Citizenship

Citizenship and Adoption

Decree-Law No. 36 of 28 March 2025 was converted, with amendments, into Law No. 74 of 23 May 2025, in force as of 24 May 2025.

The conversion law amends Law No. 91 of 5 February 1992, the full updated text of which is available at the following link: Law No. 74 of 23 May 2025.

Particular attention is drawn to the new Article 3-bis:

By way of derogation from Articles 1, 2, 3, 14 and 20 of this Law, Article 5 of Law No. 123 of 21 April 1983, Articles 1, 2, 7, 10, 12 and 19 of Law No. 555 of 13 June 1912, as well as Articles 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 of the Civil Code approved by Royal Decree No. 2358 of 25 June 1865, any person who was born abroad, including before the date of entry into force of this Article, and who holds another citizenship, shall be deemed never to have acquired Italian citizenship, unless one of the following conditions applies:

1. a) the citizenship status of the person concerned is recognized, in compliance with the legislation applicable as of 27 March 2025, following an application, accompanied by the required documentation, submitted to the competent Consular Office or Mayor no later than 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on that same date;

a-bis) the citizenship status of the person concerned is recognized, in compliance with the legislation applicable as of 27 March 2025, following an application, accompanied by the required documentation, submitted to the competent Consular Office or Mayor on the date indicated in the appointment communicated to the person concerned by the competent office by no later than 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on 27 March 2025;

1. b) the citizenship status of the person concerned is judicially ascertained, in compliance with the legislation applicable as of 27 March 2025, following a court action filed no later than 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on that same date;
2. c) a first- or second-degree ascendant holds, or held at the time of death, exclusively Italian citizenship;
3. d) a parent or adoptive parent resided in Italy for at least two continuous years after acquiring Italian citizenship and prior to the child’s date of birth or adoption.
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Accordingly, under the new Law No. 91 of 1992, Italian citizenship iure sanguinis (from birth) is recognized for:

• the applicant born in Italy on any date;
  • the applicant who holds exclusively Italian citizenship, i.e. who does not hold and cannot hold any other citizenship;
  • the applicant who falls within one of the cases listed under letters a), a-bis), b), c) and d) of Article 3-bis.
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  In light of the new law, it is specified that:

1. Only applications submitted before 27 March 2025 at 11:59 p.m. (Italian time), accompanied by the required documentation, are governed by the previous legislation.

For applications deemed to have been “submitted”, this means:

• delivered at the counter of the Consular Office before the above-mentioned date and time;
  • sent by post with tracking showing a date and time prior to the above deadline;
  • sent by post without date- and time-tracking and received by the Consular Office before the above deadline;
  • received via Fast-It before the above deadline.

2. Only applications, accompanied by the required documentation, submitted to the Consular Office on the date indicated in the appointment scheduled and communicated to the person concerned by the competent office by 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on 27 March 2025 are governed by the previous legislation.

An “appointment communicated to the person concerned by the competent Office” means confirmation by email received by the person concerned via the Prenot@mi portal or from the institutional email address of the Section of the Consular Office competent for the application.

3. In all other circumstances, the new legislation applies to applications.

The applicable consular fees are available on this page (insert consular fee).

As regards the required documentation, applicants must provide:

1. The documentation set out in Circular K.28.1 of 8 April 1991 of the Ministry of the Interior, namely:
2. An extract of the birth certificate of the Italian ancestor who emigrated abroad, issued by the Italian municipality where he or she was born;
3. Birth certificates, with official Italian translation, of all direct-line descendants, including that of the person claiming Italian citizenship;
4. The marriage certificate of the Italian ancestor who emigrated abroad, with official Italian translation if drawn up abroad;
5. Marriage certificates of his or her direct-line descendants, including those of the parents of the person claiming Italian citizenship;
6. A certificate issued by the competent authorities of the foreign country of emigration, with official Italian translation, attesting that the Italian ancestor who emigrated from Italy did not acquire the citizenship of the foreign country of emigration prior to the birth of the applicant’s ascendant;
7. A certificate issued by the competent Italian Consular Authority attesting that neither the direct-line ascendants nor the person claiming Italian citizenship ever renounced Italian citizenship pursuant to Article 7 of Law No. 555 of 13 June 1912;
8. Certificate of residence.
9. For the application of the new legislation, the following must also be produced:
   To prove exclusive possession of Italian citizenship (by way of example):
   o Negative citizenship certificates;
   o Certificates of renunciation of citizenship;
   o Certificates of non-registration on electoral rolls;
   • To prove residence in Italy for at least two continuous years:
   o Historical certificate of citizenship.

