COPY LINK

For members

ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

When are children born in Italy eligible for Italian citizenship?

Italian citizenship comes with a number of benefits but obtaining it isn’t always a straightforward process – even if you are born in Italy. So which children are eligible, and which aren't?

Published: 3 September 2024 12:42 CEST

Italian flags pictured in an alley in Assisi, near Perugia, Umbria. Photo by Serge Taeymans on Unsplash

Talks of a potential ‘citizenship through school’ reform is in the news again this week after Foreign Minister and centre-right Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani said his party would soon table a proposal to grant citizenship to Italy-born children of foreign parents upon completion of ten years of compulsory education in the country.

But as the announcement continues to create tensions between Forza Italia and its coalition partners – the League and PM Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, both of which have long opposed any change to current rules – which children born in Italy are eligible for Italian citizenship under the present system?

Children of an Italian national at birth

If at least one parent is an Italian citizen, the child will automatically be granted Italian citizenship at birth by virtue of the so-called jus sanguinis (‘blood right’).

This applies to children born abroad as much as it does to those born in Italy.

Children adopted by an Italian national

A foreign minor who’s adopted by an Italian citizen is automatically granted Italian citizenship.

A foreign national aged 18 or over who’s adopted by an Italian citizen can apply for naturalisation following five years of continuous residency in the country.

Children of stateless or unknown parents

A child born in Italy to stateless (meaning they have no legal nationality) or unknown parents automatically acquires Italian citizenship.

Children of foreign nationals

Unlike in several other countries around the world, including the US, merely being born in Italy doesn’t automatically grant a child Italian citizenship.

This means that, if neither parent has Italian citizenship, children do not obtain citizenship at birth.

That said, there are several scenarios to consider in the case of children of foreign parents.

Children whose parents become Italian citizens via naturalisation

A foreign national who obtains Italian citizenship by residency (also known as naturalisation) passes it to any child under the age of 18 provided that they live with them.

To make a practical example, if you moved to Italy, had a child and naturalised as an Italian national after their birth, you’ll pass your Italian citizenship to them as long as the above requirements are met.

Getting Italian citizenship is more difficult for children whose parents become Italian citizens after they turn 18 as they will need to file their own naturalisation application following five years of legal residency in the country starting from their parent’s naturalisation date.

Children of foreign parents who don’t acquire citizenship

Italy currently has one of Europe’s toughest citizenship regimes when it comes to Italy-born children of foreign nationals.

They must reside in Italy ‘without interruption’ until the age of 18 and submit a statement of intent to apply for citizenship within one year of their 18th birthday.

If that time window is missed, or they fail to provide proof of continuous residency, then the only option left is to apply for citizenship by residency (naturalisation) after three continuous years of legal residency in the country.

This, however, is still lower than the normal residency threshold for EU nationals (four years) and non-EU nationals (ten years).

How would the latest citizenship proposal change things if approved?

The ius scholae (or ‘school right’) law proposal would essentially create a quicker path to Italian nationality for Italy-born children of foreign nationals by granting them citizenship upon completion of ten years of compulsory education in the country (that’s five years of elementary school, three of middle school and at least two of high school).

This means that Italy-born children of foreign parents would be able to apply for Italian citizenship at the age of 16 – as opposed to 18 under current rules.

Discussions over the potential reform have only just started, meaning it’s hard to say at present what its fate will be going forward.

Though the ius scholae is currently backed by centre-right Forza Italia and several centre-left parties, including the Democratic Party (PD), PM Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and Matteo Salvini’s League have already said they’re against any changes to current citizenship laws.

Read more about the different routes to obtaining Italian citizenship in The Local’s Italian citizenship section.

Member comments

Anonymous - 4 September 2024 at 05:46 CEST

I’m wondering where I can find out more about Citizenship through naturalisation. I have a very specific question. My son is 17, if I have applied for citizenship but don’t receive it before he is 18, is my citizenship still passed automatically to him? Or will he have to go through the process of applying himself when he is 18?
1. giampietro.vianello - 4 September 2024 at 18:26 CEST
  
  Hi. Thanks for the message.
  
