The right to the Italian citizenship can be inherited by Italian ancestors. In fact it is possible to request the recognition of the Italian citizenship by demonstrating that the right has passed from the Italian ancestor to the applicant.
Italian ancestor who naturalized before the birth of their children did not pass this right to them.
The request of recognition of the Italian citizenship iure sanguinis must be sustained by documents attesting that this right has been transferred to the whole blood chain and then inherited by the applicant.
It can be submitted:
At the Italian diplomatic authority in the Country of residence of the applicant;
At the Italian Municipality where the applicant wish to move his residence.
1948 cases
According to the Italian law on the citizenship n. 555/1912 women were not able to transfer Italian citizenship to their children. The 1948 Italian Constitution granted to women same rights of the men, and so descendants of women born after that date could claim the Italian citizenship right as well.
However, later on, the Italian Constitutional Court stated that the Citizenship Law n. 555/1912 provision denying to women to pass their citizenship right to children was unconstitutional, as well as the provision stating the loss of a woman Italian citizenship by marring a foreign citizen.
This rule has not been enforced by all the Italian diplomatic authority abroad or Italian Municipalities, but the descendants of an Italian woman born before the 1948 can see their Italian citizenship recognized by claiming the Civil Court in Rome.
These judgements were then confirmed by the Italian Supreme Court, when in 2009 stated their applicability also to cases deriving from a female bloodline occurred before the 1948.
