The descendants of Italian women born before 1.1.1948 (the date of entry into force of the Italian Constitution) can obtain Italian citizenship by lodging an appeal with the Court of Rome.

Advantages:

• the times are relatively short (about 18-24 months);
• because these are civil proceedings before the Court, the Italian lawyer acts by proxy; therefore, the client’s presence in Italy is not required, nor is the request for residence, which is an indispensable condition for proceeding through an Italian municipality;
• the process is monitored and the customer can follow its progress with a special app;
• cumulative appeals are possible, so in the case of family members from the same family tree, the procedure can be shared, with a significant reduction in costs.

Let us look at the question in more detail.

The problem arises from the fact that Law no. 555 of 1912 (i.e. the law on citizenship until the entry into force of Law no. 91/1992) discriminated against women, since it contemplated transmission of citizenship by fathers only, with Italian women losing their citizenship when they married a foreigner.

These rules were declared unconstitutional by our Constitutional Court with sentences no. 87 of 1975 and no. 30 of 1983, which effectively made this distinction between men and women inapplicable and ineffective, because it penalised the latter.

Following these sentences, therefore, women’s rights were equated with men’s rights as regards citizenship, but this was insufficient to ensure full parity: the Ministry of the Interior (Circular No 9 of 04.07.2001) considers that the sentence cannot be applied retroactively any further back than 1.1.1948. It considers that only those born after that date can benefit from the parity between men and women (and therefore the possibility of claiming descendancy through an Italian mother).

Therefore, the administrative route is effectively only practicable for children born after 1 January 1948 to Italian women who married after 1 January 1948. The descendants of Italian women born before 1948 (and their heirs) have no choice but to proceed with the so-called “judicial route through the maternal line”, by presenting an appeal before the Court of Rome.

They may apply for citizenship through the courts, by taking legal action against the Ministry of the Interior for the applicant’s right to citizenship to be declared.

Once this action has been brought with the assistance of a lawyer, the Court will examine the documentation presented, certify the applicant’s right and ascertain their status as a citizen, ordering the relevant transcripts and entries in the vital records office registers.

Also in this case, it is necessary to produce all the documentation required by the regulations (in particular circular k.28 of the Ministry of the Interior), duly translated and legalised.

While each case is different, the proceedings are generally concluded within two years (some proceedings have lasted about 10-12 months) and do not require the parties to be present in person, as each activity is carried out by the lawyer with a specific power of attorney. This makes it possible to avoid the time and expense of a trip to Italy.

The Gabaldo Cosaro Law Firm provides assistance for the drafting of the appeal, the filing and management of the proceedings before the Court of Rome and the subsequent administrative phase involving the transcription of the documents in the registry offices records.

For further details and information, please fill in the contact form.