Thursday, March 08, 2007

Italy!

I just found out that I could, if I wanted, obtain Italian citizenship through jure sanguinis. My mother's mother's parents emigrated from Parma. Then if I got the dual citizenship, Lauren could get hers fairly easily. Or at least, this page makes it seem easy.

"If your great grandfather became a naturalized citizen before your grandmother's birth, you are not entitled to Italian citizenship jure sanguinis unless you fit into another category. ". I don't think my great-grandfather got around to getting citizenship before my grandmother died (she was only a few years old) but that would be the thing to find out.

The curiosity for this was spurred by my friend Alex getting his Irish citizenship in case he ever wanted to work in the EU, and also from my friend Ivonne talking about how, according to her, Italy is desparate for new immigrants and there are a lot of jobs there.

I've been to visit Italy 3 times now and it's pretty great. Of course, moving there would be another matter entirely. But having dual citizenship is just a fun option that I can keep in mind. Will I ever actually do it? Well, I still haven't even gotten around to getting Lauren's birth certificate yet. You have to go in person to the Norwalk courthouse or pay a notary public $5. Don't know where Norwalk is and don't know a notary public. And haven't bothered to find out either yet. So you tell me if I'll get around to getting Italian citizenship!

1 comment:

The Redhead said...

I got my Irish citizenship in 1999 and it's been really cool because I was able to work there for a couple years. And I could shortcut the lines at major European airports where the line for EU passport holders is shorter. Or I would have if it were legal to travel on two passports. Which it isn't. So I would never do that.

But I hope you look into it - the paperwork is probably a pain but I'm sure it's worth it!