Italian Citizenship
Assistance with Italian Citizenship Applications
Italian citizenship can be acquired or recognised on different legal grounds. The most appropriate procedure depends on your personal circumstances, your family history, your relationship with an Italian citizen and, in some cases, the length of your legal residence in Italy.
The main routes include:
- Italian citizenship by descent (iure sanguinis);
- Italian citizenship by marriage or civil union with an Italian citizen;
- Italian citizenship by residence in Italy (naturalisation);
- citizenship acquired or recognised in certain circumstances involving birth in Italy, parentage, adoption or other specific legal situations.
Each procedure has different eligibility requirements, documents, authorities and timelines.
Italian Citizenship by Descent – Iure Sanguinis
What does iure sanguinis mean?
Italian citizenship is traditionally based on the principle of citizenship by descent.
Under this principle, Italian citizenship may be transmitted from an Italian parent to his or her child. In appropriate cases, citizenship may therefore be recognised to a person born outside Italy whose Italian ancestry can be established through the relevant family line.
This procedure is commonly known as citizenship by descent (iure sanguinis).
However, the rules applicable to people born abroad who hold another citizenship have changed significantly following the reforms introduced in 2025. Eligibility must therefore be assessed on the basis of the applicant's specific family history and the current legislation.
Who may qualify?
A potential applicant may need to establish, among other matters:
- the identity and Italian citizenship of the relevant ancestor;
- the continuity of the line of descent;
- the absence of events that interrupted the transmission of citizenship;
- the relevant dates of birth, marriage, naturalisation and death of the persons in the line of descent;
- compliance with the rules currently governing citizenship acquired by descent.
The assessment can be particularly complex where an ancestor emigrated from Italy many decades ago or where different family members were born in different countries.
The importance of the Italian ancestor's naturalisation
One of the first questions to be addressed is whether the Italian ancestor acquired another citizenship and, if so, when.
The date and circumstances of naturalisation can be decisive in determining whether Italian citizenship was transmitted to subsequent generations.
For this reason, a citizenship-by-descent application should generally begin with a careful reconstruction of the applicant's family history rather than with the immediate collection of documents.
Maternal line cases
Special issues may arise where the Italian citizenship line passes through a female ancestor and the relevant child was born before 1 January 1948.
These cases may require a specific legal assessment and, depending on the circumstances, may involve judicial proceedings rather than a straightforward administrative application.
Administrative or judicial procedure
Depending on the applicant's circumstances and the applicable rules, recognition may be sought through the competent Italian consulate, an Italian municipality (Comune) or, in appropriate cases, through judicial proceedings before an Italian court.
The correct route should be determined after examining the applicant's family history and documentation.
Documents for Citizenship by Descent
A citizenship-by-descent application generally requires a substantial collection of civil-status documents concerning the applicant and the relevant ancestors.
These may include:
- birth certificates;
- marriage certificates;
- death certificates;
- naturalisation or non-naturalisation certificates;
- evidence concerning changes of name or discrepancies in civil records;
- documentation establishing the Italian citizenship of the ancestor;
- documents relating to the applicant and the intervening generations.
Foreign documents may need to be legalised or apostilled and translated into Italian, depending on the country in which they were issued.
In practice, discrepancies between documents are common. Names, dates and places of birth may have been recorded differently over the years. These discrepancies should be identified and assessed before the application is submitted.
Our firm can assist with the analysis of the family line and the legal and documentary reconstruction required for the application.
Italian Citizenship by Marriage or Civil Union
Who can apply?
A foreign national married to, or in a legally recognised civil union with, an Italian citizen may apply for Italian citizenship under Article 5 of Law No. 91/1992, provided that the statutory requirements are satisfied.
The applicant may apply:
- after two years of legal residence in Italy following the marriage or civil union; or
- after three years from the marriage or civil union if residing abroad.
These periods are reduced by half where the couple has children born or adopted by both spouses or partners.
The relevant period may also depend on when the Italian spouse acquired Italian citizenship if he or she became Italian through naturalisation.
The marriage must still exist
The marriage or civil union must remain legally valid during the relevant stage of the procedure.
In particular, the relationship must not have been dissolved, annulled or otherwise terminated, and the spouses must not be legally separated at the time the citizenship decree is adopted.
Where a marriage took place outside Italy, it must also be properly recognised and transcribed in the Italian civil-status records.
Italian language requirement
Applicants for citizenship by marriage must generally demonstrate knowledge of the Italian language at a level of at least B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
The language requirement is an important part of the application and should be considered before submitting the application.
Criminal records and security requirements
The applicant must provide the required criminal-record documentation and must not fall within the statutory grounds preventing the acquisition of citizenship.
The authorities may also carry out checks concerning public security.
How long does the procedure take?
For applications submitted from 20 December 2020, the statutory maximum period for the conclusion of citizenship-concession proceedings is generally 24 months, extendable up to 36 months.
The actual duration of an individual case may vary depending on the competent authority, the completeness of the documentation and any issues arising during the assessment.
Italian Citizenship by Residence
Naturalisation after living in Italy
Foreign nationals who have legally and continuously resided in Italy for the required period may, in certain circumstances, apply for Italian citizenship by naturalisation.
For a non-EU foreign national, the ordinary requirement is generally 10 years of legal residence in Italy.
Different periods apply in certain circumstances. For example:
- 4 years for citizens of an EU Member State;
- 5 years for certain categories, including refugees and stateless persons and certain persons adopted by Italian citizens;
- 3 years in certain cases involving persons born in Italy or persons with an Italian parent or grandparent, subject to the applicable statutory requirements.
The precise period must always be assessed in light of the applicant's personal circumstances.
