Chad and I first went to Italy together on our honeymoon in 2007. 

Sightseeing in Florence in 2007 – with me hanging on for dear life since I’m scared of heights

Some people might think it’s weird that we spent the first two weeks of our honeymoon trip with his parents Jim and Fran, his sister Michele, and his aunt Connie, but we all had a great time together exploring Rome, Florence, Venice and the Cinque Terre.  Then, after the rest of the family went back to the U.S., Chad and I spent extra time in the Cinque Terre and then visited Siena and San Gimignano.

Aunt Connie, Fran, me, our friend Claudio, Chad, Jim – wine-tasting dinner in Rio Maggiore

Needless to say, Chad and I fell in love with Italy on that trip.  The food, the history, the art and architecture, the culture, the language…  It all resonated with us.  In the years since then, we’ve been back several times. 

This pecorino flan was so delicious that it literally made me cry

Chad’s maternal great-grandparents emigrated from Italy to the U.S.  One set of great-grandparents came from Sicily and the other set from the Abruzzo region just east of Rome.  Chad’s mom did some research and was able to find the Abruzzo relatives, and we met four generations of the extended family during a trip in 2016.  We’ve been back to visit with them since then, and it’s always like we’ve been family forever.

Which brings me to my next point…

With family history in Italy, Chad is eligible for Italian citizenship, and he has been going through the citizenship process.  Gathering the records and documents and the general paperwork took a while to complete, but now we are in the home run.  The final step is to go live in Italy for 60 days which will show a commitment to being a citizen of the country.  (I know, I know, it will be a hard life to live in Italy for 60 days and eat all of that delicious food!)

In case you’re wondering, Chad will still retain his American citizenship.  He can have dual citizenship.  The benefit of having Italian citizenship is that it will make it easier for us to buy property and work over there if we choose to do so.  And who wouldn’t want to have an apartment in Italy where you can spend part of the year?  (And, of course, we will have a guest room if you want to come visit!)

And to answer the final question, I will eventually be eligible for Italian citizenship myself.  Once I’ve been married to an Italian citizen for two years (aka Chad), I will be eligible, which means that, sometime in 2025, I will apply for citizenship.  And while Chad just has to prove ancestry, I will have to take a citizenship test.  I think this will be much like the test that U.S. immigrants have to take to get American citizenship.  I’m not sure if this means a language test, government, history or what.  So in the meantime, I am studying lots of Italian language and history.

Speaking of Italian history, did you know that Italy as we know it wasn’t a country until the 1860s?  Mind-blowing, I know.  Stay tuned for the next blog post…