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ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

How foreigners can get ‘fast track’ citizenship in Italy

It can take three years or more for Italy to approve applications for citizenship via ancestry, but there is another way. Here’s how you may be able to cut the waiting time.

Alley in Italy and Italian flag
Foreign nationals looking to acquire Italian citizenship don’t have to necessarily go through their Italian consulate to do so. ​​Photo by Alexey TURENKOV via Unsplash

Italy is far more lenient than many other countries when it comes to allowing people to claim citizenship via ancestry.

In fact, anyone who can prove that they had an Italian ancestor who was alive after March 17th, 1861 (when the Kingdom of Italy was born) and that no one in their line of descent renounced Italian citizenship before the birth of their descendant has the right to become an Italian citizen. 

READ ALSO: What’s the difference between Italian residency and citizenship?

But that doesn’t mean getting Italian citizenship by descent is easy, and the application process is known for involving lots of paperwork and being excruciatingly lengthy.

From the moment applicants file their claim with their country’s Italian consulate, it usually takes between two to three years to get a ruling from the Italian authorities, with waiting times often being even longer in countries where the number of applications is high (Brazil, Argentina, USA). 

There is an alternative route: Italy has a ‘fast track’ citizenship application option which can reduce adjudication times to around a year on average.

But this quicker avenue requires moving to Italy, becoming a legal resident, and filing the citizenship request directly with the local town hall. 

This means applicants must be physically and legally resident in Italy for the entire duration of the citizenship application process, and their presence in Italy must be continuous during that time.

This is subject to checks by Italian law enforcement and breaking the rules can void your application.

If moving to Italy (and staying here) would be an option for you, here’s a closer look at the requirements:

Step 1 – Sorting out the documents 

Foreign nationals opting for the quicker citizenship route can only submit their application after they’ve relocated to Italy. But, most, if not all of the documents required by Italian authorities should be prepared well before moving to Italy. 

“Prospective applicants are strongly advised to come to Italy with all of the relevant documentation already arranged in the best possible way,” says Giuditta De Ricco, attorney-at-law at immigration law firm Mazzeschi Srl. 

That’s because “any inconsistencies in the documentation can further complicate and lengthen the process”, she says.

But what documents do foreign nationals need to claim Italian citizenship? Here’s an overview: 

  • Birth and (where applicable) death certificates for all the Italian ancestors in their direct line of descent plus their own birth certificate.
  • Marriage certificates for all the Italian ancestors in their direct line of descent, including that of their parents.
  • A certificate issued by their home country’s relevant authorities proving that the first ancestor in their line of descent did not acquire foreign citizenship before the birth of their descendant.
  • A certificate issued by their country’s Italian consulate proving that no ancestor in their direct line of descent nor they ever renounced Italian citizenship.

Two people signing documents in an office

Prospective applicants should get all of the necessary documents in order prior to leaving for Italy. Photo by Gabrielle HENDERSON via Unsplash

It bears noting that all of the documents issued by foreign authorities will have to be legally validated by the issuing country’s Italian consulate.

Also, all documents available in a language other than Italian will have to be translated and their translation will too have to be legally validated (this is known as ‘asseverazione’).

Once again, De Ricco recommends that all translation and validation procedures be carried out before leaving for Italy.

Step 2 – Relocating to Italy  

Being permanently resident in Italy is a binding requirement of the quicker citizenship avenue. 

“Applicants are allowed to go on short holidays abroad if they wish to” but, outside of those, their presence in Italy “must be continuous”, says De Ricco.  

Taking up residency in Italy is relatively straightforward for EU-passport holders as they don’t need a visa to enter the country nor do they need a permesso di soggiorno (residency permit).

Essentially, all EU nationals are required to do at this stage is to physically relocate to Italy and become legally resident by registering with the Ufficio Anagrafe (Registry Office). 

Things aren’t quite as easy for non-EU nationals as they need a valid entry visa and a residency permit.

READ ALSO:

There are different types of visas and permits available to non-EU nationals, but the easiest route if you’re moving for citizenship purposes is the permesso di soggiorno in attesa di cittadinanza (residency permit pending the acquisition of citizenship), which allows foreign nationals to legally live in the country for the entire length of their claim. 

Prospective applicants can enter the country on a dichiarazione di presenza (declaration of presence) – this is filed with border police for non-Schengen arrivals and at the local Questura (police station) within eight days of entry for others – use the above dichiarazione to register with the Anagrafe and then submit their citizenship application at the town hall. 

Starting the citizenship application process will ultimately give foreign nationals the right to apply for the residency permit, which they’ll have to request by filling out and posting the relevant form along with all the necessary documents to the local Questura.   

Remember: a dichiarazione di presenza allows non-EU nationals to legally remain in Italy for a maximum of 90 days, so you’ll have to send in your permesso di soggiorno application before your 90-day window expires.

