Apply for Italian citizenship

If you are going to apply for Italian citizenship and need professional support, our staff is at your disposal to provide advice regarding the papers that need to be submitted to the local Authorities and to provide official translation of your documents into Italian. If you find it difficult to apply for citizenship, we can help you and follow your application through all the necessary steps.

Italian citizenship can be acquired through direct descent from Italian parents, if you are born or are adopted by Italian citizens or through marriage. There is an additional possibility of acquiring iure soli citizenship if you are born on Italian territory to stateless parents or if your parents are unknown or cannot transmit their citizenship to you under the law in the State of origin.

Citizenship through marriage is acknowledged by the Prefect of the applicant’s province of residence or, if the foreign citizen married to an Italian resides abroad, the application can be submitted to the competent consular authorities.

Citizenship can be requested either by foreigners residing abroad or by foreigners who have resided in Italy for at least ten years and fulfil certain requirements. More specifically, applicants must prove that they have sufficient income to sustain themselves, that they have no criminal record and that they have received no reprimands or warnings regarding the security of the Italian Republic.

Italian citizenship may therefore be acquired under the following circumstances:

Directly

through the birth of a foreign child to at least one Italian parent (citizenship by descent)
when a child is born on Italian territory and comes of age
citizenship through recognition; you can be granted of citizenship through recognition of paternity or maternity when still a child (when the recognized child is of age, citizenship must be chosen within a year after such recognition;
through adoption of a minor child by an Italian citizen (s)
through declaration of will when the foreigner descends from an Italian citizen by birth (up to the 2nd degree) they can obtain citizenship if (alternatively):
they perform military service in the Italian Armed Forces;
they are employed by the State, including abroad;
they have legally resided in Italy for at least two years after coming of age.

Upon submission of application

through marriage
through residence
through Iure sanguinis
to reacquire citizenship

Request for citizenship through marriage

Application for citizenship can be presented by any foreign or stateless person married to an Italian citizen if they have been legally resident in Italy for at least 12 months and there are natural or adopted children in the family. If they have no offspring, the deadline after which it is possible to apply for citizenship is 24 months from the date after commencing residence regardless of whether the applicant has married an Italian citizen or not.

In the event that the foreign citizen resides abroad, this term is 18 months when they have natural or adopted children or 36 months from the date of marriage provided there has been no dissolution, cancellation or termination of the civil effects of such marriage and there is no legal separation underway.

Applications can be submitted online, directly through the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – citizenship section.

You are advised to prepare the following documents before completing online application:

an extract of your birth certificate indicating your father and mother, legalised with apostille if your State of origin adheres to the Hague Convention or legalised by the Italian Diplomatic / Consular Authority in your State of origin and relative official translation into Italian;

criminal certificate (pending charges and criminal records) from your country of origin and any third countries of residence and relative legalisations and official translations into Italian;

a photocopy of residence permit/card (for non-EU citizens) or proof of residence permit (issued by the municipality of residence for EU citizens);

proof of payment of the EUR 200.00 fee to current post-office account no. 809020

A copy of the relevant certificate of recognition for stateless persons and political refugees.

Request for citizenship by residence

Any children born in Italy from foreign parents, EU or non-EU citizens, stateless persons or refugees living in Italy are entitled to apply for citizenship provided they meet the following requirements:

non-EU citizens must prove that they have been legally resident in Italy for 10 years;
descendants of Italian citizens by birth (up to the second degree) and for those born in Italy must prove they have lived in Italy for three years
people aged over 18 (by Italian citizens), stateless persons and political refugees and adult children of Italian naturalised parents can apply for citizenship after 5 years;
EU citizens must prove to have resided legally in Italy for 4 years without leaving Italian territory for 450 days;
5 years of employment by the Italian State, also abroad.

In all the cases listed above, a personal or family income can be assessed discretionally by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the 3 years prior to making application.

