CITIZENSHIP
- Italian citizenship is based on the principle of “Iure sanguinis” (blood right) for which Italian
citizenship is passed on to a child born to an Italian father or Italian mother. However, citizenship
through maternal lineage is possible only for persons born after January 1st 1948 by effect of a
specific sentence by the constitutional court. At present, Italian citizenship is regulated by Law
no. 91/1992 which, in contrast with previous law, re-evaluates the importance of individual
intention in the acquisition or loss of citizenship and recognizes the right to hold more than
one citizenship simultaneously, expect in case of different regulations provided byinternational
agreements.
ACQUISITION OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP
AUTOMATIC ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP ACQUISITION
- By filiation / ancestry (“Iure Sanguinis”)
1. By filiation / ancestry (“Iure Sanguinis”)
Children of Italian parents (mother or father) who are Italian citizens are Italian citizens.
Citizenship is passed on from parent to child without limitation of generation, on the
condition that none of the ancestors has ever renounced their citizenship. Passing on
citizenship through maternal lineage is possible only for persons born after January 1st, 1948.
A minor child living with a parent at the moment in which that parent becomes an Italian citizen
also acquires Italian citizenship. Contrary to the past, the current legislation recognizes the right
to hold more than one citizenship simultaneously.
Verification of citizenship: When a person claims to be of Italian parentage or ancestry but no
proof of the fact can be found in Italian registry books, it is necessary to provide proof that all
ancestors have maintained, and thereby passed on, their Italian citizenship. The competent
authority to ascertain these facts is based on the person’s place of residence: for foreign
residents, the diplomatic-consular mission in the country of residence is in charge; for residents
in foreign countries the competent authority is diplomatic-consular office; for residents in Italy
it is the official statistics office (Anagrafe) of the city of residence.
The natural place to start the procedure on recognition of Italian citizenship by blood is the
Country where ancestors (grandfather/great grandfather/etc.) emigrated.
For those residing in Thailand: to begin the procedure of Italian citizenship recognition, the
person must have a “permanent residency in Thailand”, (having only “non-immigrant visa”
is not sufficient). Therefore, in order to obtain a first appointment and be able to process a
first evaluation of documents, applicant is required to send an email to Consular Office,
attaching copy of a “local booklet of permanent residency”, inserting in the subject: name,
surname – Citizenship by blood (Cittadinanza Iure Sanguinis). Without the aforementioned
prerequisites, the request will not be taken into consideration.
2. By birth on Italian soil: Italian citizenship is granted to persons born on Italian soil when:
– whose parents are unknown, Stateless or cannot pass on their citizenship to their child
according to the laws of the State of which they are citizens;
– of unknown parentage found on Italian soil and whose natural citizenship is impossible to ascertain.
3. By recognition of natural paternity/maternity: A child recognized or declared while being a
minor to be of Italian parentage. Persons of legal age recognized or declared as such must elect to
become (Italian) citizens within one year of that recognition.
4. By Adoption: The right to citizenship is extended to any minor child adopted by an Italian citizen
by means of the provisions of the Italian Judiciary Authorities, or in the case of adoption abroad
and rendered valid in Italy through an order issued by the Juvenile Court for enrolment in an
official Italian statistics office (Anagrafe). Adoptees of legal age can acquire citizenship after 5
years of legal residence in Italy after the adoption
PROCEDURE FOR ACQUISITION OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP
Acquisition of Italian citizenship by marriage with an Italian citizen
A foreign spouse of an Italian citizen, having the following prerequisites, can
acquire Italian citizenship upon a request:
a) Residence in Italy: 2 years of legal residency after marriage (having permit of stay and being
registered at the local civil registry). The application must be submitted to the “Ufficio di
Cittadinanza della Prefettura” (Citizenship Office at the Prefecture);
a bis) Residence in foreign countries: 3 years from the date of marriage (Remark: the marriage
must be registered at the “Comune” in Italy). This minimum period will be reduced to a half in
the event of having children born to or adopted by the couple;
b) Validity of marriage and continuity of marriage obligation until the adoption of Decree
to confer citizenship;
c) No sentences of conviction for an offence punishable by no less than 3 years of imprisonment,
or sentence of foreign court, with conviction to more than one year of imprisonment, for
non-politicaloffence;
d) Possession of a certificate stating an appropriate knowledge of Italian language (B1 Level);
e) No conviction for one of the crimes indicated in Book II, Title I, Chapter I, II and III of Italian
Criminal Code (offence against personalities of the State);
f) No opposing reasons for the security of the State;
The application for Italian citizenship by marriage (addressed to the Prefecture of the Province
of residence, if residing in Italy, or to the diplomatic-consular authority, if residing in foreign
country) must be directly submitted online by interested persons, through the web site of
Italian Ministry of Interior, to which the competent diplomatic-consular authority will access
for a first examination of the application and documentation.