Acquisition of Citizenship by “operation of law” (minor children born abroad)
In two cases, provided for by paragraph 1-bis of Article 4 of Law No. 91/1992 and by Article 1, paragraph 1-ter of Decree-Law No. 36/2025, minor children born abroad to a citizen parent who does not automatically transmit citizenship may acquire Italian citizenship.
The minor beneficiary will not be a citizen from birth or iure sanguinis.

Pursuant to Article 15 of Law No. 91/1992, the minor does not acquire citizenship from the date of birth, but from the day following the date on which the conditions laid down by law are met.

In the first case (paragraph 1-bis of Article 4 of Law No. 91/1992), the following requirements must be met cumulatively:

• one parent is a citizen by birth. Accordingly excluded are cases of citizens by naturalisation pursuant to Article 9 of Law No. 91/1992, or “by operation of law” pursuant to Article 4 of Law No. 91/1992, or by marriage pursuant to Article 5 of Law No. 91/1992 or Article 10 of Law No. 555/1912, or by reacquisition pursuant to Articles 13 or 17 of Law No. 91/1992, or by iuris communicatione (Article 14 of Law No. 91/1992);
• both parents (including the foreign parent) or the guardian submit a declaration of intent to acquire citizenship within three years of birth (or from the later date on which filiation with an Italian citizen is established, or on which adoption by an Italian citizen during the child’s minority is ordered). In the event that filiation is recognised at a later time by two parents who are both Italian citizens by birth, the three-year period shall run from the first recognition (as the first recognition already entails transmission of citizenship). If, instead, recognition by the foreign parent (or by an Italian citizen not by birth but on another legal basis) occurs first, the three-year period shall be calculated from the recognition by the second parent who is a citizen by birth.

The declaration of intent to acquire citizenship must be formal and made in person, in the presence of an official delegated to perform civil status functions. If the parents do not make the declaration jointly, the statutory requirement shall be deemed satisfied on the date on which the declaration of the second parent is submitted. If filiation (including adoptive filiation) is established with respect to only one person (or if the other parent is deceased), a declaration by a single parent shall suffice.

Declarations under Article 4, paragraph 1-bis, letter b) (operation of law) are free of charge.

Where the minor establishes legal residence in Italy, the declaration may also be submitted after the three-year period from birth, provided that residence continues for at least two continuous years after submission of the declaration of intent to acquire citizenship by the parents.

The second case (paragraph 1-ter of Article 1 of Decree-Law No. 36/2025) applies where all of the following conditions are met:

• persons who were minors on the date of entry into force of the conversion law, i.e. persons who had not reached 18 years of age as of 24 May 2025;
• children of citizens by birth who fall within the conditions set out in letters a), a-bis) and b) of Article 3-bis of Law No. 91/1992. In other words, the parents must have been recognized as citizens on the basis of an administrative or judicial application submitted by 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on 27 March 2025, or on the basis of an application submitted pursuant to an appointment communicated by the Consular Office or the Municipality by that same date;
  • the declaration by the parents or the guardian must be submitted to the Consular Office by 31 May 2026. If the person concerned, who was a minor as of 24 May 2025, reaches the age of majority in the meantime, the declaration must be submitted personally by him or her within the same deadline.

Declarations must be made in person at the Consular Office before officials delegated to civil status functions.

An identity document of the applicant and of the child, proof of residence within the consular district, as well as the documentation listed in the relevant declaration form must also be attached.

Acquisition of Citizenship by minor children cohabiting with a parent who is not a citizen from birth

Article 14 of Law No. 91/1992, as amended by Decree-Law No. 36/2025 as converted into Law No. 74/2025, provides that, in order to acquire citizenship through this procedure, the child of Italian citizens who are not citizens from birth must have been legally resident in Italy for at least two continuous years at the time of the acquisition or reacquisition of Italian citizenship by the parent (if the child is under two years of age, he or she must have been resident in Italy since birth).

It is specified that:

• where the application for recognition of citizenship iure communicatione falls, by reason of the manner of submission, within the exceptions identified in letters a), a-bis) or b) of Article 3-bis of Law No. 91/1992 (i.e. an administrative or judicial application submitted by 27 March 2025, or an application submitted pursuant to an appointment indicated by that same date), the previous legal regime shall apply;
  • where the application for recognition of citizenship iure communicatione was submitted as of 28 March 2025, it is necessary that the parent transmitting citizenship be exclusively an Italian citizen or have resided in Italy for two years prior to the birth of the child;
  • where the acquisition or reacquisition of citizenship by the parent occurs as of 24 May 2025, the child cohabiting with the parent acquiring or reacquiring Italian citizenship must have been resident in Italy for at least two years prior to the parent’s naturalisation. In this case, jurisdiction for ascertaining the minor’s acquisition of citizenship lies with the Italian municipality of residence.