  There is little information available in English regarding this, but Italian lawyers (see links below) say that the oath ceremony (or giuramento) is taken as the date when a foreign national can be considered naturalised, meaning that if the giuramento happens after a child turns 18, they would then have to file their own citizenship application.
  
  I strongly suggest getting in touch with a qualified citizenship expert or the interior ministry office for further details.
  
  I hope this helps.
  
  All the best,
  
  Giampietro
  
  https://www.avvocatofrancescolombardini.it/figli-conviventi-cittadinanza/?srsltid=AfmBOopeB1UN7E94-bSSNym_ljVvvNKgkHYFqPUKPAY0QoGWP3MF7kGk#Figli_minorenni_conviventi_con_il_cittadino_straniero_che_acquista_la_cittadinanza_italiana
  
  https://www.infoimmigrazione.com/cittadinanza-figlio-maggiorenne-di-cittadino-italiano/#:~:text=Secondo%20la%20legge%20italiana%2C%20i,successivo%20al%20giuramento%20del%20genitore.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

What I learned from applying for Italian citizenship by marriage

Of the three main routes to obtaining Italian citizenship, marriage is by far the least commonly taken.

Only 12 percent of all applications approved in 2021, the last year for which data is available, came via marriage or civil union to an Italian national – equal to about 14,500 people.

The relatively small number able to take the marriage route are arguably lucky: it tends to be quicker and simpler than obtaining Italian citizenship by almost any other means.

While ancestry and naturalisation via residency together account for the vast majority of applications filed, these paths involve more complex paperwork, higher costs, or a much longer wait time to become eligible.

However, there were changes to the law in 2018 designed to make it tougher to obtain citizenship via marriage. Likely as a result, the number of applications dropped to its lowest point in a decade in 2018 and 2019.

Below I’ve shared some of what I’ve learned so far from my own experience of my recent application for citizenship through marriage. I hope this will save you some time and stress, and perhaps help to make obtaining your Italian passport that little bit easier.

(Note that this article focuses on applying for Italian citizenship via marriage from within Italy, as that was my experience. But you can also apply if you live abroad: we have a separate guide to doing so here.)

Start earlier than you think you need to

After getting married in 2018, I finally filed my application for Italian citizenship in 2023. But, legally, I could’ve done so a lot sooner.

At the moment, the law states that the spouse of an Italian national can submit an application for citizenship after two years of marriage if they are resident in Italy, or three years if they live outside of Italy.

If you have a child together, the waiting time is reduced by half.

I began putting my own application together in 2021, and it took me around two years before I had everything ready to submit. This probably isn’t typical, as the timing wasn’t great: the combined impact of the pandemic and being in the middle of a house purchase slowed things down.

You may be able to do it in a much shorter time, though it’s not something you can do all at once. In any case, the sooner you start, the better.

Start with the language test

You’ll need electronic copies of the following documents ready for your application:

Valid identity document
Valid Italian residency permit
Marriage certificate (‘estratto per riassunto del registro dei matrimoni’)
Birth certificate (with sworn translation into Italian)
Criminal record from your home country and any third countries of residence (with sworn translation into Italian)
Proof of language proficiency
Payment receipt for application fee and revenue stamp

I’d suggest starting with the language certificate, for several reasons: it takes the longest to obtain, it doesn’t expire, and many people say it’s the most daunting item on the list.

The B1 Italian language exam is usually one of the most daunting tasks for people applying for citizenship by marriage

The B1 Italian language exam is usually one of the most daunting tasks for people applying for citizenship by marriage. Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash

Most applicants (see here for the few exemptions) need to prove that they speak Italian to at least B1 level, which is equal to a lower intermediate level, or basic conversational Italian.

As speaking at least some Italian is essential to everyday life in Italy, many people who’ve been here for a few years can probably meet this requirement without much difficulty. Others may want to take a language course in preparation.

I found that all the language schools offering the B1 cittadinanza exam (a simplified version of the B1 Italian exam for the purposes of the application) in my area required you to pay for a block of six language lessons along with the examination fee, whether you needed them or not.

