Italian citizenship request, what is it?

Italian citizenship is a status that determines rights and duties and is the condition of the citizen to which the Italian legal system recognizes the fullness of civil and political rights.

 

Requirements

 

Acquisition on application
Citizenship can also be acquired on application by marriage or residence.

MARRIAGE
A foreign or stateless citizen, married to an Italian citizen, can request to acquire Italian citizenship:

  • if you have legally resided in Italy for at least 12 months (one year) in the presence of children born or adopted by the spouses or after 24 months (two years) of residence with the Italian citizen,
  • in case of residence abroad, after 18 months (one and a half years) in the presence of children born or adopted by spouses or after 36 months (three years) from the date of marriage (if there has been no dissolution, annulment or termination of the civil effects and if legal separation is not in progress).

RESIDENCE
Italian citizenship by residence is granted by the Ministry of the Interior – upon request to be submitted to the prefecture – to a foreign citizen residing in Italy who possesses at least one of the following requirements:

  • born in Italy and legally resident for at least three years,
  • son or grandson in a straight line of Italian citizens by birth, legally resident in Italy for at least three years,
  • of age, adopted by an Italian citizen, legally resident in Italy for at least five years, following adoption,
  • who has served, including abroad, for at least five years in the employ of the Italian State, in this case the application for Italian citizenship must be requested from the competent consular authority,
  • community resident legally in Italy for at least four years,
  • stateless person or refugee legally residing in Italy for at least five years,
  • legally resident in Italy for at least ten years.

For all foreign citizens who fall within one of the cases indicated, the possession of the requisite of personal income or family income is also required if they belong to the same family unit and the same family status.

Foreign citizens can submit an application for Italian citizenship, under certain conditions, after the period of residence:

  • four years for EU citizens,
  • five years for stateless persons,
  • ten years for foreigners.

 

 

Italian citizenship request: how to get it?

 

By submitting an application to the Ministry of the Interior through our agency