On June 22, 2022, new legislation regarding citizenship by descent came into effect (art. 36 law 206/2021).
Proceedings for the establishment of Italian citizenship must be submitted to the District Court in the city where the Court of Appeal of reference for the ancestors’ native town is located.
This new legislation created much confusion among those who have applied for Italian citizenship, with the main question being:
How can I find my Court of reference after June 22, 2022?
Citizenship by descent: how to find the Court of reference step-by-step
MY LAWYER IN ITALY® understands how complicated navigating the Italian legal system can be.
We want to explain how you can find your Court of reference for your citizenship acquisition process step-by-step.
- Type “Giustizia Map” on Google or Click here
- Once on the Ministero della Giustizia page, simply scroll the page until you see the word “Ricerca” and click on it.
- Now, the site will let you filter your results, typing the name of the Italian Comune where your Italian ancestors were born. The search can be further refined by adding the Office, Region, and Province. However, we do not recommend using these other filters because they can conflict with each other and confuse the results.
Let’s give it a try. We will search for the Court of Appeal of reference for the town of Baschi.
We type Baschi in the “Comune” section.
We will not filter our results further, and will click “Cerca” at the bottom of the page.
The system automatically shows a list of all the judicial offices for the Comune of Baschi. Since we are applying for dual citizenship, we are interested in finding the Court of Appeal for our proceeding – “Corte d’Appello” (in Italian). In this case, the Court of reference for the Comune of Baschi is the Corte d’Appello di Perugia.
The Court of Appeal is the actual point of reference to find the Court – the Italian “Tribunale” – where the Italian dual citizenship proceeding will be submitted to the Judge. In this case, Tribunale di Perugia.
For American citizens, the Italian Tribunale is equal to the American District Court.
To recap, you will need three pieces of information in your citizenship case:
1. The name of the Italian Comune where your ancestors were born (e.g., Baschi);
2. The Court of Appeal for the Italian city where your ancestors were born (e.g., Corte d’Appello di Perugia);
3. The District Court of the city where the Court of Appeal is located (e.g., Tribunale di Perugia).
If you have any difficulties in finding out your Court, please contact us at MY LAWYER IN ITALY® and we will be more than happy to help.
Our experienced attorneys cover the whole country and are licensed to represent clients before any Italian Court.
Read more articles on our website:
- Italian Dual Citizenship: do I have to speak Italian to apply?
- The Minor Case: which Italian Dual Citizenship petitions are getting rejected?
- Italian American Dual Citizenship: most common problems and how to overcome them