Pre-requisites for presentation of application to Consular Authority:
– The Italian spouse must have his data already registered in the Registry of Italians resident
overseas (A.I.R.E.);
– In the application, pre-conditions considered to be eligible for acquisition of Italian citizenship
must be specified, with enclosure of relating documents legalized and certified true translation
in Italian by the competent Embassy (see further details on the Procedure to start the application).
Any legalizations of official signatures on foreign documents, certified true translation in Italian,
etc. are subject to consular fees.
While submitting the application on line, if the documentation is irregular or incomplete, the
applicant will be invited to complete it, thus suspending the application in the meantime.
After an adequate time lapse, without integration of necessary documents, the application will
be considered inadmissible.
The final provision is issued as Decree of Ministry of Interior.
Remark: For further information, please visit the web site of Italian Ministry of Interior, on
the page of “Cittadinanza/citizenship”.
After the Decree of concession/conferment of Italian citizenship has been issued, and notified
to the applicant, he/she will have to take an oath before which he/she can request a registration
of the Decree on Citizenship into the Civil Status Registry and proceed to further formalities.
Procedure to start an application for Italian citizenship by marriage to an Italian
citizen residing in Thailand
Following modifications of the procedure imposed by the Italian Ministry of Interior, from
18 May 2015, the required supporting documents to application for Italian citizenship by
marriage with an Italian citizen (art. 5 of Law 91/1992) must be sent – by the applicant
him/herself – through a specific on-line application (called ALI), available at the
website: http://cittadinanza.dlci.interno.it the website is available from 8:00 to 20:00 Italian Time.
After registration, the user will receive a
login code.
On the registration page, apart from the information on treatment of personal data,
instructions for a correct input of personal data are also provided.
Foreign applicant (namely, family member of Italian citizen, including the latter, whose
names have been regularly registered at this Embassy as well as at the last City of
residence in Italy) who is entitled to submit an application – of which the follow-up
is under the competence of the Embassy of Italy in Bangkok – has to choose among
the 4 forms available on the web site, and fill in the form: Modello: AE – Cittadini
stranieri residenti all’estero – Art. 5 – richiesta per matrimonio con cittadino italiano.
(Form AE – Foreign citizens residing in foreign country – Art. 5 – application by marriage
with an Italian citizen).
Since the change of generalities (name and surname) is a frequent phenomenon in Thailand,it is necessary that the online application uses the generalities that the person currently possesses. In addition, all supporting certificates of the name and/or surname change must be attached, legalized and translated. Incomplete applications will be rejected.
Remarks: In case the Italian spouse does not regularly register his/her residence with
the Consular Office of the Embassy, for application for Italian citizenship by marriage,
which are subject to further verification, the Embassy reserves the right to request
other documentation, convene the couple and acquire any elements necessary for
evaluation of the cause for which the family is not united.
Prior to sending the documents (certificates regarding civil status and criminal
records – please see details below) through the ALI on-line application, those
documents must be:
1. legalized at the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
2. translated into Italian;
3. submitted to the Consular Office of the Italian Embassy to verify the legalization and
the Italian translation.
Therefore, when submitting the documents at the Consular Office for legalization and
certified correct translation, applicant must specify that the documents are requested
for Italian citizenship by marriage, in order to make a preliminary check with the
consular staff.
Any changes of names and/or surname in the past must be duly certified, legalized
and translated into Italian, in order to assure the exact personal data of the applicant.
In the ALI on-line application, the foreign applicant must fill in the form provided
(subdivided in several screens for insert of the data required, “salvare e andare
avanti” (save and next) for each page. High attention should be paid while inserting
the requested data, in case of typing errors of name/surname, date and place of birth
or inconsistency between the inserted information and documents or actual situation,
the application must be completely re-insert from the beginning.
At the end applicants must upload the following 4 types of compulsory documents
(which might be more than one for each type, scanned in multiple page into one
file of .PDF format) as indicated by the Ministry of Interior for citizenship application:
a) birth certificate of the country of origin (and any certifications/authorizations concerning
name and/or surname changes);
the birth certificate must be completed with all the personal data, including name of father
and mother, legalized by the competent Authority of the country of origin (for Thai citizens,
it must be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Department of Consular
Affairs, Legalization Division or its detached offices for legalization), together with
Italian translation;
The document, prior to on-line insert, must be presented to the consular office of the
Italian Embassy in order to certify the legalization and true translation in
Italian;
b) certificate of no criminal record, issued by the country of origin and by any other
countries of residence from the age of 14 years (for Thai citizens this certificate is issued
by the Special Branch of the Royal Thai Police). This certificate must be legalized by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Department of Consular Affairs, Legalization
Division or its detached offices for legalization), and submitted with Italian translation;
The document, prior to on-line insert, must be presented to the consular office of the
Italian Embassy in order to certify the legalization and true translation in Italian.
