The biggest stumbling block in this process, I think, will be obtaining a copy of my grandfather's naturalization papers from the Department of Homeland Security.

I do not know the date of my grandfather's naturalization. It has to be after Aug. 4, 1942, or my quest for Italian citizenship is over. So, on June 18, 2008, I mailed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking all files related to my grandfather's citizenship. However, I realized too late that I forgot to sign the request, so I faxed a second request on June 19, 2008. I have yet to hear from the department. They should reply with a request number so I can track the request online.

Unfortunately, on some Internet forums, people who recently sent in similar requests said they were told by the department that they are so far behind in answering such requests that it could take 12 to 24 months before the records are sent, while documents from Italy are arriving in fewer than four weeks. Amazing.

There is a bright spot, though. In August, the department is launching a new pay service that will hopefully fulfill such requests in a more timely manner, but at a price. That is OK, I am willing to pay for it, if it speeds it up. So I will continue to wait out the FOIA request and in August I will try the new pay service.

OK, here is my situation:

My grandfather was born in Cutro, Catanzaro (now Crotone), Calabria, Italy, in 1894. My grandmother was born in either San Giovanni in Fiore, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy, or San Nicola, Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy, in 1901. They married in 1918 and immigrated to the United States in 1920, arriving at Ellis Island on Aug. 28.

They settled in Dayton and had 16 children, including my father. All those children were automatically American citizens under U.S. law because U.S. citizenship law is based on the idea of jus soli, or right of soil. A person born here, with a few exceptions, is automatically an American citizen.

Now, according to Italian law, a woman was unable to pass citizenship to a child until Jan. 1, 1948. My father was born in 1942, so he could only get his Italian citizenship from his own father.

At some point, my grandfather became a naturalized U.S. citizen. When my grandfather took his oath of citizenship in the United States, Italy considered that a renunciation of his Italian citizenship. So any children he had before he became naturalized could be recognized as Italian citizens while any children born after that naturalization were ineligible for Italian citizenship, at least through the jus sanguinis process.

Therefore, the key here is whether my grandfather became a U.S. citizen before or after my father's birth. If my grandfather naturalized before my father was born, then my father is not an Italian citizen and could not pass it onto me. However, if my father was born before my grandfather became a U.S. citizen, then my father is an Italian citizen and he passed that citizenship onto me.

The problem is I do not know when my grandfather naturalized.

I guess I had always assumed that because my grandfather had been in this country for 22 years before my father was born, that my grandfather was naturalized before my father's birth. However, in speaking to my father last week, he said he remembered as a child his father becoming a citizen. If that is true, then he and I are both eligible for Italian citizenship.

Assuming my grandfather was naturalized after my father's birth, I will have to collect the following documents:

I think the best way to begin this weblog is with a brief overview of how the citizenship laws of the United States and Italy apply.

Dual citizenship in the United States used to be illegal. However, a pair of Supreme Court cases, Afroyim v. Rusk (1967) and Vance v. Terrazas (1980), struck down most U.S. laws against a person having multiple citizenships, though the U.S. State Department still frowns on the practice.

In Italy, the passage of Law 91 on Feb. 5, 1992, reaffirmed the principle of jus sanguinis, which is Latin for right of blood. It is also seen as jure sanguinis, continuity of blood. Not sure if there is a difference between the two, however that is unimportant here. This compares to the principle of jus soli, or right of soil. That principle applies to citizenship conferred based on locality. For example, a person born in the United States is usually, with some exceptions, considered a citizen, regardless of the citizenship of the parents.

Under jus sanguinis, a person born of an Italian citizen is automatically an Italian citizen, regardless of where the birth took place and regardless of whether the person is a citizen of another country.

However, once an Italian citizen takes an oath of naturalization to become a citizen of another country, such as the United States, then that person loses his or her Italian citizenship and is unable to pass it on.

The key here is that a person, in order to be eligible for Italian citizenship and to be able to pass it on to his or her children, must be born before the parent become naturalized.

Another restriction on the law is that a woman was unable to pass citizenship to her children until Jan. 1, 1948. So any children born before 1948 had to acquire citizenship through their father.

This was just a brief overview. There are plenty of Web sites out there, including a Wikipedia entry, explaining the process in detail if you are interested.

My next post will explain how this applies to me.

This is a personal blog chronicling my efforts to have my Italian citizenship legally registered with the proper Italian authorities.

This is a long, complicated and expensive process. So I thought I would chronicle it here for several reasons.

First, it will serve as a checklist for myself.

Second, some people might find the complexities of dealing with government bureaucracies amusing or instructive. In this case, I will have to deal not only with local, state and federal officials in the United States, but also with local and federal officials in Italy as well as bureaucrats at the Italian consulate in Detroit.

And third, other Italian-Americans wanting to go through the procedure might find my experiences helpful so they can avoid any pitfall I might run into.

Let the adventure begin!