Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
PRESENTED BY ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP ASSISTANCE

EXPLAINED: Three ways you could become an Italian citizen

The recent surge in applications for Italian citizenship is hardly surprising when you consider the advantages and benefits that Italian citizenship brings. It gives you the freedom to live, study and work in Italy and the EU indefinitely, plus access to free or low cost universal healthcare and education.

Published: 13 January 2022 08:45 CET
Updated: 11 February 2022 16:50 CET
EXPLAINED: Three ways you could become an Italian citizen
Photo: Getty Images

“I’m very glad I did this,” says Kristopher Imbrigotta, an American who now has Italian dual citizenship. “I don’t need to worry about visas, work permits, or any hurdles in health or education systems. I also learned that the Italian passport is currently a more powerful document than my US passport. It feels great to be American and European!”

While the benefits are clear, applying can be a complicated process, which is why it often makes sense to bring in specialist lawyers such as those at Italian Citizenship Assistance (ICA). The Local, in partnership with ICA, looks at three common routes by which you may be able to become an Italian citizen.

Could you have the right to Italian citizenship? Learn more and get your free preliminary eligibility assessment from Italian Citizenship Assistance

Italian citizenship by descent

“I always felt a connection to my Italian heritage, kept alive by my father’s family,” says Kristopher. “Both my grandfather’s and grandmother’s families are from Italy and immigrated to the US in the early 1910s or so. I remember hearing Italian spoken at their house and enjoying many Italian traditions.”

If you also have Italian ancestors, like more than 16 million Americans, you may feel motivated to explore whether you could become a citizen. You may be eligible for Italian citizenship by descent if you have an ancestor who was both alive and an Italian citizen on or after the formation and unification of Italy on March 17th, 1861. 

You’ll have to show that each descendent in your family line then passed that citizenship through to you, and that no-one was naturalised before the birth of the next person in your family line before 1992. Until August 15th, 1992 Italian citizenship was exclusive so if you took another country’s citizenship, you automatically lost your Italian citizenship. If you apply for citizenship through a female ancestor, she must have given birth to the next person in the Italian family line on or after January 1st, 1948.

Under the 1912 Citizenship Law only men could pass on citizenship until the 1947 Italian Constitution gave women the right to do so for births on or after January 1st, 1948. This 1948 rule was applied retroactively in 2009. There are also other possible exceptions. Proving a claim to citizenship can be complex. Documents must be found, translated where necessary and made legal by relevant apostilles. Once you’ve applied, it takes a maximum of two years. 

You can also claim Italian citizenship if you were born to an Italian citizen or adopted by an Italian citizen by the age of 21 (until 1975) or by the age of 18 (after 1975.)

Kristopher, a professor at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, says Italian Citizenship Assistance helped him determine “that I was likely eligible to be recognised through both my grandfather’s and grandmother’s family as no one had renounced their Italian citizenship after moving to the US”. 

He adds: “After gathering all required documents and two consular interviews in San Francisco, my Italian citizenship was recognized retroactively from birth.”

Photo: Italian Citizenship Assistance

Italian citizenship by marriage and civil union

Residents in Italy can apply for Italian citizenship by marriage and civil union two years after getting married, or after one year if the couple have children under 18. If you live outside Italy, you can apply for citizenship after three years, or after 18 months if the couple have children. In July 2016 same-sex couples were recognised including same-sex marriages which were celebrated abroad. 

The first thing you’ll need is your B1 Italian language certificate. You then create an account on the Ministry of Interior portal, complete an online application and upload your exam certificate, birth certificate, marriage certificate and criminal background check, with translations into Italian, and legalised for international use by means of an Apostille where necessary. You then file your application at the local Prefettura if you live in Italy or at the Italian Consulate that covers the jurisdiction where you reside via the AIRE (Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all’Estero), which is the Registry of Italian Citizens Residing Abroad.

You’ll be invited for an interview with your local Prefettura or the Italian Consulate in your country of residency with the relevant documents. These will then be sent to the Ministry of the Interior.

