Italian Dual Citizenship – Is it worth it?
Over 10 years ago while living in southern California, I actively belonged to an Italian cultural organization, which offered classes in Italian language. I had fallen in love with the country of my ancestors and wanted to visit often. I realized it was time to learn Italian so I enrolled in some classes. (The first eight years of my life were spent in a two family home with my parents and grandparents. Sicilian was spoken in the home but unfortunately, the children were only spoken to in English.) The organization also sponsored events including talks by experts on Italian culture, food and wine and Italian cooking. Its members included those who have either immigrated to the US, those of Italian decent and basically anyone who was an Italophile. It was and still is a wonderful organization and I miss the close friendships that were made during my time in California. As a matter of fact, I am still taking Italian language classes through this organization from my home on the east coast of the USA. https://icc-sd.org
At the time, I had heard through some of the organization’s members about the possibility of obtaining dual Italian citizenship through outside organizations. However, before that could happen, you first had to qualify by meeting the criteria set forth by the Italian government. “Jure Sanguinis” or “The Right of Blood”, is a principle which recognizes a child of an Italian citizen to automatically become an Italian citizen at birth. It means that as a citizen, you must register your birth in the Italian commune of your ancestor’s birth. In my case, I am now a registered citizen of a small town in the Agrigento Province of Sicily. Bear in mind, Jure Sanguinis status may or may not apply to you dependent upon your country of birth or current residence. The information contained here applies to citizens of the USA so check with your nearest Italian Consulate to see it you qualify. The consulates offer a wealth of information on Jure Sanguinis qualifications on their web pages.
The idea of dual American/Italian citizenship intrigued me. However, I wondered what was involved, what was the cost, how long will this take and most importantly, what were the benefits? I also wondered if this would affect my U.S. citizenship status, which it does not.
Most importantly, the benefits of Jure Sanguinis give you all of the rights and privileges of those born in Italy including an Italian passport. An Italian passport also meant you were a citizen of the European Union, which also had its benefits. Jure Sanguinis also includes the ability to own land and property in Italy (yes, you have to pay Italian taxes), no restrictions regarding the length of a visit to Italy without a visa (normally 3 months maximum), the ability to vote in Italian elections, the ability to work, obtain healthcare, be eligible for a pension, etc.
I would like dual citizenship my grandparents were from italy grandmother from sicily grandfather from abruzzo what do i need to do please write back
Richard, you need to first find out if you are eligible. Go to one of the sites I have listed in the article http://www.myitalianfamily.com or http://www.italiandualcitizenship.com. If you qualify, then go to the Italian Consulate websites (use the office that is in your jurisdiction or state of residence) and go to the information tab under Jure Sanguinis for more information on what you need to do. If you don’t want to do the work yourself, then contact one of the companies I’ve mentioned. There are more companies that do this kind of work other than the ones listed. You would have to Google them and then contact one of them for more information. Hope this helps and good luck.
I have applied. The process is long ( est 2 years to completion )
” Joanne” at Italianpridecitizenship.com was incredibly helpful as a guide
[…] a 14-day escorted tour to the land of my ancestors. I was going to Sicily. Since I became an Italian citizen a few years earlier thanks to ”Jure Sanguinis”, the Italian right to citizenship, I was determined to seek out my ancestral home in the Agrigento […]
can you become a citizen of Italy if both Grandparents were born in Italy
Michael,
Check out http://www.myitalianfamily.com to see if you qualify. Usually, if both grandparents were born in Italy and were still Italian citizens when either parent was born here in the USA, then you would qualify. Check the website to be sure as changes to qualifications could occur.
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Misinformation, my son whom was born in Italy, is dual citizen, I’m American his dad Italian, he is disabled, as soon as we moved to USA his “disability pension”was cutoff, because of SS in the USA, my husband having worked in Italy will be able to collect his retirement pension in both country’s but neither my son’s or husband have access to healthcare system unless in the country. I lived there 14 years with my husband before we moved to USA due to the extreme cost of living in italy and outrageously high taxes
My father’s parents immigrated to US from Terrasini. I didn’t hear about dual citizenship till 15 years ago but did nothing till 2018. Then I researched. Got my dual citizenship 2019. Very pleased I did. Now learning Italian. Taking a bit to do – learned French in school (they didn’t offer Italian) and had no idea how deep that was till Italian. But am progressing. 🙂