You are advised to also prepare the following before completing online application:

Duty stamp to the amount of € 16.00

criminal certificate (pending charges and criminal records) from your country of origin and any third countries of residence and relative legalisations and official translations into Italian;

political refugees who are unable to produce the same certificates may file a notarial deed replacing the birth certificate and a substitution declaration of the criminal records certificate.

a photocopy of residence permit/card (for non-EU citizens) or proof of residence permit (issued by the municipality of residence for EU citizens);

income tax returns (CUD, UNICO, 730) relating to the income received over the last three years for those making use of the income provided by the members of the family. In all the aforementioned cases, a personal income (or family members inserted in the same family status) is required for the last 3 years prior to application, the limits for each year for which are: EUR 8,500.00 for applicant without dependent persons, EUR 11.500,00 per applicant with dependent spouse, which can be increased by EUR 550.00 for each additional dependent person;

proof of payment of the EUR 200.00 fee to current post-office account no. 809020 payable to the Ministry of Internal Affairs – DLCI, Causal Citizenship

A copy of the relevant certificate of recognition for stateless persons and political refugees. [ripetuto]

The information contained in either Italian or foreign documents must coincide in all papers. Therefore, if there are differences in the data reported (e.g. change surname after marriage, different place of birth), you must produce appropriate documentation certifying the exact details and reasons that led to such changes (e.g. marriage certificate and consular certificate).

In specific cases such as adoption, service presented to the dependence of the Italian State or in case of refugees or stateless persons; the following will also be required:

Judgment of adoption issued by the Court;
Documentation relating to service presented to the Italian Government;
Certificate of recognition of political or stateless refugee status.

Citizenship request through Iure sanguinis (Recognition of citizenship by descent)

Italian citizenship is based on the principle of ius sanguinis (descent), for which a child born from an Italian father or mother is therefore Italian. The descendants of Italian citizens who emigrated abroad may apply for Italian citizenship directly through the Ministry of Internal Affairs website if they are residing in Italian territory or through the competent consular authorities in case they are resident abroad.

The Italian State grants Italian citizenship to children of Italians who emigrated abroad as of 1912, in accordance with the provisions under Law no. 555 of 13 June 1912 establishing the right to acquire Italian citizenship for any offspring born abroad from an Italian father. Subsequently, once the Italian Constitution came into effect on January 1 1948, the right to obtain Italian citizenship is also granted to children born in a foreign territory from Italian mother.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs established the documents to be submitted for a Iure sanguinis application for Italian citizenship through Ministerial notice K.28.1 of 8 April 1991, which provides that the applicant shall submit an extract of the birth certificate of the Italian ancestor who emigrated abroad, issued by the Italian municipality of birth. This extract must also include any notes relating to loss or repossession of Italian citizenship. Furthermore, all birth certificates of any direct descendants of the Italian ancestor must be provided, including that of applicant for Italian nationality, as well as a certificate issued by a competent consular authority showing that no direct descendants or the applicant have renounced to Italian citizenship. Marriage and death certificates of the Italian ancestor and marriage, birth and death certificates of all direct descendants of the Italian ancestor, including those of the applicant’s parents, must also be submitted to apply for citizenship.

The competent authorities of the foreign country of emigration must also issue a deed certifying that the Italian ancestor of the applicant has not renounced Italian citizenship and has not acquired the nationality of the foreign state of emigration before the birth of the ascendant of the interested party.

Applicants must provide a copy of passport and a proof of residence. All documents specified above must be legalised by apostille if the applicant’s State of origin adheres to the Hague Convention or by the Italian Diplomatic / Consular Authority of the State of origin along with an official translation into Italian.

The documents listed above must be presented to the Italian consular authority if the applicant is resident abroad;

or to the mayor of the municipality of residence in case, the applicant resides in Italy. In the latter case, applications must be submitted on legal paper with a stamp of current value – as required under Section 5, Presidential Decree DLE 26 OCTOBER 1972 N. 642 et seq. Mod. – attaching the unauthenticated photocopy of a personal identity document, or signing the application before the clerk of the Registry Office.

Repossession of citizenship

Since Law 91/92 became effective as of 16 August 1992, acquisition of another nationality no longer entails losing Italian nationality. Italian citizens born in Italy who acquired British citizenship before August 16 1992 and therefore lost such under the provisions in force at the time are entitled to reacquire it without losing British nationality on the basis of residence in Italy.

Italian women who married British citizens before 1.1.1949, thus involuntarily acquiring British citizenship and losing Italian citizenship, may reacquire Italian citizenship by submitting a declaration.

Women who married British citizens after 1.1.1949 and voluntarily acquired British citizenship, losing the Italian citizenship, may apply to reacquire it.

Those who have acquired foreign citizenship after 31.3.2001 are no longer required to inform the Italian authorities.