It costs €250 to apply for citizenship by marriage. Processing time is 24 months to 36 months, although applications are cancelled in case of divorce or death of spouse. Women married to Italian men before 1983 can apply for citizenship also if they are divorced or their spouse is deceased, provided they can show proof that the marriage was valid on April 26th, 1983. 

Italian citizenship by residency

To apply for Italian citizenship by residency Non-EU citizens have to prove continuous legal residency for 10 years. For EU citizens this is four years, whereas those with parents or grandparents who are/were Italian by birth must have been resident for three years. Three-year residency also applies to non-Italian citizens who were born in Italy.

Acceptance involves proof of at least €8.263,31 yearly income for the past 3 years. This is €11.362,05 if you’re married with a financially-dependent spouse, with an extra €516.46 for every dependent child. In case of insufficient personal income, you can indicate a household member’s income. You’ll also need a B1 Italian language certificate.

The process is similar to that of citizenship by marriage. You submit an online application, upload the necessary documents and pay a fee of €250. Once your application has been approved, you then need to provide the local prefecture (Prefettura) with original copies of the documents. The whole process generally takes 24 months, and if your application is successful, any children who are minors and living with you when you swear your oath six months later will automatically receive Italian citizenship. 

Photo: Supplied

Enjoy the advantages

ICA, which has offices in both Italy and the US, now receives enquiries about Italian citizenship from around 300 people per month. Since becoming an Italian citizen, Kristopher has reaped the benefits of having two passports, voted in an Italian election, and now says he may one day buy property in Italy or even retire there. Could you follow in his path?

Think you could become an Italian citizen? Get your free, no obligations eligibility assessment from Italian Citizenship Assistance

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

MARRIAGE

Marriage vs de facto partnership – which is the better option in Italy?

High costs, unimplemented laws, and slow processing times are all barriers to having a de facto relationship recognised in Italy. Is it better to get married?

Published: 5 April 2024 14:06 CEST
Marriage vs de facto partnership - which is the better option in Italy?

Back in 2016, the Italian government passed the Cirinnà Law, which granted more rights to unmarried couples in the country and cleared the way for the state to recognise them as de facto couples (coppia di fatto).

These rights include access to their partner’s medical records in the event of an illness, visitation rights if the partner is in prison, and eligibility to receive any damages if the partner died in a third-party accident. These were not rights unmarried couples had beforehand.

The law outlines that the couple can be heterosexual or same-sex, must be over the age of 18 and must not be related. Documents for an application include signing a Declaration of Constitution of De Facto Cohabitation (Dicharizione Di Costituzione Convivenza di Fatto) along with identity documents. The couple must be living together and registered at the same anagrafe.

It sounds easy enough to obtain, doesn’t it? But the theory turns out to be much more straightforward than the practical. 

Take Steven Leeming and his Italian partner Giulia. Steven partially relocated to Italy from the UK eight years ago. He had been living in the country on and off due to the duo working overseas. They sought a coppia di fatto after the Brexit transition period.

“No one really knew what to do because the transition period being over was so fresh, so people were a bit confused when we asked for our relationship to be recognised,” Steven says. 

When Steven applied for the coppia di fatto two years ago, he did not have Italian residency due to being out of the country for long periods of time. He was advised to enrol in an Italian language course so he could get a student visa and his permesso di soggiorno, which most non-EU citizens should have to be in the country if they want to spend more than 90 days in a 180-day period. The language course he was proposed cost around 5,000 euros.

READ MORE: What you need to know about divorce law in Italy

“It was too expensive for us,” his partner Giulia says. “So this was not a good option at all. We went to a lawyer instead and they said to us we should go to the anagrafe and ask for Steven to be put down in the same residency as me.”

This is where the couple faced a problem. The anagrafe could not put Steven down as living in the same address as they could not find Steven in the Italian system therefore they were told the couple could not register as a coppia di fatto.

“We were stuck in a never-ending loop,” adds Giulia.

This is a hurdle quite a few international couples looking to get coppia di fatto in Italy face if they do not have residency in the country. 

The Court of Bologna was one of the first to rule people without a permesso di soggiorno could get a coppia di fatto. Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP.