Citizenship by marriage or civil union

The acquisition of citizenship by the foreign or stateless spouse of an Italian citizen is governed by Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Law No. 91/1992, as subsequently amended.
The foreign spouse may acquire Italian citizenship upon application, provided that the following requirements are met:

• in Italy: two years of legal residence after the marriage or from the date on which the spouse acquired Italian citizenship by naturalisation; abroad: three years after the marriage or from the date on which the spouse acquired Italian citizenship by naturalisation. These time limits are reduced by half in the presence of children born to or adopted by the spouses;
  • validity of the marriage under Italian law and registration of the marriage certificate with the competent Italian Municipality, as well as the subsistence of the marital bond until the decree is issued;
  • absence of final criminal convictions for offences punishable by a statutory maximum sentence of not less than three years’ imprisonment, or of convictions by a foreign judicial authority to a sentence exceeding one year for non-political offences, where the judgment has been registered in Italy;
  • absence of convictions for any of the offences provided for in Book II, Title I, Chapters I, II and III of the Criminal Code (offences against the personality of the State);
  • absence of impediments relating to the security of the Republic;
  • certified knowledge of the Italian language at a level not lower than B1 of the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” (requirement applicable to applications submitted as of 4 December 2018).

As of 1 August 2015, applicants residing abroad must submit applications for the acquisition of Italian citizenship electronically, in accordance with the new procedure established by the competent Ministry of the Interior.

The applicant must register on the dedicated portal, known as ALI, at the relevant webpage and, once logged in, will have access to the online procedure for submitting the citizenship application.

In order to facilitate identification of the diplomatic-consular Mission with territorial jurisdiction to receive the application, the above-mentioned website includes a link that allows the user after selecting the country of residence to choose the competent Mission from a drop-down menu, accessing a list that includes the entire diplomatic-consular network of the selected country.

The user must complete all fields of the form and upload the following mandatory documents indicated by the Ministry of the Interior for submitting the citizenship application (it is recalled that EU Regulation No. 2016/1191, which entered into force on 16 February 2019, provides for exemption from legalisation provided that public documents are issued to a Union citizen by the authorities of his or her Member State of nationality):

1. birth certificate extract from the country of origin, complete with all personal details, including parentage, translated into Italian and apostilled;
2. criminal record certificate from the country of origin, from any third countries of residence, and from the countries whose citizenship the applicant holds, translated into Italian and apostilled;
3. copy of the passport;
4. educational qualification issued by a public or officially recognised educational institution, or certification issued by a certifying body. At present, the following bodies are recognised as certifying bodies, as part of the unified CLIQ certification system (Certificazione Lingua Italiana di Qualità):

• University for Foreigners of Siena;
  • University for Foreigners of Perugia;
  • Roma Tre University;
  • Società Dante Alighieri.

Certificates issued by these bodies shall therefore be considered valid, including where issued under cooperation arrangements with local Italian Cultural Institutes.
To identify the educational institutions authorised to issue the required certification, applicants are invited to consult the dedicated webpage of the Italian Language Portal.

5. FAMILY STATUS CERTIFICATE, translated into Italian and apostilled.
6. DETAILED RECEIPT OF PAYMENT OF THE €250 CONTRIBUTION.
   Account details to be used by applicants for payment:
   postal current account payable to “Ministero dell’Interno D.L.C.I. – Cittadinanza”. Mandatory payment reference: Name, Surname, “Application for citizenship by marriage of ………………….” (where the wife has taken the husband’s surname, both surnames and the given name must be indicated).
   IBAN code of the above-mentioned account: IT54D0760103200000000809020
   • BIC/SWIFT code of Poste Italiane: BPPIITRRXXX

After submission of the application online, the applicant will be summoned by the diplomatic-consular Mission that received the application for identification and for the other steps necessary to complete the procedure, including submission of the original documentation attached to the online application and any other document useful for the assessment. In this regard, it is specified that the following documents—extract of the marriage certificate, family status certificate, and Italian citizenship certificate of the spouse—are replaced, where the applicant is an EU citizen, by self-certification pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 445/2000 and, subsequently, Law No. 183/2011.
An applicant who is a citizen of a country not belonging to the European Union may be exempted from submitting the extract of the marriage certificate, the family status certificate, and the Italian citizenship certificate of the spouse, only where such documents are already held by the diplomatic-consular Mission.
Pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 5 of Presidential Decree No. 572/93, the Ministry of the Interior may, depending on the circumstances, request additional documents.
It is recalled that, pursuant to the Directive of the Minister of the Interior of 7 March 2012, as of 1 June 2012 the authority competent to issue citizenship grant decrees is:
• the Prefect, for applications submitted by a foreign national legally resident in Italy;
• the Head of the Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration, where the foreign spouse resides abroad;
• the Minister of the Interior, where reasons relating to the security of the Republic exist.
The time limit for the completion of proceedings under Articles 5 and 9 of Law No. 91/1992 is forty-eight (48) months from the date of acceptance of the application.

