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Agatas · Newbie Joined: Oct 10, 2009 Posts: 1

Caio tutti,
Hello this if my first post. My name is Agata and I live in New York. My husband tells me we have land in Messina that he has inherited. Purtroppo--we do not know where in Messina this land is. It is/was three vineyards of olives and grapes, so it has its own income. We are both American born. My father from Catania was naturalized when I was eleven years old; I am ok. His father was born here, then sent to a monastary in Messina near his father who never renounced his citizenship. The land is there somewhere and I am told it is iron clad since it dates back to the Spanish. To make thinks more confusing the name changed at some point. Perhaps it was a Spanish name originally. I am pretty sure the land is under the present name. I wrote and received the grandfathers birth certificate and I am gathering all the other paperwork for a dual citizenship first and then (?) well, one step at a time I think. Maybe the dual citizenship part is not important--can one owe property in Italy without a citizenship?
Well I would appreciate any information anyone can tell me. Maybe the room would stop moving then.
Grazie Agata

Jamie · Expat Focus Administrator Joined: Aug 06, 2000 Posts: 1649

Hi Agata,

Many thanks for the introduction and a warm welcome to Expat Focus!

Unless I'm much mistaken I think you almost certainly can own property in Italy without having Italian citizenship but it's always worth taking legal advice from a professional.

Jamie

thebonds · Moderator - Italy Joined: Sep 28, 2009 Posts: 7

Hi Jim Bond here, just joined, we have a property in Stresa on Lake Maggorie, we do not need any form of citizenship although we are EU citizens so I think this helps. As a US citizen I am not sure that you come under the same rules. We will ask around when we go back in Novemeber