Citizenship by Descendance (“iure sanguinis”)

CITIZENSHIP BY DESCENDANCE (“iure sanguinis”)

The request for recognition of Italian citizenship is permitted upon application of the interested party, of legal age, and can be submitted abroad exclusively at the Consular Office in the country of legal residence.

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Law No. 74 of 23.05.2025 has converted Decree-Law No. 36 of 28 March 2025, concerning urgent provisions on citizenship, modifying the requirements for recognition of citizenship iure sanguinis.

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NB All applications for recognition of citizenship iure sanguinis submitted by March 27, 2025 (inclusive) at this Embassy, for which the fee has been duly paid, will be examined and evaluated according to the regulations in force prior to the adoption of the aforementioned decree-law.

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The following operational provisions are outlined.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. a) Refer to Art. 3bis, paragraph 1, letter c, Law No. 91/1992
   One of the parents or grandparents (including adoptive) was born in Italy and held exclusively Italian citizenship (NB: this condition must exist at the date of the applicant’s birth or at the death of the ancestor, if it occurred before);
2. b) Refer to Art. 3bis, paragraph 1, letter d, Law No. 91/1992
   An Italian parent or adoptive parent has been resident in Italy for at least two continuous years prior to the birth or adoption of the child (residence must be proven through a historical residence certificate issued by the competent municipality);

NB For minors, refer, depending on the case, to the pages:
Services for Italian Citizens > Civil Status > “New regulations regarding the registration of births of minors born to Italian parents”

PROCEDURE:

Starting from October 2025, those who meet the above requirements can request an appointment through the Prenot@mi portal.

Phase 1
Register on the Prenot@mi portal and request an appointment.

Phase 2
On the appointment day, interested parties must personally present:

1. Proof of booking on the aforementioned portal;
2. Completed application form (the editable template will be available on Prenot@mi);
3. Complete documentation, in original and copy, depending on the requested type.

Phase 3
This Embassy will analyse the application within the legal timeframe of 730 days (Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers No. 33 of 17/01/2014, published in G.U. No. 64 of 18/03/2014), communicating any requests for additional or corrected documentation if necessary.

Documentation – Case A)
Refer to Art. 3bis, paragraph 1, letter c, Law No. 91/1992:

1. Of the applicant
   a) Valid passport and copy of the page with photo and signature;
   b) Proof of residence within this consular district;
   c) Long-stay residence permit;
   d) Birth certificate of the applicant issued by the country of birth, in original with apostille if non-EU, with Italian translation and apostille if non-EU;
   e) Marriage certificate (plus any divorce/second marriage/death of spouse), in original with apostille if non-EU, with Italian translation and apostille if non-EU.
2. Of the ancestor (grandparent and/or parent)
   a) Birth certificate, marriage certificate (plus any divorce/second marriage/death of spouse), in original with apostille if non-EU, with Italian translation and apostille if non-EU;
   b) Historical citizenship certificate of the ancestor from whom citizenship derives (grandparent and/or parent);
   c) Historical residence certificate of the ancestors (if both Italian), issued by the competent municipality of last residence or AIRE registration;
   d) Non-naturalization certificate issued by the authorities of the country where they resided (valid for six months from issue), listing all variations of the name and surname as they appear in the civil status acts, even if corrected on individual certificates.

DOCUMENTATION – Case B)
Refer to Art. 3bis, paragraph 1, letter d, Law No. 91/1992:

1. Of the applicant
   a) Valid passport and copy of the page with photo and signature;
   b) Proof of residence within this consular district;
   c) Long-stay residence permit;
   d) Birth certificate of the applicant issued by the country of birth, in original with apostille if non-EU, with Italian translation and apostille if non-EU;
   e) Marriage certificate (plus any divorce/second marriage/death of spouse), in original with apostille if non-EU, with Italian translation and apostille if non-EU.

2. Of the parent
   a) Historical citizenship certificate;
   b) Historical residence certificate (issued by the competent Italian municipality/municipalities);
   c) Birth certificate, marriage certificate (plus any divorce/second marriage/death of spouse), in original with apostille if non-EU, with Italian translation and apostille if non-EU;
   d) Non-naturalization certificate issued by the authorities of the country where they resided (valid for six months from issue), listing all variations of the name and surname as they appear in civil acts, even if corrected on individual certificates.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

 All Italian certificates must be requested from the competent municipality/municipalities, recently issued, in original.
All foreign acts, judgments, and certificates must be legalized by the Italian diplomatic/consular representation in the country of issuance or bear the apostille affixed by the competent foreign authority in countries adhering to the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961.
All mandatory Italian translations of the above acts must be legalized either by the Italian diplomatic/consular representation in the country of issuance or bear the apostille as above, or be sworn before an Italian Court if done in Italy.
NB: For documents issued in Ireland, legalization or apostille is not required. It is possible to request birth and marriage certificates in multilingual format from local authorities. In the absence of this, a certified translation is necessary (see link Traduzione e legalizzazione dei documenti – Ambasciata d’Italia Dublino).
The consular fee for processing recognition of Italian citizenship for adults is €600.00.
The fee must be paid at the time of application submission and is non-refundable regardless of the outcome of the assessment.
Payment can be made by Debit Card (Visa or Mastercard – NO AMERICAN EXPRESS) on the day of the appointment.