Citizenship by Descent

NOTICE

Italian citizenship is transmitted from parent to child, for a maximum of two generations, provided that the Italian parent has never renounced citizenship or has not naturalized during the minor age of the direct descendant.

For the recognition of Italian citizenship by descent, the following points it must be proven:

• that the lineage begins with an Italian parent or grandparent (first person who transmits the citizenship);
• that the deceased person has maintained citizenship until the direct descendant turns 18 or is emancipated;
• that the lineage from the first person who transmits the citizenship (Italian parent or grandparent) is proven by means of civil status documents (birth, marriage, divorce, death): these documents must be legalized, if required, and have an official translation;

PLEASE NOTE: The woman transmits citizenship to her descendants only starting from January 1, 1948.

From 1865 to April 26, 1983, the citizenship of the woman followed the citizenship of her husband, therefore foreign women acquired Italian citizenship automatically by marriage (and they kept it in the event of widowhood).

Similarly, the Italian woman who had naturalized before marriage and had subsequently married an Italian citizen by April 26, 1983 reacquired Italian citizenship by marriage.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Legislative Decree no. 36/2025, dated March 28, 2025, converted into law on May 24, 2025 (law 74/2025), introduced additional requirements regarding the recognition of citizenship iure sanguinis (by descent).

In particular, in addition to having to comply with the conditions above, the applicant born abroad must also fall into at least one of the following categories:

1. must have exclusively Italian citizenship (i.e. does not have and cannot have any other citizenship other than Italian);
2. a parent (including adoptive) or a grandparent must have – or have had at the time of death – exclusively Italian citizenship at the time of the applicant’s birth;
3. a citizen parent (including adoptive) must have been resident in Italy for at least two continuous years, after acquiring Italian citizenship and before the birth or adoption of the applicant.

EXCEPTION

The additional requirements above DO NOT apply:

• to applicants with an appointment booked and confirmed by 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on March 27, 2025.

To process the citizenship application, a payment of 600 Euros is required, to be made in local currency (art. 7B of the consular fees) in cash or by debit card. Please note that this is a mandatory fee required by law for processing the application, which in no way implies a positive outcome of the procedure.

Therefore, IT IS NOT REFUNDABLE IN ANY CASE.

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NEW CASES OF ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP ABROAD (MINOR CHILDREN OF CITIZENS WHO DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY TRANSMIT ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP)

In some limited cases, provided for by paragraph 1-bis of article 4 of law no. 91/1992 and by article 1-ter of decree law no. 36/2025 as converted into law, minor children born abroad to a citizen parent who does not automatically transmit citizenship (i.e. who do not fall into one of the 3 cases listed above), can acquire Italian citizenship in two cases, upon payment of a contribution to the Ministry of the Interior of 250 euros.

1. The first case has the following conditions that must be met JOINTLY:
   • at least one of the parents is an Italian citizen by birth (even if in possession of another citizenship);
   • both parents present a declaration of intent to acquire Italian citizenship WITHIN ONE YEAR OF THE BIRTH of the minor;
2. The second case is a transitional rule and applies when ALL of the following conditions are met:
   • the applicants are minors on the date of entry into force of the law converting Legislative Decree no. 36/2025 (i.e. persons who had not yet reached 18 years of age on 24 May 2025);
   • the applicants are children of a citizen by birth recognized as Italian on the basis of an administrative or judicial application submitted by 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on 27 March 2025 or on the basis of an application submitted following an appointment booked by the same date;
   • The parents of minors must submit a declaration by 31 May 2026.

If the applicant, who was a minor on 24 May 2025, becomes an adult in the meantime, the declaration must be submitted by him personally by the same date.

PLEASE NOTE: The two new options described above constitute an acquisition of citizenship by “benefit of law”: the minor who benefits from it is not an Italian citizen by birth or iure sanguinis (by descent). That is, based on art. 15 of law no. 91/1992, the minor does not acquire citizenship from the day of birth, but from the day after the parents’ declaration.