do You Do If You Have A “1948 Case”?
If you have a situation that falls into a pre-1948 scenario affecting females, don’t despair! You won’t be able to apply for citizenship recognition through a consulate, but you can bring forth a judicial case. This means that you have to hire an Italian lawyer who will bring your case to Italian court.
Since the first case brought forth in 2009, thousands of cases have been heard and the vast majority of them have resulted in a positive outcome for the applicant – citizenship recognition! And although the word “court” sounds scary, it’s not as expensive as you might fear and you don’t actually have to be present in court – your lawyer presents the information on your behalf.
There are additional complexities that need to be considered with citizenship lines through females which are too onerous to get into in a blog post, so if it looks like your citizenship line is affected because of the involuntary naturalization of an Italian female and/or the first female in your line having her child (the next person in your lineage) prior to 1948, then highly suggest you contact an Italian lawyer to assess your case. Most reputable lawyers who specialize in these types of citizenship cases offer free consultations and they’ll review your specific case and give you their legal opinion on your chances of success.
If you’re not sure if your eligibility is affected by a pre-1948 scenario, register for my free eligibility webinar happening on Thurday, February 2, 2023 at 11:00 AM. I’ll be doing a deep dive of the 1948 law as well as other important Italian citizenship laws that can affect your eligibility for Italian citizenship by descent. We’ll also walk through my eligibility flowchart and I’ll give you an overview of the citizenship application process. Register below to save your spot!