Italian citizenship through marriage or civil union to an Italian citizen is regulated by Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Law n. 91 of 1992 on Italian Citizenship.
The non-Italian Spouse married to an Italian citizen can apply for Italian citizenship by marriage after two years from the marriage/civil union, if residing in Italy. This term is reduced by half if the couple has children under the age of 18, or when children are legally adopted by the couple.
Foreign nationals that reside outside Italy are eligible to apply for Italian citizenship by marriage three years after the date of marriage/civil union to an Italian Citizen. The term is reduced by half if the couple has children under the age of 18 or when children are legally adopted by the couple.
Same-sex civil unions were recognized in Italy in 2016. All same-sex marriages celebrated abroad are recognized in Italy as Civil Unions. Same-sex couples are provided with most of the protections that are provided to married couples.
The fee to apply for Italian citizenship by marriage/civil union is €250 to be paid by wire transfer (or via the postal system, for those applicants that reside and apply in Italy) into the account of the Italian Ministry of Interior. Many US banks can easily perform wire transfers in a different currency.
Law December 1, 2018 n. 32 (which converted into law and modified/integrated Law Decree October 4, 2018 n. 113) introduced a new requirement for applications for Italian citizenship by marriage presented after December 4, 2018. Such law establishes that applicants for Italian citizenship by marriage must have an adequate knowledge of the Italian language (B1 level) which must be certified by an educational institution approved by the Italian Ministry of Education (“MIUR”) or Ministry of Foreign affairs (“MAECI”)
PREREQUISITES
Besides the time requirements outlined above, in order to start the citizenship process, the Italian spouse must be registered with the AIRE (if residing abroad) and must have already registered the foreign marriage record, or same-sex marriage/civil union (duly legalized), through the local Italian consulate. Additionally, the comune must have already registered the marriage/civil union record in Italy.
The first step, therefore, is verifying that the marriage record is already on file with the Italian comune, that the Italian spouse is correctly registered with the AIRE, and that the residence address on file at the consulate is current.
WHERE TO FILE THE CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION
The application for Italian citizenship by marriage must be filed at the local Italian consulate (where the Italian spouse is registered with the AIRE) if the couple is residing abroad. If the couple is residing in Italy, the citizenship application must be filed at the local “Prefettura”.
THE PROCESS
The application for Italian citizenship by marriage/civil union is articulated in two steps: online application and final appointment for submission of original documents and signature of the citizenship application at the consulate/Prefettura.
The first step is to be completed on the web portal of the Italian Ministry of Interior and it is necessary to fill out an online application and upload scans of all the required documents.
The applicant must register through the portal “ALI” by creating his/her own account at this link: https://portaleservizi.dlci.interno.it/
As of now, the web portal “ALI” is only available in Italian.
In order to apply for Italian citizenship through marriage, the Italian law requires the following documentation:
- a copy of the marriage certificate transcript needs to be obtained from the Italian municipality where the Italian spouse is registered with AIRE.;
- criminal background checks from the US States (and foreign countries, if applicable) where the applicant has resided since the age of 14 and from the FBI (so that both the State and Federal levels will be covered);
- a certified copy of the foreign birth certificate;
- Italian language certification attesting B1 proficiency (“intermediate level). The certificate needs to be issued by an institution which is officially recognized by the Ministry of Education (“MIUR”) or Ministry of Foreign affairs (“MAECI”)
Note: All the foreign documents issued in the US must be legalized by means of an “Apostille” (one for each US document). All the documents which originated in countries other than Italy and the US must be legalized following the local regulations on the use of certified documents abroad (we advise you to contact the local Italian consulates for further information).
An “Apostille” is an international legalization which enables a document for foreign use.
All documents in languages other than Italian must be translated into Italian. The translations must be certified by the local Italian consulate/s.
After the legalization and translation into Italian of all the documents, you will be ready for the subsequent step, which consists of the online submission and the final appointment.
There will be no need to book an appointment for Italian Citizenship Jure Matrimonii at the Consulate because all the documentation needed for the process will be submitted online through the web portal of the Italian Ministry of Interior for a preliminary assessment.
Your application will be reviewed by your local Consulate/Prefettura and you will eventually be invited by the Consulate/Prefettura to an appointment in order to submit all the documentation in original.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED DURING THE INTERVIEW WITH THE CONSULATE/PREFETTURA
– Italian passport (original and photocopy);
– Non-Italian spouse’s foreign passport and State ID (original and photocopy);
– proof of residency within the consular jurisdiction (original and photocopy);
– “signed declaration” by which the spouses declare to be still married;
– Application form;
– Residency list;
– ORIGINAL long form certified copy of the non-Italian spouse’s birth certificate with Apostille and translation into Italian;
– ORIGINAL marriage transcript from the Italian municipality (“estratto per riassunto dell’atto di matrimonio);
– ORIGINAL criminal background checks from the US states and countries where the applicant has resided since the age of 14 (+ the state or country of birth) with Apostille and translation into Italian;
– Italian language certification (B1 level);
– receipt of the €250 wire transfer;
– a money order to pay the consular fee due for the legalization of the translations.
