General Information

ITALIAN NATIONALITY LAW – GENERAL INFORMATION

Italian citizenship law regulates the acquisition, transmission and loss of Italian citizenship. Like many other countries in Europe, it is based on the principle of Jus Sanguinis (“right of blood/descent”), which allows individuals of Italian descent who were born abroad to be recognized as Italian citizens by birth right provided that they meet the eligibility requirements. However, Italy also adopts the principle of jus soli, but only in exceptional circumstances, such as in cases in which individuals are born in Italy to stateless or unknown parents.

There are several paths towards becoming an Italian citizen, in fact, you can apply for Italian citizenship by descent, by marriage and by residency. There is also a fourth potential avenue which applies to a specific category of individuals, and which entails applying for the re-acquisition of Italian citizenship.

ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BY DESCENT (JURE SANGUINIS)

Like many other European countries, Italian citizenship laws are predominantly based on the principle of jure sanguinis (by right of blood/descent). According to this principle an individual can automatically acquire Italian citizenship at birth if his or her parent was an Italian citizen, or if the parent has a right to Italian citizenship (note: women were allowed to transfer citizenship to their children only as of January 1, 1948).

Prior to the enactment of Law-Decree 36/2025 on March 28, 2025 (converted into law on May 24, 2025 by Law No. 74/2025), there was no generational limit to claim Italian citizenship by descent, as long as an unbroken chain of citizenship was proven to the most recent Italian-born ancestor, who must have been alive in 1861 (when Italy became a unified nation). If you submitted your application or booked an appointment prior to March 27, 2025, your application will be processed according to these “old rules”.

According to the above-mentioned jure sanguinis principle, foreign citizens whose ascendant (parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc.) was an Italian citizen can claim Italian citizenship by descent. In order to prove that you have a right to Italian citizenship by descent you must demonstrate that citizenship was passed from your ancestor (who must have been an Italian citizen) to you, and that none of your ascendants in the Italian lineage renounced their right to Italian citizenship. You can apply for the recognition of Italian citizenship via a municipality in Italy or via the Italian consulate that covers the jurisdiction where you reside. Each consulate has slightly different procedures, requirements and waiting times. However, the legal criteria for citizenship jure sanguinis are the same regardless of whether you file your petition for recognition in Italy or at any Italian consulate abroad.

The guidelines in effect after May 24, 2025 for the recognition of Italian citizenship by descent are as follows:

If you are an individual born abroad, either before or after the law’s date of entry into force, to be recognized as an Italian citizen, you must have either:

an parent or grandparent who was exclusively an Italian citizen.
a parent or adoptive parent who resided in Italy for two consecutive years following their acquisition of Italian citizenship and before your date of birth or adoption

If you submitted your application to the competent consular office, Italian municipality, filed in court, OR received notification of an appointment to submit an application by 11:59 PM Rome Time on March 27, 2025, your application will be processed pursuant to eligibility rules in effect prior to May 24, 2025.

How to apply under the old rules>>

How to qualify under the new rules>>

Note:

Italian Citizenship can be acquired through a legal proceeding in Italy.

Under the 1912 Italian Citizenship law, only men were able to transfer Italian citizenship to their children (born in Italy or abroad) on the condition that they were Italian citizens at the time of their children’s birth. It was only after the Italian constitution came into effect on January 1, 1948 that women were given the same rights as men and were thus able to pass their citizenship on to their children, but only to those who were born after January 1, 1948. The precedent to claim Italian citizenship retroactively was set in 2009 when the Court of Rome ruled that the principle of gender equality established in the constitution should be applied retroactively. As a result, applicants who have a 1948 case have very good chances of succeeding in obtaining Italian citizenship. Please find more information about court cases here.

CITIZENSHIP BY MARRIAGE

If you are married to an Italian citizen and you reside in Italy, you can apply for Italian citizenship by marriage after 2 years from the date of marriage/civil union. This is reduced to 1 year if you have minor children. If you reside abroad you can apply after 3 years from the date of marriage/civil union; if you have minor children you can apply after 1.5 years. These requirements also apply to same-sex civil unions, which were recognized officially in Italy in 2016.

Foreign women who married an Italian citizen before April 27, 1983, automatically gained Italian citizenship.

NOTE: According to the Law-Decree effective as of March 28, 2025 (converted into law on May 24, 2025 by Law n. 74/2025), the “special” automatic granting of Italian citizenship for a foreign woman who married an Italian man prior to April 26, 1983 may no longer be recognized. As a consequence, after March 28, 2025 any person married to an Italian citizen must apply according to regular application process.

