Introduction:
In this case, the Court of Naples examined an application filed by a U.S. citizen seeking recognition of Italian citizenship by descent from an Italian-born grandmother. The applicant reconstructed the entire family line through official civil-status documentation, establishing uninterrupted descent from the Italian ancestor. The evidence further showed that the Italian ancestress emigrated to the United States but never renounced Italian citizenship and never became a naturalized U.S. citizen. The Ministry of the Interior did not appear in the proceedings, and the case was decided on the basis of the documentary evidence submitted.
Outcome:
The Court granted the application and declared the petitioner an Italian citizen jure sanguinis. It ordered the Ministry of the Interior, through the competent Civil Status Registrar, to carry out all registrations, transcriptions, and annotations required by law, including the necessary communications to the competent Italian consular authorities. Legal costs were fully offset between the parties.
Challenge:
The Court first confirmed its territorial jurisdiction under the rules introduced by Law No. 206/2021, identifying the competent court by reference to the municipality of birth of the Italian ancestor. It then examined the application under Decree-Law No. 36/2025, converted into Law No. 74/2025, which introduced Article 3-bis into Law No. 91/1992. The central issue was whether the applicant satisfied the exception contained in Article 3-bis(1)(c), which preserves recognition of citizenship where a first- or second-degree ascendant possessed, or possessed at the time of death, exclusively Italian citizenship. The Court therefore assessed both the applicant's degree of descent and the citizenship status of the Italian grandmother.
Action:
After reviewing the documentary evidence, the Court found that the applicant had established the line of descent and demonstrated that his Italian-born grandmother had never acquired U.S. citizenship through naturalization, thereby retaining exclusively Italian citizenship throughout the relevant period. The Court concluded that the applicant, as a second-generation descendant, fell within the exception provided by Article 3-bis(1)(c) of Law No. 91/1992. Since the statutory requirements had been met and the continuity of citizenship transmission had been established, the Court recognized the applicant as an Italian citizen jure sanguinis.
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