If we could pick a genre of a story we enjoy telling over and over again, we would certainly choose our clients’ success stories.
Although the journey towards the „happily ever after“ of citizenship can get a bit rugged from time to time, much like the twists and turns of a marital journey, staying motivated and taking your citizenship path one step at a time makes all the difference.
The Challenge, the Obstacle and the Solution
At this point, you might be thinking, “Well, this is easier said than done.”
That’s why we are sharing the challenges faced by our dear client Amy in the form of a success story… Along with our solutions to the difficulties that made a difference along her journey.
Similar to many of our clients, prior to hiring citizenship specialists to guide her journey, Amy began her own research into her Italian heritage. After discovering that her great-grandfather had been naturalized before her grandfather’s birth – a discouraging revelation – Amy continued persisting in her efforts.
Digging a bit deeper into her research, she learned that although her case required an alternative route deviating from the regular administrative procedure at the consulate, she would still be able to apply for her Italian citizenship through a court case!
Having the citizenship line cut with her great-grandfather only meant that the Italian citizenship would be transferred through his wife, Amy’s great-grandmother Francesca. And while this might sound like an immediate victory, this is where it gets a bit complex.
Back in the day, a wife’s citizenship was directly tied to that of her husband. This meant that, when Amy’s great-grandfather naturalized, his wife Francesca naturalized automatically as well, as if she didn’t have any say on the matter of her citizenship at all.
Adding to the challenges, another unfavorable law that affected women like Amy’s great-grandmother who birthed her son prior to 1948, dictated that women giving birth before 1948 could not lawfully pass on citizenship to their children preceding January 1, 1948.
This law was finally challenged in 2009 through the court system, which led to many successful lawsuit cases advocating for the 1948 law to be applied retroactively.
And this was the precise moment when Amy realized she was in over her head and needed help from experienced Italian citizenship specialists to handle her case.
What sparked her interest to choose La Dolce Vita?
While actively researching her ancestry and networking with other citizenship seekers, Amy has encountered a fair number of negative experiences involving renowned, big citizenship agencies.
It turned out that such agencies tend to take on more clients than they can possibly handle, inevitably leading to compromised citizenship cases. This implied delays, mistakes, unnecessary additional costs, and, ultimately – overworked citizenship specialists.
Looking into our own agency, Amy decided to work with us because she knew we were a small team of dedicated individuals, committing ourselves to each and every case fully. What set us apart in her eyes was the fact that we pride ourselves in taking only as many clients as we can handle, regardless of the offers we receive.
Making this our Number 1 rule when conducting business, we can now confidently guarantee:
- Precision and accuracy when working on your case
- Being comprehensively detail-oriented
- Undivided attention & personal approach
- A reply to any question you might have within 48 hours
With us, Amy could always count on being informed of how far we had gotten, where we were heading, and just when she might be able to say “Sono Italiana” with a passport in her hand and a proud smile on her face.
Struggles and Difficulties Along the Way
Any success story you might hear of doesn’t write itself without some struggles along the way. Amy’s story was no different.
Her grandfather, who was named Lorenzo at birth, completely changed his name upon his arrival in the United States. And just like that, from being Lorenzo, he became known as John. At the time, it was pretty common for personal names to undergo anglicization, but completely “unrelated” name changes, such as this one, were also a frequent occurrence.
Here, we saw an opportunity to establish the identity connection between Lorenzo and John by tracking down passenger lists, censuses, and other relevant documentation from his arrival period.
Soon enough our specialist and researcher Jelena located his draft card, where Lorenzo’s birth name was crossed out, and his new name, John, was written over it.
This find turned out to be our much-needed confirmation, alongside other documents, to demonstrate conclusively to the judge that Lorenzo and John were indeed the same individual.
Based on his father’s naturalization, Lorenzo was still seen as an American citizen born abroad, but luckily, our case was based on his mother’s (Francesca) absence of naturalization, as she never left Italy in the first place.
How did we tackle these challenges?
Proving such evident name differences is never an easy hill to climb. But, as with any other challenge, starting meant taking the first step.
The First Step
In this situation, the first step implied conducting thorough research and tracking down any additional documents to substantiate Lorenzo’s identity as John. These sorts of supporting documents ranged from passenger lists detailing ancestors’ arrival to census records containing population information and draft cards from world wars.
This list goes on and on, but the underlying principle is the same: as long as it contributes to confirming the name change in any way, any document could prove valuable. Once these documents were obtained, we used them as credible evidence when presenting our case in front of the judge.
The Second Step
The second important step in overcoming challenges was establishing Amy’s eligibility for Italian citizenship, despite her great-grandfather’s naturalization and her grandfather’s status as a US citizen born abroad. And the key to achieving this was building our entire case on the premise that Lorenzo’s mother, Francesca, had never voluntarily naturalized.
And just like that… Amy won her case and became an Italian citizen!
This success story could be your very own, if you take the first step today and grab the opportunity to learn about your Italian heritage.
After all, it’s things like this that make La Dolce Vita.
Book a Free Discovery Call with our Senior Specialist Jelena, with no strings attached, and find out if you qualify for Italian citizenship!
