Law No. 74 of 23/05/2025, which converted with amendments Decree-Law No. 36 of 28/03/2025, has reformed Law No. 91 of February 5, 1992, introducing significant restrictions on the transmission of Italian citizenship and, consequently, on the procedure for transcribing birth certificates of minors born abroad.
A minor born abroad to an Italian citizen is not automatically considered an Italian citizen.
Under the new law, the minor is recognized as an Italian citizen iure sanguinis (by right of blood, from birth) only if at least one of the following cases applies:
CASE A)
A1) The parent born as an Italian citizen, even if holding another citizenship, has resided in Italy for at least 2 continuous years at any point before the child’s birth;
OR
A2) The parent acquired Italian citizenship (e.g. through naturalization, etc.) and resided in Italy for at least 2 continuous years after acquiring citizenship and before the child’s birth.
Residency in Italy prior to acquiring Italian citizenship is not valid, nor is the residency of a foreign (non-Italian) parent in Italy.
Required documentation for Case A – CLICK HERE
NOTE: If you fall under A1 or A2, it is not necessary to refer to Cases B or C, which require additional documentation.
CASE B)
B1) At the time of the child’s birth, one parent held exclusively Italian citizenship.
Required documentation for Case B1 – CLICK HERE
OR
B2) At the time of the child’s birth, a grandparent held exclusively Italian citizenship.
In this case, the parent of the minor must still be an Italian citizen, even if not exclusively Italian.
Required documentation for Case B2 – CLICK HERE
CASE C)
The minor does not have and cannot acquire another citizenship (e.g. by iure sanguinis, iure soli, or optional citizenship).
A minor is considered to hold another citizenship if:
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They acquire it iure sanguinis from one parent (e.g. a foreign parent, such as an Irish citizen);
-
They acquire it iure soli (e.g. birth in a country applying that principle);
-
They acquire it through a simple declaration, without the possibility of denial by foreign authorities (e.g. citizenship by option for children born abroad).
IMPORTANT: Even if the parents choose not to make a declaration of option, the child is still considered to possess another citizenship.
Required documentation for Case C – CLICK HERE
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
The burden of proof lies entirely with the applicant.
Self-declarations claiming the lack of other citizenship will not be accepted.
“IMPORTANT: if you do not fall into one of the categories listed above, we recommend that you read the information on the page of our website CLICK HERE and check whether you meet the requirements to apply for citizenship by ‘benefit of law’.”
You are kindly advised to submit the request for transcription of the birth certificate only if you are in possession of all the documentation required to verify the right to Italian citizenship.
This Embassy reserves the right to request additional documentation if necessary.
In such cases, incomplete applications will be rejected with a formal pre-notification of refusal in accordance with Article 10-bis of Law 241/1990, after which the applicant will have 10 days to submit comments or provide supplementary documentation.
APPLICATION GUIDELINES – BIRTH REGISTRATION THROUGH THIS EMBASSY
Italian nationals registered with AIRE (Register of Italians Abroad) in this consular district, or another, can request the transcription of an Irish civil status act through this Embassy.
To request the transcription in Italy of an Irish Birth Certificate, please send via Registered Post (An Post) to:
Embassy of Italy
63-65 Northumberland Road
Dublin D04VA89
Republic of Ireland
Include:
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Application for transcription of birth certificate – New Form [CLICK HERE]
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Photocopy of the passports or valid IDs of both parents and the minor (if already available)
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Original Irish birth certificate issued by the Civil Status Office
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Italian translation of the original certificate (done by the applicant)
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Additional documentation based on the applicable case (A, B, or C)
Applications are processed in order of arrival.
To track the progress of your application:
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Use An Post tracking service to confirm the Embassy received your documents
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Wait for an email notification from the Embassy confirming the transmission to the Italian municipality
Please also check your spam/junk folder
PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE EMBASSY TO ASK ABOUT THE STATUS OF YOUR APPLICATION.
OUTCOME AND CONFIRMATION OF TRANSCRIPTION
Once you receive a copy of the transmission email sent by the Embassy to the Italian municipality, the Embassy’s role is considered complete.
The Municipality will then record the act in its registry according to its internal timeline.
In case of rejection, the Municipality will inform the Embassy via certified email (PEC), and the applicant will be notified of the negative outcome.
To follow up, you may contact your AIRE municipality directly.
Email and phone contacts can be found on the Municipality’s homepage.
SPECIAL CASE: Surrogacy
Surrogacy is legal in some countries but prohibited in Italy under Law 40 of February 19, 2004.
This law has recently been amended. According to Article 12, Paragraph 6, the penalties for violations now apply to Italian citizens even if the act occurred abroad.
If this Embassy is asked to transmit a birth certificate resulting from surrogacy, it is required to:
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Proceed with the transcription request, notifying the Municipality of the special circumstances of the birth;
-
Report the case to the competent Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office due to the suspected offense.
Those involved are advised to carefully consider the legal consequences of violating Italian law.