Ancestry Search = Dual Citizenship?

Something that I have always thought was cool was to have dual citizenship. One of my best friends was born in Germany and because her father was American, and her mother is German -- and she was born there -- she is able to obtain citizenship in both Germany and the U.S. I wasn't jealous, but I wanted that so bad. I don't know why. Maybe for bragging rights? I don't know, I was only a kid.

When I met my husband, I found out his mother is from Finland. She moved to the U.S in the 1980s when she met his dad. I didn't know Finland's laws when it came to becoming a citizen in another country, but he told me he has E.U citizenship via Finland because of his mom. I just think it's cool. I had asked about gaining citizenship through him as a spouse, but I would have to learn Suomi (Finnish) and live in Finland for five years -- not something we could really do right now, and have you seen Finnish? It's complicated!

Something about me: I'm obsessed...like OBSESSED with Ancestry and my family tree. Tig Notaro has a bit where she talks about a cousin who is obsessed with their family tree and I identified with the him. She says she will get random calls and texts, like "Your great-grandfather...was the first chair...of the sailboat society..." She proceeds to say, "Yeah... I don't care, these people are dead. I think it's time to move on."
Personally, I think it's important to know where you come from, even if you have to back a couple of centuries to get that information. I've had my tree going for almost ten years on Ancestry.com and when I did AncestryDNA a few years into my research it helped me connect with family members that I didn't know I had. Being an only child, and not really have much of a relationship with my mother's biological father's side of the family, this was pretty cool.

The side of my family that I am most curious about has been the Italian/Sicilian side of my family. I just had some names and how I was related to them, but that was about it. Once I got to my Great Great Grandfather, I just knew his parents' names and that they were from Corleone, Sicily -- yes, the same town as in Il Padrino (The Godfather). While looking at my AncestryDNA, I purposefully sought out people who were Italian to see if there were any common ancestors. I connected with a distant cousin -- 2nd cousin 2x removed according to Ancestry's calculation.
My 3x Great Grandfather is her 2x Great Grandfather and my Great Great Grandmother and her Great Grandfather were siblings. She asked if I knew if my Great Great Grandfather -- that was born in Sicily -- ever naturalized. I had found his Petition for Naturalization, so I assumed he had. I asked her why, cause that sounded like a weird question to ask, and she told me that "according to Italian law, if he never naturalized then his descendants were technically born as Italian citizens" and as long as there is no break in the line (meaning, no one after my Great Great Grandfather) renounced their Italian citizenship, I'm technically an Italian. It's just proving it to the Italian government is what will take some time and work. She gave me the basic rundown and I started the process immediately.

The ancestry line that I fall under:

GGGF --> GGF --> GM (born before 1948*) --> F --> Me

I have slowly -- like really slowly -- started collecting documents that I need to present to the Consulate. Each document will need to be translated and apostilled (a fancy seal by the state's Secretary of State allowing U.S. documents to be used and filed overseas) before my appointment. Luckily I only need birth and death certificates for the direct line. The only thing I will need that links the spouse to the direct line is their marriage certificate. So that makes it easier to deal with.

I caught myself in a snag regarding my Great Grandparents' marriage license. The family swore up and down that they were married in Harris county. I wasn't able to find it in their database, on Ancestry, or when I emailed the county to do a search. I thought maybe the date of their marriage was wrong so I had them do a search over a 5-year span. There were rumors that they had eloped since Great Grandma's father didn't like Great Grandpa. I checked with all of the surrounding counties and found nothing. I even checked with Louisiana since they were close to the border. I didn't find anything. Turns out they were married two counties over, so not just one county over, but two. I only discovered this because I found her Bride Book from when they got married. It had their names, the county they were married, who was there as witnesses, and who did the ceremony.

I even got a shout out in one of Rafael DiFuria's YouTube videos (his channel has a TON of videos about living life abroad and dual citizenship if you have a specific question.) after I found this. He gets how important this is for those of us who want to do this as a tribute to our families.

A fast way to see if you qualify for dual citizenship is to visit My Italian Family and check the drop down menu and see if your line is there and it will explain how you would qualify with that particular lineage. They also offer citizenship services -- I personally haven't used them, I'm more of a DIY-er -- that can help obtain documents, translations etc... Other people who are well known in the community for Italian document obtaining/translations are Francesco Curione -- of 007 Italian Records (he will actually help you apply IN ITALY if that is the route, which can be less time, but obviously more money since traveling there is a rather large expense) , and Robert -- or avepally as he is known on Fivver (I have used him for all of my translations. He is super nice.)

I'm not sure when I will be done with this process, but you can guarantee that it will be celebrated with wine and some cannoli.

*Complicated 1948 Rule that usually requires an Italian lawyer and your case to be brought to the Italian courts.