Italian Citizenship

In Italy, the modern concept of citizenship was born at the time of the creation of the unitary state and is currently governed by Law No. 91 of 5 February 1992. Italian citizenship is a status that determines rights and duties and is the condition of the citizen to whom the Italian legal system recognises full civil and political rights.

Automatic acquisition of Italian nationality - ius sanguinis

By birth ius sanguinis or right of blood, commonly called by descent. When a foreign person born to at least one of the Italian parents. By birth on Italian territory, ius soli or right to land, if the parents are unknown or without a homeland, if they do not transmit their nationality to the child according to the law of the country of origin or if the child has been found in a situation of abandonment on Italian territory; Adoption is included in this section, in the case of minors adopted by an Italian citizen.

Acquisition on demand of Italian citizenship

Italian citizenship can also be obtained by marriage or residence on Italian territory. In the case of a request for Italian citizenship by marriage, a foreign citizen or stateless person, married to an Italian citizen, may apply for the acquisition of Italian citizenship. It is also possible to apply for Italian citizenship by residence in the Italian territory under certain conditions.

Italian Citizenship by Marriage

Italian law grants the right to obtain Italian citizenship to those men or women married to an Italian citizen. The terms of application vary depending on whether the couple lives abroad or in Italy and whether they have children or not. Also with the new law on citizenship the rules for granting Italian citizenship by Marriage have changed a lot.

Italian Citizenship by Residence

To obtain Italian citizenship by residence, you must submit an online application and have specific requirements. First of all, you must be a foreigner with at least one of two Italian parents, or be born in the territory and be at least 18 years old. In addition, adopted persons who have lived in Italy for 10 years, as well as non-EU citizens with at least 3 years of residence, stateless persons, political refugees and even children of already naturalised parents can also apply. EU citizens must have resided in Italy for at least 4 years.

European Citizenship and Italian Citizenship

It is different to speak of European citizenship, which is not a status that is acquired. Every citizen of an EU Member State, in addition to the citizenship of the country of origin, enjoys European citizenship. According to the wording of the Maastricht Treaty, everyone who holds citizenship of a Member State is a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the European Union implies a set of clearly defined rules and rights, which can be grouped into four categories: freedom of movement and residence throughout the Union; the right to vote and to stand for election in municipal and European Parliament elections in the Member State of residence; protection by the diplomatic and consular authorities of any Member State in a third country in which the State of which the person concerned is a national is not represented; the right to petition the European Parliament and to appeal to the European Ombudsman.

Loss of Italian citizenship

It is important to know that the law foresees some cases in which the status of Italian citizen may cease to exist. This issue is very topical nowadays as the conditions to apply for Italian citizenship are becoming stricter and stricter.