How to apply >>

CITIZENSHIP THROUGH NATURALIZATION (BY RESIDENCY)

An individual who has been legally residing in Italy for at least ten years can apply for Italian citizenship through naturalization provided that he/she has clean criminal records and can provide proof of income. The number of years required to apply is reduced if specific criteria are met. In particular:

for citizens of an EU member state the period of legal residency required is 4 years;
for foreigners whose parents or grandparents were Italians by birth the period of legal residency required is 2 years; the same applies to foreigners who were born in Italy;
for stateless persons or individuals who were adopted by Italian citizens when they were adults the period of legal residency required is 5 years.

How to apply >>

CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION BASED ON SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

There are other types of citizenship applications based on exceptional circumstances that apply to the following categories:

individuals whose parents or grandparents were Italian citizens at birth: in order to apply these individuals must have served in the Italian military, worked for the Italian government or have resided in Italy for two years before reaching the age of 18.
individuals who were born in Italy to foreign parents but who have resided in Italy from birth to the age of 18 without any interruption.

RE-ACQUSITION OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

Prior to August 16, 1992, Italian citizens who naturalized in a foreign country automatically lost their Italian citizenship. This changed after August 16, 1992 as Italy allowed for dual citizenship. Nevertheless, if you fall into the category described above you can re-acquire your Italian citizenship provided that you establish your residency in Italy.

NOTE: In accordance with legislation effective as of May 24, 2025, individuals who were born in Italy and who lost citizenship pursuant to provisions of Law No. 555 of 1912 can reacquire it if they make a declaration between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2027, without a residence requirement in Italy.

How to apply >>

Useful Terminology:

Ascendant: an applicant’s ancestor.
Descendant: a person that is descended from a particular ancestor.
Long-form birth certificate: a “long-form birth certificate” or “full-size birth certificate” or “book copy” is a document that includes all the information about the birth. “Short-form birth certificates”, “certifications” or “abstracts of birth certificates” only include selected information about the birth (such as the newborn’s name and date of birth, the parents’ names and the county of birth). Short form certificates are not accepted for dual citizenship applications.
Certified copy: a true copy of the primary document issued by a government agency.
Apostille: an official certificate issued by a government that makes a document from one country acceptable in another that has signed the 1961 Apostille Convention (also referred to as the Hague Convention). In the United States, apostilles are issued by the Secretary of State or by the U.S. Department of State (for federal documents) and bear the seal of the governmental office that issued them and the signature of a public official. Please note that countries which are not signatories to the Hague convention cannot issue apostilles.
Italian-born ascendant: an applicant’s closest family member or ancestor who was born in Italy.
Intermediate ascendant: an ascendant in the direct Italian lineage (note: spouses do not generally count as intermediate ascendants).
Jus Soli: “right of soil” is the right to citizenship of anyone born in the territory of a state.
Jus Sanguinis: “right of blood” is the right of an individual to claim the citizenship of a country by virtue of being born to a parent who is a citizen of that country or who has the right to citizenship of that country.
Naturalization: the process whereby a foreigner becomes a citizen of a country.
Dual Citizenship: the ability of being a citizen of two countries simultaneously. Italy did not allow for dual citizenship before August 16, 1992, however it made an exception for individuals who were born abroad to an Italian parent and who involuntarily acquired the citizenship of the country in which they were born through the principle of jus soli.

Examples

Michael’s grandfather Giuseppe emigrated to the United States in 1900. Michael’s father Pietro was born in 1925 in the USA. Giuseppe is Michael’s Italian-born ancestor. Pietro is Michael’s intermediate ascendant.
Salvatore emigrated to the United States in 1900 and arrived at Ellis Island. He became a US resident but he was also an Italian citizen. In 1930 he started the process of naturalization by signing a Declaration of Intention. This did not affect his status as an Italian citizen. In 1935, spurred by looming hostilities between Italy and the US, he filed a Petition for Naturalization. When he signed the Oath of Allegiance in late 1935 he completed the process of naturalization, which at that time meant he would have also automatically renounced his Italian citizenship. Therefore, when he naturalized as a US citizen, Salvatore lost his Italian citizenship.
Antonio’s son John was born in the U.S. in 1925 while Antonio was still an Italian citizen. Since John was born in the U.S., he involuntarily acquired U.S. citizenship through the principle of jus soli. However, due to the fact that he was the child of an Italian citizen, he automatically acquired Italian citizenship through jure sanguinis at birth.