In 2020, the Court of Bologna and the Court of Modena ruled foreigners have the right to enter Italy to be reunited with an Italian partner even if they are not registered on the system. The Court of Milan, the province in which Steven and Giulia now reside, ruled the same a year later in 2021. 

“We were stuck,” Giulia continues. “We went in there with the laws printed out, and they still wouldn’t listen.”

Steven says he gave up on getting a coppia di fatto in Italy. It just so happens his granddad was Polish and he was able to get his Polish passport. As he is now a citizen of the European Union once more, it is easier for him to be in Italy.

“In total it took me seven months to get my passport and cost me 1,000 pounds, which is a hell of a lot quicker and cheaper than getting a coppia di fatto from here,” Steven adds.

The two were advised time and again to get married as it would make things easier.

“We didn’t want to do this, because it is within our legal rights to be recognised as a couple without being married,” Giulia says.

“I do understand the logic behind their advice though,” joins Steven. “It would have been quicker to be able to stay in the country and get your rights recognised.”

READ ALSO: Why you shouldn’t take your husband’s surname in Italy

Steven and Giulia aren’t the only couple who have been advised to get married.

UK citizen Robynne Eller, an E-learning consultant in Bari, says she’s been advised time and time again to do the same with her Italian partner. The two met in the UK and lived there together for two years before making the move to Italy in May 2021. 

Robynne enrolled onto a university course so she could get her permesso di soggiorno. When she finished, she and her partner applied for a coppia di fatto. That was last year, and there is still no word on the progress of her application.

“I feel like I’m stuck in limbo,” Robynne says. “With the permesso di soggiorno, I had my receipt in hand so I could leave and enter the country without being held up by border control. With the coppia di fatto application, I received nothing.”

Robynne is worried about leaving Italy for now, in case border control don’t let her back into Italy – but she says she’ll have to do it soon as her grandmother back in the UK is ill.

Her permesso expired in December last year. When she asked her immigration lawyer what to do, he responded that she was fine because her application for a coppia di fatto was in place.

“I have nothing to hand if they question me on my motive to be in the country,” Robynne says. “Without my documents, I can’t do much here. I can’t progress in my field of work because I need a contact and to have a contact you need to have a number. 

READ ALSO: The five most essential pieces of paperwork you’ll need when moving to Italy

“I can’t be put down on rental agreements. And I can’t fly out to see my family or go on holiday. I’m trying to construct a life here but I don’t know where I stand.”

Robynne and her partner have both paid sums of money to the immigration lawyer, who has not updated them frequently nor given them a timeline on when the coppia di fatto will be completed. She says it is infuriating because this is something you should be able to do alone without legal help.

“Anything bureaucratic is really complicated and lengthy and I’ve learnt not to expect the same things as I would in the UK. But on top of that I want a future here and that isn’t secure yet.”

Robynne is also infuriated at the fact she has been advised to marry by local government workers. She sees the choice to marry as a highly personal one and discloses she would like to marry her partner one day, but she has recently got divorced and cannot contemplate marrying again so soon after. 

“If there is a law for a coppia di fatto, Italy should implement their law,” Robynne argues. “What they should not do is try and force marriage on people. That’s not right.”

The same advice was given to another British citizen, who has asked to remain anonymous for visa processing reasons. She moved to the Sorrento area just last month with her child and partner. 

They decided the coppia di fatto was not for them as it was too lengthy, and marriage is not on the cards just yet.

She was fortunate enough to be able to apply for a family reunification visa as her daughter is a dual citizen. She chose the visa as she supposed she would stand a greater chance of being permitted to stay here. 

“We’ve submitted the family reunification application and have a date to attend the appointment in November. I’ve been told I am fine to stay until then as it’s an ongoing thing, even though it will take me over my 90-day limit,” she says.

Unlike Robynne, she has been told she can fly to and from the UK with no restrictions. 

As seen with all three cases above, the coppia di fatto route in Italy, though legal, is by no means necessarily easy. There is still a lot of uncertainty around the process despite it being legal for eight years. 

Getting married for some may not necessarily be better, but as Steven pointed out, it would very likely be quicker.

SHOW COMMENTS