Gathering Documents for Italian Dual Citizenship: What You Actually Need

There is a mountain of documents that stand between you and Italian dual citizenship. Gathering them is not for the faint of heart, but the good news is that for most of them, you can go through official government agencies to get originals or certified copies. Here's how I navigated it.

Where to start: Vital Records

The site I used as my hub was VitalRecords.com, which routes you to the correct state agency based on where the document was issued. Each state handles requests a little differently, and some are considerably more difficult than others.

I worked with Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, and New York to gather what I needed. New York was by far the most frustrating. My dad's birth certificate was issued there, and because he's still living, he had to order it himself paying with his own credit card and answering identity verification questions. I couldn't do it for him. Every other state was relatively painless by comparison.

I also spent significant time on Ancestry.com researching certificates, dates, death notices, and ship arrival records. A word of caution here: some documents are mislabeled, and some belong to a different person who happens to share your relative's name. Tread carefully, verify everything, but don't skip it the research gives you a depth of knowledge that will serve you throughout the process.

The documents you'll need

Here's what my attorney required, broken into categories:

Italian records (obtained by the law firm directly from Italian municipalities):

• Great-grandparents' birth certificates

• Great-grandparents' marriage certificate

This part was genuinely moving. The law firm petitioned the local court in the jurisdiction where Rosa and Giuseppe lived in Italy and retrieved documents from over a century ago. Seeing those records, their names, their signatures, their world felt like stepping back in time.

US immigration and naturalization records:

• Arrival documents (these may be on file with the Prothonotary in the county where your relatives first settled)

• Intention to apply for citizenship document (some new arrivals filed these separately)

• Ship arrival card

• US citizenship application and citizenship certificate

These can be requested through the USCIS.gov archives, which holds citizenship and immigration records from 1906 to 1956. Fair warning: the website is confusing to navigate. If you figure it out easily, consider yourself lucky.

Lineage documents (the chain from your Italian ancestor to you):

• Great-grandmother Rosa's death certificate

• Great-grandfather Giuseppe's death certificate

• Grandmother Palma's birth certificate and marriage certificate

• Mother Pamela's birth certificate

• Father Thomas G.'s birth certificate

• Parents' marriage certificate

• My birth certificate

• My marriage certificate

Each birth and marriage certificate serves a purpose. They document the name changes across generations and prove the unbroken line from Rosa to me.

Apostilles and certified translations

Once gathered, every document needs two additional steps: a certified translation and an Apostille. An Apostille is essentially an international notarization. It certifies that a document is original and authentic for use in another country.

The important detail: Apostilles are issued at the state level. A document from California must be apostilled in California. A document from Pennsylvania must be apostilled in Pennsylvania. The good news is that all of this can be done by mail, with a check for the fee and a return envelope. It's tedious, but manageable.

Then came May 2025

Just as I was getting everything in order, the Italian government passed Law 74/2025 a referendum that restricted citizenship by descent to two generations from the original Italian immigrant. I am three generations removed from Rosa and Giuseppe, which means under this law, I no longer qualify.

The law is currently being challenged in the Italian Supreme Court on constitutional grounds the argument being that it unlawfully strips potential citizens of a right they previously held. I'm simplifying a complex legal case, but if you want to dig into the details, search "Italian Law 74/2025 Supreme Court case." Arguments were heard, and a ruling is expected sometime in early 2026.

In the meantime, I haven't stopped. I'm continuing to gather and organize every document, because if the law is overturned, I want to be ready to move immediately.

And if it isn't overturned? This is not where our story ends. We have an alternative plan and that plan is already in motion.