Start Here
Begin here before opening every old WordPress page. The practical path is: confirm eligibility, decide where to apply, collect documents, resolve discrepancies, then submit through the correct authority.
- Confirm whether you qualify.
- Build the document list.
- Decide whether you are applying at a consulate or in Italy.
- Use the legal reference page only when you need source material.
Welcome!
Welcome!
Benvenuti! Welcome to our site!
As you prepare to embark on your journey for Italian Citizenship, this site will serve as an informational hub to prepare you to present your application to the Italian consulate.
Here we will answer your most frequently asked questions.
After you have finished reading, join the forum conversation here on Facebook. Stay up to date on current events, current consulate wait times, get assistance with your case, and much more! Join today.
Current Consular Fee Schedule
Consulates do not use the daily, fluctuating, exchange rate for the Euro (€) to local currency when paying for consular services at an Italian Consulate or Embassy. The exchange rate is set quarterly, and updates are effective on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July, and 1 October every year. New rates are announced a few days before each quarter.
IMPORTANT: Effective 1 January 2025, in accordance with la Legge 30 dicembre 2024, n. 207 recante “Bilancio di previsione dello Stato per l’anno finanziario 2025 e bilancio pluriennale per il triennio 2025-2027 (the 2025 fiscal budget law), the fee for Jure sanguinis / Citizenship by descent applications has increased from 300€ to 600€, per person.
Q1 2025 (1 January - 31 March 2025)
Citizenship by desc. (Jure sanguinis) - 600€: $643,70 USD
Passport (Passaporto) - 116€: $124,50 USD
Identity Card (Carta d'identità) - 21,95€: $23,70 USD
Who are we? This site is developed by the Administrators of the Dual U.S. Italian Citizenship Facebook group. We are not service providers and do not charge for our services. We are simply Italians helping Italians pursue la dolce vita. Any money generated from this site in excess of maintenance fees is reinvested in the site, sponsors prize giveaways, or is donated to charity (ex: NIAF).
Tell us how we're doing! We certainly appreciate you taking the time to rate our site.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
The administrators and moderators of the Dual U.S.-Italian Citizenship Facebook Group are not lawyers and as such cannot provide concrete legal advice surrounding any one person’s unique situation or topic; any and all comments and posts are the opinions of their respective owners and are NOT to be construed as legal advice. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information provided is strictly at your own risk. Therefore, by your active use of this site and/or the associated Dual U.S. Italian Citizenship Facebook group, you shall release its members, administrators, and moderators of any liability or other legal claim made through civil, state or federal lawsuit. If at any point you choose to discontinue your membership in this group and/or cease use of this website and all its pages herein, all terms of your aforementioned release of liability shall apply. Finally our group makes no guarantees concerning the success of your application to the consulate or the favorable outcome of any legal action undertaken. All decisions regarding dual citizenship applications are at the sole discretion of the Italian government authorities reviewing the application. All statements by our group are statements of opinion only.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NOTICE
©2019-2024. Dual Italian Citizenship Facebook Group Administrators. The information and images on this site are the intellectual property of the Administrators and shall not be used in any way without the express prior written approval of the Administrative team. The Admin team reserves the right to take legal action against anyone stealing or using content from this site without permission.
Guides
Guides
These guides will assist you through the basics of Italian Citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis).
OVERVIEW OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BY DESCENT (JURE SANGUINIS)
DETERMINE YOUR CONSULATE AND SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT
- Determine your consulate.
- Scheduling your consulate appointment.
- What is Prenota?
- Appointment Scheduling Tips
COLLECT DOCUMENTS
In order to establish your claim of citizenship, you'll need documents (vital records) supporting the descent of each person in your line from the previous person. You'll also need documents establishing whether and when your LIRA naturalized, which will show that he or she did not lose Italian citizenship before the next person in your line was born. In addition, all recognized Italian citizens are required to keep their home comune up-to-date with any changes in their status, such as marriage, divorce, or the birth of their children.
- What documents do you need?
While jure sanguinis means "right of blood", DNA is not acceptable proof to the consulate and they don't want to see it.
Each consulate (or comune) establishes a list of the documents that they will require to support your application. Some, but not all, consulates list these documents on their websites, but these lists are not always accurate and they are subject to change. In the Facebook group, we have may posts detailing what documents were required during appointment at various consulates - the posts are tagged under the CONSULATE APPOINTMENT RECAPS topic.
DISCREPANCIES: Most applicants find discrepancies and errors in names and dates in the documents collected. See our discrepancies page to determine if and how to deal with these.
IMPORTANT: Be organized, but be smart about it. NEVER hole-punch your documents to put them in a binder - it invalidates the certificate. If you want to organize documents in a binder, buy the pre hole-punched clear sleeves you can place documents in.
ATTEND YOUR CONSULAR APPOINTMENT
- Addresses for each consulate
- Things to take with you:
- All your documents, organized from original ancestor in order down to yourself.
- US Passport (plus a color photocopy)
- Driver's License (plus a color photocopy)
- Money Order in US Dollars (USD) for Application Fee (300 EUR)
- The exchange rate to USD changes every quarter (current fees on our homepage and your consulate's website).
- Copy of current utility bill showing address in the consular jurisdiction.
IMPORTANT ITALIAN DATES AFFECTING CITIZENSHIP AND ELIGIBILITY
- 1861 - Italian Unification
- 1912 - Law on Citizenship
- 1920 - Annexation of Northern Italian Territories
- 1922 - The Cable Act (US)
- 1948 - The Italian Republic and Women's Rights to Pass Citizenship
- 1975 - Italian Age of Majority
- 1983 - Automatic Citizenship for Foreign Women by Marriage
- 1992 - Italy Allows Dual Citizenship
- 2000 - Granting of Citizenship to former Austro-Hungarian Empire
- 2006 - Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia
- 2018 - Security Decree (Decreto di Sicurezza)
ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO CITIZENSHIP
If all other options fail, Italy allows citizenship through residency, also known as naturalization. This is covered in general on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website (section 6): “As a general rule, for non-EU foreigners, legal residence on the territory of the Italian State for at least 10 years is required (1992 law, Article 9, subparagraph f), but there are many cases for which the period of residence required is lower:
- 3 years of legal residence: for a foreigner whose father, mother or grandparents (any of the ascendants in a direct line descent up to the second degree) were Italian citizens by birth or for a foreigner born in Italy and residing there;
- 4 years for a citizen of an EU Member State;
- 5 years of legal residence following the adoption of a foreigner of legal age (someone adopted as an adult), or following the formal declaration of a person as having the status of a stateless person or of a political refugee.”
You must first meet the residency terms above before you can apply for naturalization. Formal residency means permanently living in Italy with suitable lodging such as owning a property or having a lease in your name that qualifies you to establish residency with the comune (a vacation rental cannot get you residency status). Once you apply, it typically takes 2-4 years more before citizenship is granted. In addition to proof of continuous residency, you will have to provide a B1 fluency certification and proof of Italian tax filing as part of your application. Naturalization is governed by the Interior Ministry for each territory, so there may be additional specific requirements, depending on where in Italy you reside.
In order to legally stay in Italy beyond the 90 days that a US passport allows, a visa is required BEFORE you move. If you have no other way of acquiring a long-term visa (like employer-sponsored), you would need to get an elective residency visa. It requires that you have significant financial resources (over $100,000K/year). Understand that you cannot work there with this visa type, so your financial resources must be from savings or other available accounts, like a retirement or pension fund. You will also need proof of private health insurance. Elective residency visas are granted for up to 5 years at a time, at the consulate's discretion.