dearleuk

Hello all

My wife has finally managed to get an appointment at the Italian Consulate in Manchester for a citizenship application. Been trying for over a year to get an appointment in London.

A bit of background, my mom was Irish, so I have managed to get an Irish Passport. We want to buy a property in Lanzarote and spend the winter there when we retire in hopefully a couple of years, and hopefully some of the summer as well. We are trying to avoid the 90/180 day rule. I know she is entitled to stay longer than 90 days as my wife, but it will make everything a lot easier if she has an Italian passport.

The appointment is for the 24th of March. My wife's Grandfather was Italian and moved to the UK before the war. We think we have all the necessary documentation, apostilled and translated into Italian.

We have Grandad's birth, marriage and death certificate and my wifes dads birth, marriage and death certificates and my wife's birth and marriage certificate

We really want to make sure we do everything right at the appointment and don't waste it. Has anyone here been through the process and can offer any advice? Is there a checklist or something that we can use to make sure we have everything we need?

Thanks for reading and for any advice

guy coventry

Hi
me and my sister have done it plus people we know was not a problem take a passport photo plus there a charge

took about 1 hour the the info was send to london 5 weeks later got a passport

dearleuk

Thank you, glad you got it all sorted out.

Got another couple months for our appointment, I'll let you all know how it went

roniindarwin

Hi there
So I'm hoping someone can help me navigate the minefield. My grandmother was Italian and married a Scotsman at the end of the war. My mother was born in Italy in 1946 and they came to live in the UK when she was very young. My mother seems to think that her parents relinquished my mother's Italian citizenship in order for her to get a UK passport. Now, I am not sure if this means I can still apply for an Italian passport, without going to live in Italy. I've been looking online for some answers at the Italian consulate, but it's very confusing and somewhat contradictory. Any advice, or experience?

guy coventry

hi do you have an copy of your grandmother passport ?
on your mums brith certificate does it have your grandmother name and nationality

do you have any contact in Italy?
do you know we’re she was born?if so get birth certificates it on line not to hard
ot probably easy for your mum to get an Italian passport then you or do at same time
you will need some sort of proof your grandma originated in Italy
and from that I think you can get one

roniindarwin

Yes, I have the birth certificate for my mother and I know where my grandmother was born and when. Unfortunately, don't have a contact in Italy. I was reading something that suggested my mum might not be eligible because her parents (my grandparents) relinquished her Italian citizenship in the 1950s.

"Italian law also states that this ancestor must not have voluntarily renounced their Italian citizenship or right to Italian citizenship and did not become naturalized before your date of birth in the UK. Also, females born before January 1st 1948 are unable to pass citizenship to their children and similar laws apply to grandmothers and great-grandmothers".

37100

AFAIK Pre 1948, Italian women who married foreigners automatically lost their citizenship. This was eventually challenged and declared constitutionally illegitimate, but not, I think, written into law. This doesn't mean that your wife can't obtain citizenship. Just makes it more complicated and usually means going to court. You will need a lawyer. There are a few specialised in these cases. Maybe do a google search for names.

guy coventry

hi gentleman

Where you live? Do you have an Italian community? That may be able to advise you?
A lot of the time there is at the Italian church who can help
i know that Woking which is in Surrey as one who are good
I got my passport from the Italian consulate in Birmingham which was very good , definitely be able to advise you I found that they London was a nightmare to get an appointment
documents that I had
My dad‘s birth difficult Italian
my English passport
my English birth certificate
spoke to the lady at the Birmingham consulate filled out the form ,took the about five weeks there is a cost about £150
my sister got hers done and my cousin got his done as well. Also my cousins son has got there Italian passports

basically that was my experience, it seem daunting at the time but it was not that bad

roniindarwin

Thanks for the advice. I think an appointment to the Italian Consulate is probably the bet place to start.

dearleuk

My wife is a member of the facebook group Dual British/Italian citizenship society

https://www.facebook.com/groups/188249932441970/

She said they have been really helpful

roniindarwin

Thanks very much