Remarks: The certificate of no criminal record, as well as all other certificates which
are subject to variations, is valid for 6 months from the date of issue.
c) Extract of the Marriage Certificate, issued by the Italian Commune where the marriage
has been registered or recorded. This certificate is valid for 6 months.
d) Family status certificate and Italian citizenship certificate of Italian spouse (for foreign
spouse of Italian citizen who is regularly registered as a local resident in the consular
database of the Italian Embassy, both certificates will be issued by the Embassy, and do
not have to be inserted in the ALI portal but are to be kept as evidence by the office
competent for the application);
Remarks: The Embassy reserves the right to request other proof of residence in case
applicants are non-thai citizens.
e) Certified true copy of passport (in the course of validity): a true copy of the passport
of foreign spouse is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (issuing authority) or by the
diplomatic-consular office of the passport issuing State, in case foreign spouse is no
Thai/Cambodian/Laotian citizen. Such copy of the passport, prior to on-line insert, must
be presented to the consular office of the Italian Embassy for certification;
f) Article 9.1 of Law 91/1992, as resulting from Law of 4 December 2018, introduces a new requirement for applications for Italian citizenship by marriage. It is established that applicants for Italian citizenship by marriage must have an adequate knowledge of the Italian language (B1 level), certified by a qualification/diploma issued by an Italian public education institution or certified by one of the following educational institutions approved by Italian Authorities:
– Università per stranieri di Siena
– Università per stranieri di Perugia
– Università Roma Tre
– Società Dante Alighieri (Dante Alighieri Society)
g) Receipt of payment of 250 Euros for application fee (through bank transfer or Eurogiro
circuit to postal current account in favour of “Ministero dell’Interno D.L.C.I. –
cittadinanza, IBAN: IT 54D 0706 1032 0000 0000 8090 20; BIC/SWIFT code:
BPPIITRRXXX; or through “Eurogiro”: PIBPITRA, indicating the reason of payment:
citizenship application).
Remarks: the documents in a) and b) must be duly legalized (according to regulations
of the Country issuing the documents) and translated into Italian (with certified correct
translation by the Italian Consular Office, competent for the Country issuing the document);
It is advisable that the documents to be uploaded on-line should be previously scanned
(if possible in .pdf format) in order to have the file ready in the computer.
Before sending the application, the applicant can save, modify and delete it, etc. However,
once it has been sent, the inserted data can be no longer modified/corrected (in case of
errors, it is necessary to re-insert all data, deleting the previous application (therefore,
please insert the data with utmost attention), it is possible, on the other hand, to reload
the required documents, if necessary. For Thai applicants, in order to maintain uniformity
with the Thai regulation, please insert “the place of birth” as appeared in the Thai passport:
only the province of birth (without mentioning district, sub-district, village, etc.).
Once the application has been sent, the on-line programme will create a summary document
and a receipt of transmission which applicant is suggested to keep as proof for presenting it
on a further appointment at the Embassy.
It should be noted in particular that:
– the consular staff is not authorized to insert documents through ALI on-line
application;
– after sending the document on-line, the applicant for Italian citizenship shall be
required to come to the Consular Office (showing ID card/passport, a print out of
the summary document created on-line) for identification, verification and acquisition
of the original documents (already sent on-line), to submit an extract of marriage certificate
issued by the Italian “Comune” where the marriage has been registered/recorded,
to have the signature on the application form duly certified by the consular
officer and to provide any other documents which the Embassy reserves the
rights to request, if necessary.
Finally, please note that in order to facilitate the applicant to locate the Embassy/Consular
Office territorially competent for receiving the application, the ALI on-line programme provides
a link with a portal (called “Secoli”) through which, after indicating the country of residence, the
menu will provide the list of the whole network of Embassy and consular offices in that selected
country to be chosen from (in case of Thailand, there is only one: Embassy in Bangkok).
Remarks: For non–residents in Thailand (the request of citizenship must be forwarded to the
competent Prefecture in Italy), please inquire with the Prefecture which documents issued
by local (Thai) Authorities are needed. The local documents must be legalized at the Thai
Ministry of foreign Affairs and translated into Italian (please see reference list of translation
agencies). Finally, with prior appointment on-line through this web site, all documents must
be submitted to the Consular Office of this Embassy in order to have them certified for
correct translation and legalized (the process shall take about 2 working weeks).
Services for legalization of signature, stamp duties, certification of correct translation / true
copy are provided on consular tariff basis.