READ ALSO: How to register with the anagrafe in Italy

It’s also worth noting that holders of residency permits for citizenship purposes are not allowed to carry out any type of work in the country. However, such permits can be converted into residency permits for work purposes if needed. 

Step 3 – Booking an appointment with the town hall

Once you’ve registered with the Anagrafe and prepared all of the relevant documents, you’ll need to book an appointment at the Ufficio di Stato Civile (Civil Registry) at your local town hall and submit the application to become an Italian citizen. 

Colourful houses in Venice

Foreign nationals must be legally and physically resident in Italy in order to apply for citizenship at their local town hall. ​​Photo by Alex VASEY via Unsplash

You’ll find your registry’s contact details on the town hall’s website. 

Step 4 – Outcome

Barring any inconsistencies regarding the submitted documentation, Italian authorities have 180 days to rule on the issue of Italian citizenship.

However, town halls are required to exchange information with foreign consulates during the application process and the latter’s response times don’t count towards the 180-day window.

That’s part of the reason why “waiting times vary greatly from case to case”, says De Ricco. “Some consulates get back after three weeks, while others might take seven months to do it.”

So, ultimately, the luckier applicants might become Italian citizens within as little as six months, whereas others might have to wait a year or a year and a half. 

READ ALSO: Reader question: Will my children get an Italian passport if born in Italy?

If the request is successful, the applicant will receive Italian citizenship and so will any children of theirs under the age of 18. Children aged over 18 will have to file their own application. 

From the moment they’re awarded Italian citizenship, new citizens have six months to take an oath of allegiance to the Italian Republic. If they don’t, their citizenship will be automatically revoked.

Member comments

  1. I’m curious about the oath of allegiance. Is this still a necessary part of the process? And it doesn’t mean that I have to renounce my other citizenship right?

  2. Excellent article. Italian citizenship is highly sought after in Latin America and North America as Italian immigrants left for better working conditions. With the development of places and the creation of families, the right to citizenship was transmitted to descendants.
    Italian Lawyer – Montone, Andrew https://www.cidadaniaitalianajudicial.com

  3. Hi – If a UK national established permanent residency in Italy before Dec 2020 is it still a requirement to wait 10 years for citizenship or is it possible to follow the path of other EU nationals into Italian Citizenship in under 5 years?

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ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

Italy grants citizenship to more people than any other EU country, study finds

Nearly 214,000 people became Italian citizens in 2022, making Italy the EU country with the single highest number of granted citizenship requests, a new study from research body ISMU found.

Italy grants citizenship to more people than any other EU country, study finds

Italy granted citizenship to some 213,716 people in 2022, according to a new study from Italian migration research body ISMU based on data from European statistics bureau Eurostat.

This made Italy the EU country with the highest number of granted citizenship requests, followed by Spain (with 181,581 new citizens), Germany (166,640) and France (114,483).

The number of Italian citizenship claims approved in 2022 was up by around 76 percent compared to 2021 (121,457).

Italy accounted for nearly a quarter (22 percent) of the total number of citizenship requests granted across the bloc: 989,940. 

Of those who acquired Italian citizenship in 2022, around 40 percent came from one of the following three countries: Albania (38,129 successful applications), Morocco (30,953) and Romania (16,302).

The top five was completed by Brazil (11,239) and India (8,509), with no English-speaking nation appearing in the top 20.

READ ALSO: Five surprising Italian citizenship rules you should know about

As for the age of those who gained Italian citizenship in 2022, 37 percent of new citizens were under the age of 20.

According to the study, Italy granted citizenship to a total of nearly 1.5 million people between 2013 and 2022, with 2022 being the year with the highest number of successful applications, followed by 2016 (201,591) and 2015 (178,035).

ISMU’s study provided no details as to which paths to acquire citizenship were the most popular ones in 2022. 

According to the latest data from Italian statistics office Istat, the most common ways to claim Italian citizenship are: ius sanguinis, which allows those who can prove descent from at least one Italian ancestor to claim Italian citizenship; birthplace (or ius soli), which entitles people born and raised in Italy by non-Italian parents to claim Italian citizenship at age 18; and parental transmission, which transfers citizenship to the children of adults who acquire citizenship provided they’re under 18 and living with them at the time.

READ ALSO: The three ways to apply for Italian citizenship

The birthplace or ius soli path has recently been at the centre of nationwide debate after Italian rapper Ghali shone light on the issues faced by second-generation immigrants at the Sanremo music festival.

Italy currently has one of the toughest citizenship regimes in Europe when it comes to children born in the country to foreign parents as they are unable to apply for an Italian passport until they are 18.

READ ALSO: Will my children get an Italian passport if born in Italy?

After turning 18, they have one year to submit their application for citizenship. If the window is missed, claiming citizenship becomes a complex bureaucratic process, which can take at least three years.

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