Following publication in the Official Gazette (No. 22 of 27 January 2017) of Legislative Decrees Nos. 5, 6 and 7 of 19 January 2017—adopted pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 28 of Law No. 76 of 20 May 2016 (Regulation of civil unions between persons of the same sex and regulation of cohabitation)—as of 11 February 2017 it has been possible to submit online applications for Italian citizenship, pursuant to Articles 5 and 7 of Law No. 91/1992, also by foreign citizens who have entered into a civil union with an Italian citizen, registered in the civil status registers of the Italian Municipality.

Reacquisition of citizenship

Article 17 of Law No. 91/1992

Law No. 74 of 23 May 2025 has reopened the time limits for the reacquisition of citizenship in favour of former citizens born in Italy or who resided in Italy for at least two continuous years and who lost citizenship no later than 15 August 1992 pursuant to Article 8, nos. 1 and 2, or Article 12 of Law No. 555 of 1912 (naturalization in a foreign country, renunciation of citizenship following involuntary acquisition of foreign citizenship, minor children cohabiting with a parent who lost citizenship). The possibility of reacquisition does not apply to those who renounced Italian citizenship (or lost it for other reasons) as of 16 August 1992.
Declarations of reacquisition may be submitted between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2027.
Applicants for reacquisition must submit:

1. a valid identity document issued by the authorities of the country of current citizenship;
2. birth certificate: if born abroad, it must be submitted in the form required for registration in Italy, duly legalised and translated;
3. for those born abroad, historical residence certificate issued by the competent Italian Municipality;
4. historical citizenship certificate;
5. documentation demonstrating the cause and date of loss of citizenship (evidence of acquisition of foreign citizenship and, where applicable, renunciation of Italian citizenship must be provided: naturalisation certificate or, where required by local practice, birth certificate accompanied by certification of citizenship and the legal basis for its acquisition; documentation issued by foreign authorities must be duly legalised and translated).
   For declarations of reacquisition of Italian citizenship, a contribution of €250 is required, to be paid at the Consular Office.
   The declaration must be made personally by the applicant.
   Pursuant to Article 15 of Law No. 91/1992, citizenship is not reacquired from the date of birth, but from the day following that on which the declaration is made.

pursuant to Article 13, paragraph 1, letter c)

A former Italian citizen who lost citizenship for reasons provided by law may reacquire it by means of a declaration made before the Consular Authority, pursuant to Article 13, paragraph 1, letter c), expressing the intention to establish residence in Italy within one year.

DOCUMENTATION TO BE SUBMITTED

• valid identity document;
• birth certificate (translated and legalised where required);
• documentation attesting to the loss of Italian citizenship;
• certificate or attestation of the foreign citizenship held;
• receipt of payment of €250 to the Ministry of the Interior (IBAN IT54D0760103200000000809020 – payment reference: “Reacquisition of Italian citizenship + name surname”);
• any other relevant documentation.

Recognition under special laws
Law No. 379 of 14 December 2000 provides for recognition of Italian citizenship in favour of persons born and resident in the territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and their descendants who meet the required conditions.
The deadline for applications under Law No. 379/2000 expired on 19 December 2010.
Law No. 124 of 8 March 2006 provides for recognition of Italian citizenship in favour of nationals who lost it due to residence between 1940 and 1947 in Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia.
Recognition of Italian citizenship under special laws constitutes an acquisition by operation of law; consequently, the citizen parent may not make the declaration of intent to acquire citizenship on behalf of a minor child pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 1-bis of Law No. 91/1992, since the recognised parent is not an Italian citizen by birth.

Certificate of “non-renunciation”
Where the person concerned has decided to establish residence in Italy, the authorities of the Italian Municipality are responsible for recognising Italian citizenship. Once registered in the population register of residents, the foreign citizen may initiate the procedure for recognition of citizenship iure sanguinis (the duration of which is established by law at a total of 180 days), by submitting the documentation indicated in Circular K.28.1/1991. Representation by a legal proxy or by another person is not permitted; the applicant must be present on the territory.

The request for issuance of the “Non-Renunciation / No Renunciation” Certificate is submitted directly by the Italian Municipality to the Consulate exclusively via PEC (certified electronic mail). The Consulate’s reply to the Municipality (not to the applicant) is always sent exclusively via PEC, provided that the request has been properly submitted.

Applicants may not contact the Consular Office directly regarding procedures carried out by Municipalities or by other Consular Offices, as the evolution of such procedures beyond their own sphere of responsibility is not known.