Francesco Rizzo Marullo is an Italian Cassazionista lawyer who moved to the United States in 2009, where he earned a master’s degree (LLM) in international taxation from the University of Florida. Since then he has not left the United States and from Boston, where he lives and works, he has divided his professional activity between tax consulting and assisting third sector entities. Present on the board of many associations and foundations, he serves, among others, as Chairman at UNWCAO, an NGO at the United Nations in New York. For the past couple of years he has been involved in immigration law helping many foreign nationals, particularly U.S. citizens, to obtain Italian citizenship.
With lawyer Rizzo Marullo, we delved into the issue of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis, or by blood derivation, which in recent months has faced a change in the rules and interpretations given by judges for its recognition.
Good morning, Lawyer. In recent months, the issue of Italian citizenship by blood derivation (c.d. iure sanguinis) has become central, partly because of new rules and interpretations. What is the current situation?
The situation is complicated. With two recent Supreme Court rulings and the October 2024 ministerial circular, thousands of citizenship applications are in danger of being rejected. The volume of them is well explicated by a statistical survey conducted by the National Association of Civil Status and Registry Offices (ANUSCA) in collaboration with ISTAT on more than 5,000 Italian municipalities, where it shows that applications have doubled in the three-year period 2021/2023, from twenty thousand to almost fifty thousand. According to ISTAT, if we add to this the data from local authorities that did not participate in the survey and the requests made through consulates we safely arrive, for 2023 alone, at more than 190 thousand requests.
What generated this situation?
It all stems, as I said, from two rulings of the 1st Section of the Supreme Court, (Nos. 17161/2023 and 454/2024, respectively) and last October’s Circular No. 43347 of the Ministry of the Interior, issued in application of the new interpretative lines dictated by the Supreme Court. This is, as we shall see, a restrictive interpretation of the citizenship regulations, contrary to current procedure.
What was the interpretation before the two Supreme Court rulings?
Article 7, of Law 555/1912, which regulated the matter until Law 91/1992, allowed the child of an Italian citizen, born in a foreign state, whose citizenship he or she had obtained on the basis of the principle of ius soli, to retain the Italian citizenship acquired at birth. The legislation required two conditions for the recognition of citizenship iure sanguinis: first, the demonstration of descent from the ancestor who had emigrated and was an Italian citizen, and second, the absence of interruptions in the transmission of citizenship (read no foreign naturalization of the Italian ancestor before the birth of the child, no declarations of renunciation of Italian citizenship by further descendants before the birth of the next generation). It is important to clarify that by naturalization is meant a way of acquiring citizenship, by the foreign person, who applies for it and meets certain requirements prescribed by the law of the place where he or she intends to naturalize.
What do the rulings of the Supreme Court say?
The new rulings of the Supreme Court run counter to the hitherto dominant orientation. They, in fact, establish that the minor child of an Italian citizen, who acquired foreign citizenship by birth in the foreign country, loses Italian citizenship as a result of the parent’s choice to naturalize. The 2024 ruling clarifies, in a very articulate manner, that the choice made by the father, an Italian citizen, to naturalize produced effects in the legal sphere of the minor children subject to him. According to the Ermellini, the decision taken by the parent as “head of the family” and holder of parental authority, reverberated its effects on the children as well. Indeed, the parent’s voluntary naturalization determined the interruption of the lines of transmission, unless the ascendant, once he became of age, then the age of majority was reached at the age of 21, reacquired Italian citizenship under Articles 3 and 9 of L.555/1912. It should be pointed out that the reacquisition of citizenship was a very rare event, mainly due to total ignorance of Italian citizenship laws.
What about applications already submitted?
This is one of the most critical points. Many applications submitted through administrative channels are stuck in the relevant consulates. Suffice it to say that due to chronic staff shortage problems, files take up to two years to be processed. It is clear that we are facing a serious problem that exposes all those who are waiting for a response to have their applications rejected. I know that Democratic Party deputies and senators, such as Congressman Christian Di Sanzo and Senator La Marca, have asked the government for clarity by suggesting a moratorium on all requests submitted before the Ministerial Circular of October this year. The current government, for its part, has espoused a hard line on the issue. Evidence of this is that in the recent Budget Law it introduceda provision, Article 106, which increased the unified contribution, due for disputes concerning the ascertainment of Italian citizenship, from 518 to 600 euros. But above all, it stipulated that where the application is made, in the same judgment jointly by several parties, the contribution is owed by each plaintiff. Demonstrating the desire to disincentivize these appeals.
What are the prospects?
If the circular is strictly enforced, as is clear from its literal tenor, thousands of applications will be rejected. This will force many people to go to the courts, further flooding the court system.
What could change?
The only hope is that the issue will return to the Supreme Court and a different interpretation will be obtained, perhaps from the United Section, which could definitively bring clarity to this issue. Until then, the situation will remain an impasse that will penalize thousands of people, especially those who filed claims before the new interpretive rules came into effect.
Is there a cultural factor behind these demands?
Yes, absolutely. American applicants do it to reclaim belonging to their roots. They certainly do not want to move to work in Italy, but to reconnect with their roots. So there is a very strong emotional connection to “our” country that often leads them to buy a house in their home country or spend their old age there. This not only has symbolic value, but also brings economic benefits to the areas, especially in Southern Italy, where these people choose to settle. Add to this, the latent fear, caused by the results of the recent presidential election, which has prompted many Italian Americans to seek a “way out.”
The article Italian citizenship <i>iure sanguinis</i>, everything changes: lawyer Francesco Rizzo Marullo tells us about it comes from TheNewyorkese.
