Applying for Italian Dual Citizenship with Family Members

An important decision for a family to make when seeking Italian Citizenship via jure sanguinis (citizenship by blood) is the organizing and sequencing of the process.

Under the established law, every adult must apply on their own, apply through the Italian Consulate that has jurisdiction over them and must provide their own set of required documents. All Italian Consulates require the applicant to provide documentation that the applicant is under the particular Italian Consulate’s jurisdiction and usually this is demonstrated by government issued ID’s.

This requirement is often confusing and frustrating for families who have multiple members who wish to apply at or about the same time and may live in different areas of the country.

If only one Italian Consulate is involved it may be possible for multiple family members to apply at one time, of course assuming that they are all using the same Italian born ancestor. It is suggested and best to make the Italian Consulate aware of this situation at the time of making your appointment. They will advise you if one appointment or multiple appointment times are required, which is usually the case. Even if adult children and a parent or siblings are applying at the same time be prepared to present a separate set of documents for each adult individual. It must be verified as to whether each person has to present an original set of documents, Apostilled and translated to Italian or only one set. Some consulates require only photocopies of the original documents if applying together.

NOTE: Each family member must fill out the application forms mainly Forms 1, 2, 3, and/or 4 depending if you have both living and deceased ascendants. More and more consulates require the AIRE Form (Anagrafe per I Residenti Italiani all’Estero or Census for all Italian citizens residing abroad) to be filled out as a part of each family member’s application.

If a parent’s Italian citizenship has already been awarded and an adult child is in the same Italian Consular jurisdiction it may be possible to use the parent’s file at a later date to establish the child’s right to Italian citizenship if they are using the same ancestor as their parent did for their citizenship. Always check with the Italian Consulate at the time your adult child makes the appointment.

If multiple Italian Consulates are involved in a family, the process may be further complicated by the fact that not only every adult must have their own documents in proper format and but also some Italian Consulates have slightly different document requirements. As the number of jure sanguinis applications have increased over the years, Consulates have become reluctant to share files from one Consulate to another. The former practice of sharing family files between Consulates is no longer a viable option. The best advice is for every adult to have their own set of documents in proper format and be ready to demonstrate to the Consulate that it has jurisdiction over them even if this involves additional documentation on the part of the individual.

If you have any specific questions, please SCHEDULE A FREE TELEPHONE CONSULTATION.

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