By Trisha R. Hudkins –
Do you have Italian ancestors? Have you ever considered whether you qualify for Italian dual citizenship? It may surprise you to know that Italian dual citizenship is easier to qualify for than you would expect. Having an Italian passport allows you to live and work anywhere in the EU which is covered in Article 17 and 18 of the Treaty on European Union.
When applying for your or you family member’s Italian dual citizenship through ancestry, you are required to produce various documents, including but not limited to, birth certificates, marriage certificates, naturalization records, and death certificates. These documents are necessary to prove you descended from an Italian ancestor born in Italy. In some states, a court order is required to obtain the records needed to apply for your Italian dual citizenship. Often these records contain discrepancies either in the spelling of names or contain incorrect dates. For example, a lot of immigrants changes the spelling of their names when arriving in the United States in an attempt to acclimate themselves to the American culture.
These discrepancies often create an issue when applying for Italian-dual citizenship and can be the cause of a denial of your application for dual citizenship. If your application is rejected the Italian Consulate will ask that you have the necessary documents amended or to obtain a “one and the same” court order from a court of competent jurisdiction in the United States.
Most states require a court order to amend vital records.
A “one in the same order” is an alternative option to amending the records that contain discrepancies. In these cases, a petition for declaratory judgment is made to the court asking the judge to enter an order, for example, that “John” is one and the same as “Giovanni”. Once obtained and translated into Italian and given an apostille, it can be provided to the Italian consulate with your application.
Bernstein-Burkley P.C. has the experience to assist in obtaining or amending records or obtaining a “one and the same” court order. Please contact us for more information.