u/musical_sanctuary

Hi Reddit,

I am a Canadian citizen, currently residing in Canada. I am very interested in the notion of obtaining/recognizing Italian citizenship (by descent).

I believe that I am an unrecognized dual citizen. I know that designating any of my grandfathers (as the start of my ancestry line) would give my application the strongest case for citizenship.

However, I tried to find out the specific years of naturalization (for both of my grandfathers) on the Library and Archives Canada Citizenship Database - but came up short.

Myself, my father, and my mother were all born in Canada (in 1998, 1953, and 1959 - respectively). My paternal grandfather naturalized in Canada, in 1957; making my father & I subject to the "minor age rule" (if we were to designate my paternal grandfather as the start of our ancestry lines - in our applications). My mother believes that her father naturalized in 1978 (which if true, would not make her or I subject to the "minor age rule" - in our applications).

In any case, how can I find credible information on the years that my grandfathers naturalized in Canada (before paying for the applicable document that is formally required for my application - obviously, pertaining to just one grandfather)?

As a side note, I am hoping that I am fully eligible for citizenship (by descent) because I like the idea of filing my citizenship application, directly in Italy (very soon after obtaining a residency permit from the particular comune that I may decide to take up residency in). I am definitely not partial to long consular wait times.

EDIT - Additional Clarification:

My grandmothers were born in Italy (just like my grandfathers were). My paternal grandmother naturalized in 1969 (which means that I would fall under the "minor age rule" - no matter which paternal grandparent I may designate as the start of my ancestry line). My maternal grandmother definitely naturalized before my mom's father did. But I am uncertain about her year of naturalization, as well. So I only know the years of naturalization for my dad's parents.

But would I even have a stronger case for citizenship, if my maternal grandfather did naturalize after my mother's 18th birthday? I hope that I am wrong about this; but it seems to me that since none of my grandparents were Italian citizens upon my birth, the strength of my application would be the same between a grandparent who would categorize my application with the "minor age rule" and one who wouldn't.

I am in initial discussions (via email) with a law firm that is based in Milan. In Canadian currency, the firm quoted me approximately $12,150 (which includes court fees) for one person filing their citizenship (by descent) application/petition via the Italian court(s). This firm is not currently assisting clients with the residency route to citizenship, so they are pushing for the court-petition route.

I am certainly open to referrals for firms (based somewhere in Italy) that would charge less than the aforementioned firm would (for the court pathway). Any firm that would not only charge less for the court petition pathway, but would also be willing to assist with the residency pathway, would be wonderful lol.

But I'm also thinking of booking a 1-hour consultation with a firm (based in Canada) that specializes in Italian Immigration Law. I've been in contact with two, and both of them quoted me in the range of $450-$500 (Canadian - including taxes) for the initial 1-hour consultation. Both firms do assist clients in any of the pathways to Italian citizenship (by descent) - that they may choose (depending on their eligibility).

Correct me if I am mistaken, but there are a total of three ways that a Canadian citizen can apply for Italian citizenship (by descent):

1. Making an appointment with the local Italian consulate in Canada and then filing their application (online or in-person) - on the day of their appointment

2. Filing their application/petition through the Italian court(s)

3. Establishing legal residency in any comune in Italy - before directly submitting one's application with the particular municipality

Since I do not have a clean case for citizenship (by descent), would the residency pathway mean (for me) that I would have to be a legal resident for at least 2 or 3 years (continuously) after getting my residency permit - before I am eligible to file my application with the municipality? If one is not fully eligible (by descent), does that mean that they would have to possess a certificate proving at least B1 level of Italian proficiency?

Furthermore, the lawyer from the firm that is based in Milan, told me that the court-petition route is almost always a safer bet than the residency route. What he meant by this is that, unlike with the residency pathway, a person filing their application through the court(s) would be subject to the Italian citizenship laws/regulations that happened to be in effect at the time that the petition was filed with the court. The residency route is a lot more risky because a person living as a legal resident (as their means of obtaining/recognizing their Italian citizenship), would be at the mercy of any new regulations that are put into effect - any time during the process (putting the whole application in jeopardy). Is this true? Or is the residency pathway just as safe as the court-petition route (after one obtain's their residency permit from the comune that they've chosen to "set up shop" in)?

Mille grazie, in advance! 🙏