This Report provides an immediate overview of the current law on European nationality and is excellent for analysing matters on Dual Citizenship.
Currently, Italian citizenship is regulated by Law no. 91, February 5th, 1992.
The key principles of this law are: i) the child born from an Italian father or mother is an Italian citizen by descent (principle of ius sanguinis); ii) it is possible to maintain dual citizenship; iii) the importance of will of the person concerned, thus meaning that the acquisition or loss of citizenship must always be originated by expressing the intention by the subject involved; iv) the gender equality between man and woman concerning the capacity of transmitting Italian citizenship to their children.
Following the Law no. 91, 1992, other regulation came into force, integrating or amending in part the modalities of acquiring Italian citizenship.
Among these, it is worth mentioning the following:
Besides the recognition of Italian citizenship by those who were born from Italian parents or those who have an Italian ancestor (who, in fact, already are Italian citizens at birth but must obtain recognition from relevant authorities) it is possible to acquire Italian citizenship mainly in two other ways, i.e., by marriage or by residency (naturalization).
By marriage: a foreign spouse of an Italian citizen is entitled to apply for Italian citizenship once he or she has lawfully resided in Italy for at least two years following the marriage, or after three years from the date of the marriage if resident abroad (these terms are reduced by half if there are children within the married couple). Other requirements are absence of criminal records and knowledge of Italian language.
By residency (naturalization): non-EU applicants can apply after 10 years of uninterrupted and continuous residency and EU citizens after 4 years of residency. Reduced terms of just 3 years of residency are allowed if the applicant has parents/grandparents who are (or have been in the past) Italian citizens at birth. Other requirements are: i) proving an income produced and taxed in Italy; ii) absence of criminal records; iii) knowledge of Italian language.
With our Multilingual Service Desks with native English, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Arabic speaking associates serving as a contact point, we offer a dense network of lawyers specialized in Italian Immigration and Citizenship law.
Attorney at law since 2006, specialized in real estate law, inheritance, citizenship and corporate law.
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