Note: an “estratto per riassunto” is a certification that lists only the basic information about the record and it is different form a “copia integrale”, which is a copy of the original entry, listing any information that is listed on the original record.
After the appointment at the consulate, the documents will be sent by the Consulate to the Ministry of Interior for processing.
THE PROCESSING TIME
In the past the maximum processing time for applications for citizenship by marriage was 730 days (2 years). The Law Decree n. 113 passed on October 4, 2018 (and converted into law 132/2018) reduced the maximum processing time to 48 months. On December 18, 2020 the Law number 173 changed the processing time to 24 months which can be extended to a maximum of 36 months.
NOTE: Applications by descent, on the other hand, have a 2-years time-limit, although they are sometimes processed even more quickly.
The difference in average processing time is due to the fact that, while citizenship applications by descent are entirely handled by the Consulates, for applications by marriage/civil union the Consulate only acts as an intermediary between the applicant and the office of the Ministry of Interior in the initial stage (preliminary evaluation and collection of documents) and final stage (receipt of the oath from the applicant). The intermediate phase, which consists of the actual examination of the documentation as well as the decision-making, is completely handled in Rome by the office of the Ministry.
As the Ministry has a huge amount of requests to examine (all of the applications by marriage filed in Italy and abroad as well as all the applications for citizenship by residency in Italy), it takes a long time to process them. Although it could take less, based on our experience, hardly the Ministry of Interior will process applications much earlier than the deadline set by the law.
However, once the 3-year limit has elapsed, the office of the Ministry of Interior is obliged by law to provide an answer. If it exceeds the processing time they are allowed, the applicant is entitled to file a formal letter of notice (“Diffida”) demanding an immediate answer. Although the result is not 100% guaranteed, normally, these letters are sufficient to move things along (as the Ministry when possible tries to avoids lawsuits, as they would be required to cover any legal fees).
The “Diffida” is generally sent by an attorney but also the applicant can send it personally. For obvious reasons, the letter carries much more weight when it is sent by an attorney (contact us if you are in this stage of the process and require legal assistance).
Please note that, in the event of divorce, annulment, dissolution or death of the Italian spouse occurring during the processing time of the application, the process will be interrupted.
Interruption of the process also occurs in the event that the Consulate/Prefettura is unable to reach the applicant for any official communication; for this reason, it is of vital importance to keep the Consulate/Prefettura informed about any change of address.
END OF THE PROCESS AND OATH
Once the application has been processed, the consulate will contact the applicant through a message on the Web Portal. If Italian citizenship was granted, the applicant is invited to the consulate for the citizenship ceremony; this ceremony needs to occur within 6 months from the date citizenship was granted. Both the newly recognized Italian citizen and the Italian spouse must attend the ceremony, as the Italian spouse will be required to sign an affidavit to confirm that the marriage is still valid and that no separation, divorce, or annulment has been requested.
At the ceremony the Consul General of Italy (or an acting representative) will read a statement (“verbale di giuramento”). The applicant will then be required to take an oath of allegiance by pronouncing, loud and clear, the following words “GIURO DI ESSERE FEDELE ALLA REPUBBLICA ITALIANA ED AL SUO CAPO E DI OSSERVARE LEALMENTE LA COSTITUZIONE E LE LEGGI DELLO STATO”.
MARRIAGE PRE-1983 (only for women married to Italian men prior to 1983)
Foreign women who married an Italian man prior to April 26, 1983 obtained Italian citizenship automatically and instantly on the date of the marriage.
If you fall into this category, you are required to schedule an appointment with your local Italian consulate.
You can apply for Italian citizenship by marriage even if your spouse is deceased or if you divorced, as long as the marriage was still valid as of April 26, 1983.
Documents required are the following:
- US passport (original and photocopy)
- Consular fee (€600). Please see table published on the website of your local consulate for the amount in USD (the exchange rate is updated every 3 months).
- Proof of residency within the consular jurisdiction
- marriage certificate: either the “estratto per riassunto” if the marriage has already been registered in Italy, or the original marriage record legalized with Apostille and translated into Italian;
- birth certificate of the applicant legalized with Apostille and translated into Italian.
On 27 April 1983, automatic Italian citizenship through marriage ended (Law no. 123). Starting on this date, foreign women and foreign men are treated equally when marrying their Italian spouses: they do not receive automatic and immediate Italian citizenship.