Frequently Asked Questions

Generally speaking, yes, you might be entitled to the recognition of the Italian citizenship by descent from an Italian ancestor, without limits of generation, as long as the Italian ancestor did not naturalize as citizen of another country or renounced to the Italian citizenship before the birth of their descendant and as long as nobody in the line of descendance renounced to the Italian citizenship.

It is possible, however it is necessary to verify the fulfilment of all the conditions required by the law and possibly start judicial proceedings before the Italian Court of the place in which the ancestor was born.

The process is quite long, a significant number of Consulates/Embassies have long waiting times for appointment scheduling and once it is started, it may take approx. 2-3 years to be completed.

It is possible as long as the applicant physically moves to Italy, not temporarily, and becomes a resident.

Children of the applicant can be included in the same application while the spouse may apply for Italian citizenship by marriage once the applicant has obtained the recognition of the Italian citizenship by descent.

Generally speaking the cohabitation at the same address is required, unless in specific cases.

In case of minor children the term is reduced to half of the standard term.

Yes, no personal separation of the spouses or divorce must occurr before the completion of the process.

Yes, as long as the new address of the spouses is duly communicated to the local Prefecture/Italian Consulate/Embassy of the place of residence.

No, moving the residence out of Itlay or the prolonged absence from the Italian territory may result in the rejection of the application.

The applicant must prove to have had in the last 3 years before the submission of the application an annual income higher than the one for the exemption for the social allowances, produced and taxed in the Italian territory.

The application may be rejected should the criminal record certificates of the country of origin and/or the countries of past residence show criminal chargese or ciminal records.