Italian citizenship by descent is a right that spans many generations. The story of Carlo De Maria, born in 1783, exemplifies how the past can influence the present. He was instrumental in securing Italian citizenship for a 49-year-old Brazilian woman and her two children. 241 years after his birth, in a process that involved nine generations.
O Genoa CourtIn a historic decision, it recognized Italian citizenship. 'iure sanguinis' for Mariana BD and her children aged 19 and 7. The recognition was based on Carlo De Maria, born in the small town of Borgio, in the region currently called Riviera di Ponente, in the province of Savona, in Liguria.
At the time of Carlo's birth, the territory belonged to the former Republic of Genoa and was about to join the Napoleonic kingdom, long before Italian unification in 1861.
The judge's sentence Silvia Amoretti recognized that Carlo De Maria, although born before Italian unification, became an Italian citizen in 1861, already under the rule of the Kingdom of Italy. This detail was crucial for the approval of the request for recognition of citizenship, overcoming the objections of the interior Ministery Italian, who questioned the validity of the claim.
Carlo De Maria initially emigrated to Gibraltar, where he married and had a son. He later moved with his family to Brazil. Years later, he returned to Italy, now part of the Kingdom of Italy, where he died.
What does the law say about time limitations?
Although there is no generation limit for recognition, there is a restriction related to the ancestor's lifetime, known as giving cause.
Italy was officially unified on March 17, 1861. Before that, the Italian territory was divided into several independent kingdoms, duchies and republics.
So if the giving cause — the Italian ancestor who transmits citizenship — died before unification, he cannot transmit Italian citizenship, since the concept of Italian citizenship as we know it today did not exist at that time.
This temporal limitation means that, although there is no generation limit, the right to Italian citizenship is conditional on the ancestor having lived or died after the unification of Italy.
Therefore, it is not possible to “search indefinitely” for a distant ancestor prior to 1861. However, most cases of recognition of Italian citizenship involve Italians who died after unification, especially since the great wave of Italian immigration occurred from the 1870s onwards, shortly after the consolidation of the Italian state.
The challenges of proving lineage
Although there is no generational limit for the transmission of Italian citizenship, proving family ancestry is one of the biggest challenges faced by those who wish to claim this right.
It is necessary to gather extensive documentation that proves the direct link with the Italian ancestor, including birth, marriage and death certificates of all ancestors.
FOLLOW ITALIANISM