Most language schools in Italy and abroad can help prepare you for the B1 test, though you’ll need to make sure the school you sit the exam with is accredited by one of the four recognised Italian institutions.

Find out more about the exam here.

Once you pass, you’ll have to wait a couple of months for the certificate to arrive so that you can attach it to your application (mine took just under two months, which is standard.)

But while that process is in motion, you can turn your attention to the other documents on the list.

Note that the official copies of your marriage certificate and criminal record will only be valid for six months after you get them, so these are best tackled later.

Know the costs

The application fee is €250, though other costs quickly add up.

There’s the language exam, the fees paid to government offices for releasing documents, stamp fees, international courier fees, and – the biggest cost for me – fees for sworn translations.

In my case, it all came to around €1,200. While this is a lot of money to me, I tried to keep in mind that citizenship applications can cost much, much more.

Many readers applying for Italian citizenship via ancestry, which is very often a lengthy and complex legal process, have told us of costs totalling between $10,000 and $15,000, and even up to $25,000 (most applicants we heard from were based in the US).

Meanwhile, the application fee alone for citizenship of my home country, the UK, is £1,630.

It’s all done online

The first thing to know is that the application process has now moved completely online.

There will still be plenty of analogue paper and pen-pushing to do when gathering documents. But the actual application itself must be filed electronically via the Italian interior ministry’s website, after which it will be handled by the prefettura in your province.

Applications for Italian citizenship by marriage must be filed electronically via the interior ministry’s website

Applications for Italian citizenship by marriage must be filed electronically via the interior ministry’s website. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

You’ll need to use the ministry’s online portal here to put the application together by filling out all of the required information on the electronic form (little by little if necessary – you can save your progress and return to it later).

You’ll need to upload digital copies of all of the required documents. Since you’ll be given most of them in hard copy, having access to a scanner comes in very useful at this point.

Once that’s done, you’ll pay the application fee and 16-euro marca di bollo via the same portal, which takes you to the official PagoPA payment website, and then stores an electronic copy of the receipt for you automatically.

While some people might insist that you should pay these fees at the post office, bank, or tabaccheria, that’s no longer the case: the payment process has been online only since 2022.

The idea of completing a digital application using a website run by the Italian state didn’t exactly fill me with confidence, but I have to say it all worked very smoothly and I had no technical issues.

To log in to the portal you’ll need either a SPID digital identity or your Italian electronic ID card (CIE).

You can do it yourself – but you don’t have to

While I found filing the application fairly straightforward, there is professional help available if you want it.

In fact, staff at the prefettura handling my application said they were surprised that I’d filed it myself, as apparently most applicants use the services of a patronato, or occasionally, an immigration lawyer.

If you’re in doubt about any part of the process, these professionals can be invaluable in helping to gather the documents, uploading them in the correct formats, filling out the application for you in Italian, and generally making sure no mistakes are made.

I did look into using a patronato when I first embarked on the process, but all those I contacted were extremely busy. So you may also want to factor in some extra time to find one who is available.

Find out more about what a patronato does and how to find one near you in this guide.

Prepare for a long wait

Submitting your application will be a huge relief after months (or years) of working on it.

After that, all you can do is wait. The prefettura has up to three years to either approve or deny your application, or they may ask for further information. If approved, they’ll then want to see the hard copies of your documents.

The time limit for processing applications was increased in 2018 from two to four years and then changed again in 2020 to two years with a maximum extension of one additional year.

The 2018 law change also means that applications from spouses can now be denied – and are automatically denied if they are not processed within the maximum time frame (whereas before they were automatically granted.)

Every province may handle the process slightly differently. I know my local prefettura gets a relatively low number of applications – at least compared to Rome or Milan – so I had hoped it might be somewhat faster, but I’ve since found out that they take the maximum amount of time as standard.

At the time of writing, I’m still waiting and hoping that all the time, money, and pazienza involved in filing my application will eventually pay off.

Find out more about getting your Italian passport and what happens after your request for Italian citizenship is approved.

For more information about applying for Italian citizenship through marriage, see the Italian foreign ministry’s website or contact the Italian consulate in your country of origin.

SHOW COMMENTS

Url copied to clipboard!