In one of our previous articles we analyzed the reasons why many people, especially in the U.S. qualify for Italian citizenship by descent. Among these are the mass migration waves from Italy to the United States, which occurred starting from the late 1800 and the efficiency of the Italian and U.S. record keeping system, which has allowed thousands of U.S. citizens with Italian ancestry to access the vital records needed to file an application via an Italian consulate, a municipality or a court in Italy. In addition to these there are also some important eligibility requirements which have to be met in order for citizenship to be passed from one generation to another. Nevertheless, there are cases in which an individual might not be able to apply for citizenship by descent and thus may wonder about the options that are available to become an Italian citizen. As explained in many of our articles, if you fall into this category you might consider applying for Italian citizenship by residency, and if you are married to an Italian citizen you might want to file an application for citizenship by marriage. This article will briefly discuss these two pathways and most importantly, it will analyze the changes that have occurred within each application process in the past few years.
Citizenship by marriage
If your spouse is Italian, you live in Italy and you would like to apply for Italian citizenship, you can apply after 2 years from the date of marriage or civil union. On the other hand, if you live abroad, you can apply after 3 years from the date of marriage or civil union. If you have minor children, the time required to apply is halved. In addition to the necessary years of marriage or civil union needed to file an application, you must also provide clean criminal records issued by all the countries in which you have resided since the age of 14 – if you live in the U.S. you will need to provide clean criminal records issued by the FBI as well as the ones issued by all the U.S. states in which you have resided. The records must be legalized with an Apostille and accompanied by a professional translation into Italian. Please note that criminal records have a validity of 6 months and therefore it is advisable to collect them shortly before submitting an application. You will also need a certified copy of your birth certificate which has been duly legalized with an Apostille and translated into Italian, proof of payment of 250 euros, and your marriage certificate, which is issued by the municipality where your Italian spouse is registered with the A.I.R.E.
How have the laws changed the process of applying for citizenship by marriage?
The process to apply for citizenship by marriage is regulated by Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Law n.91 of 1992. The first major change occurred in 2016, when Italy recognized same-sex civil unions thereby extending the right to apply for citizenship by marriage to same-sex couples. In 2018, when decree law n. 113, which was passed on October 4, was converted into law on December 1, 2018, a new requirement was introduced which established that citizenship by marriage would require a certified knowledge of the Italian language at a level which is no lower than B1, which according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is intermediate level. The language certification is compulsory unless you hold a degree in Italian or you attended school in Italy. Furthermore, the language certificate is only valid if it has been issued by one of the following institutions: the University for Foreigners of Siena, the University for Foreigners of Perugia, the Roma Tre University and the Dante Alighieri Society. Decree n. 113 also increased the citizenship application fee from €200 to €250. Lastly, the law changed the maximum processing time from 24 months (2 years) to 48 months (4 years). It is worth pointing out that while the new processing time applied to all the citizenship requests that were pending when the law came into effect, the language requirement only applied to individuals who filed their application after the new law came into effect.
The above law changed again on October 21, 2020, when the Italian government passed decree law n.130/2020 which was converted into law n. 173/2020 on December 18, 2020. This law reduced the processing time from 48 months (4 years) to 24 months (2 years), but this can be extended to a maximum of 36 months (3 years). However, the new processing time only applied to citizenship requests which were filed after the new law came into effect. While the law reduced the time needed to process an application, it did not revoke the language requirement, nor did it bring changes to the other requirements needed to apply.
Finally, on July 26, 2022, the Italian Constitutional Court issued judgement n.195, which declares the constitutional illegitimacy of the provision outlined in art. 5, law 91/1992, which established that if the Italian spouse passed away during the foreign spouse’s citizenship application, the application would be denied. The judgment issued in 2022 has removed this provision; in other words, denying citizenship to an individual whose Italian spouse passed away during the application process is now considered to be unlawful.
Where can you file an application for citizenship by marriage?
Once all your documents are ready you will need to upload all the relevant scans on the Ministry of the Interior’s online portal. Once the paperwork has been assessed, if you reside in Italy, the original documents will need to be submitted to the local prefecture. On the other hand, if you reside abroad, you will need to submit them to the consulate where your spouse is registered with the A.I.R.E. When you are granted citizenship you will need to attend an official ceremony within 6 months from the date of approval and ultimately, you will be able to apply for an Italian passport.
Citizenship by residency
If you an EU citizen and you have legally resided in Italy for 4 years you can apply for Italian citizenship by residency. On the other hand, if you are a non-EU citizen, 10 years of legal residency in Italy will be required. There are some instances in which the period of residency required is lower, such as if you your parents or grandparents were Italians by birth; in this case, the time of legal residency required is 3 years. In order to apply you must meet a number of requirements, such as proof that your name is listed in the registry office in the town/s where you have resided with no interruption, a B1 language certificate (unless you hold a language degree in Italian, you attended school in Italy, or you hold a “carta di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo” which was issued after 2011). In addition to these, you will also need a certified copy of your birth certificate which has been duly legalized with an Apostille and translated into Italian, proof of income, proof of payment of 250 euro and clean criminal records issued by all the U.S. states and foreign countries (if applicable) in which you have resided since the age of 14. The application for citizenship by residency must be submitted via the official website of the Italian Ministry of the Interior. Once your application has been approved you will then need to provide the local prefecture with original copies of the documents, and if your application is successful you will be issued a decree of citizenship and a ceremony will take place within 6 months from that date.
How has the process to apply for citizenship by residency changed over the years?
A language requirement was introduced by Decreto Salvini, also known as Decreto Sicurezza 14.7, which was passed on October 4, 2018 and was converted into law on December 1, 2018. Similarly to the changes established for the process to apply for citizenship by marriage, the decree extended the maximum processing time to be granted citizenship to 48 months (4 years); the application fee also changed from €200 to €250. However, on December 18, 2020 law n. 173/2020 reduced the number of years needed to be recognized as an Italian citizen from 48 months (4 years) to 24 months (2 years), however, this can be extended to a maximum of 36 months (3 years).
Final remarks
In conclusion, this article has sought to explain how the laws regulating the acquisition of Italian citizenship by marriage and by residency have changed over the last few years. If you are considering filing an application for citizenship by marriage or by residency and you would like further information about the application process, please contact us for a free consultation at [email protected]
