One of my sons, who lives in England, is considering moving to Spain or Portugal. Since Brexit this has become rather complicated, unfortunately.
Anyway, he has just found out that if you have a direct Italian ancestor, even generations back, you are entitled to Italian citizenship and therefore could live in the EU. It just so happens that my great grandfather on my father´s side was Italian!
The only problem is there´s no-one but me still alive who knows anything about that side of the family and my knowledge is sparse. I have my father´s and grandfather´s birth and death certificates and my great grandfather´s death certificate, so I can prove a direct line, but I need his birth certificate to show he was an Italian citizen.
Family legend has it that he was from the north of Italy, possibly Milan. Since our surname is rather unusual I´ve started trying to research there but I don´t really know what I´m doing. I speak Portuguese, but not Italian, which doesn´t help. So, this is my latest challenge, rather an interesting one I think.
Your son's plan is a good one, even if he won't move to EU. Any additional passport is an asset. Perhaps he should consult a lawyer that deals with citizenship. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your suggestion. I imagine if my son is entitled to an Italian passport then so am I, my other children and grandchildren. What fun!
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