Jure Sanguinis means, continuity of blood. In the 1970’s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Dual Citizenship for American citizens is legal. In Italy and under Italian law, the taking of the American Oath of Citizenship constitutes a voluntary surrender of your Italian citizenship. So, for many of us, our naturalized ancestors surrendered their Italian citizenship. OK. But now, it get interesting! Because if their children were born in this country before they were naturalized, these children remained Italian citizens according to Italian law.

For example:

My grandfather, born in Italy in 1892 arrived at Ellis Island in 1912. He married an Italian American woman and had six kids. One of them, in 1934, my father. Granddad applied for naturalization in 1942 and it was granted in 1946. Since my father and his brothers were born BEFORE my grandfather became an American Citizen, according to Italian Law, these children were ITALIAN CITIZENS (along with being American citizens). BUT my fathers two younger sisters who were born AFTER my grandfather became an American citizens, are NOT Italian citizens.

What does this mean? It means that as long as I could prove lineage through my fraternal side via documentation, I could apply for Italian citizenship and be granted dual Italian/American citizenship via jure sanguinis.

First, you must determine whether or not you actually qualify for jure sanguinis. Below is a list that should get you started:

1. Your father was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth and you never renounced your rights to Italian citizenship (you probably haven’t done this)
2. Your mother was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth, you were born AFTER January 1, 1948 and you never renounced your rights to Italian citizenship.
3. Your father was born in the USA, his father was an Italian Citizen at the time of your father’s birth and neither you nor your dad renounced your rights to Italian Citizenship.
4. Your mother was born in the USA, her father was an Italian Citizen when she was born and you were born AFTER January 1, 1948 and neither of you renounced your rights to Italian citizenship,
5. Your paternal or maternal grandfather was born in the USA, your maternal or paternal GREAT grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of your grandparent’s birth, neither you nor your father/mother nor your grandfather/grandmother ever renounced their Italian Citizenship.

The information above is courtesy of Expats in Italy.

Checklist of Necessary Documents

• Birth Certificate of your ancestor from Italy
• Marriage Certificate of your ancestor from Italy
• Certificate of Naturalization of your ancestor from Italy, or Certificate of Nonexistence of a Record from the USCIS if your ancestor was never naturalized.
• Death Certificate of your ancestor from Italy (where applicable)
• Birth/Marriage/Death Certificates (where applicable) of each descendent of your ancestor from Italy
• Your Birth/Marriage Certificate (where applicable)

Useful web-sites:

• Expats in Italy Forum Excellent Resource with People who are applying and have applied for Italian Citizenship through Jure Sanguinis
• Ellis Island A great place to research your ancestor’s arrival in the United States (if they arrived through Ellis Island). You may be able to find your ancestor’s birth town on the ship’s manifest.
• U.S. Citizenship and Information Services Information on obtaining your ancestor’s Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of Nonexistence of a Record