Italian citizenship by descent.

Steps

• Check which case fits: a parent or grandparent with only Italian citizenship, or an Italian parent who lived in Italy for 2 years in a row before you were born.
• Get the Italian birth record of the Italian ancestor from their Italian town hall.
• Collect birth and marriage records for each person in the line, including you. Add death records where they apply. Records from outside Italy need an apostille and an Italian translation.
• Get proof for your case. For sole Italian citizenship, examples are negative citizenship certificates, certificates of renunciation of foreign citizenship, and certificates of non-enrolment on foreign voter lists. For the residence case, a historical residence certificate from the Italian town hall. Self-declarations are not accepted.
• Apply where you live. Booking differs by consulate. London, New York, Miami and Washington use the Prenot@mi site. Cologne and Frankfurt use email. If you live in Italy, the claim goes to your town hall.
• Hand in or post the full file with the fee. London and Cologne take it in person on the appointment day. New York and Washington take it by post, posted on the appointment day. An incomplete file can be turned down, and a new booking and fee may be needed.
• Until 1 January 2029, the law caps how many adult claims each consulate can take each year. It is no more than the consulate finished in 2025, and never fewer than 100.
• From 1 January 2029, adults who live outside Italy send claims by post to a central office at the Foreign Ministry instead of a consulate. They send the original papers and proof of the fee. For the first two years the central office also has a yearly cap, set by how many 600 euro fees consulates collected in 2025.

Cost

600 euros for each adult claim. It is not paid back if the claim fails. Some consulates take it in local money, for example pounds in London and US dollars in Miami.

Time

Law 11/2026 sets a limit of 36 months. The Cologne consulate says this applies to claims handed in from 1 January 2026, and that earlier claims keep 730 days from the full file. The Washington embassy page still says 730 days.

Documents

• Your passport and proof you live in the consulate's area, such as a utility bill
• Italian birth record of the Italian ancestor, from their Italian town hall
• Birth and marriage records for each person in the line, including you, with apostille and Italian translation. Death records too where they apply
• For sole Italian citizenship: official certificates such as negative citizenship certificates, renunciation certificates or certificates of non-enrolment on foreign voter lists. Self-declarations are not accepted
• Or, for the residence case: a historical residence certificate from the Italian town hall
• The consulate's application form and the fee. The exact list differs by consulate

"un ascendente di primo o di secondo grado possiede, o possedeva al momento della morte, esclusivamente la cittadinanza italiana" (Normattiva: Law 91/1992, article 3-bis, letter c)

Steps

• Your claim is checked under the rules in force on 27 March 2025.
• This covers full claims at a consulate or town hall, claims made on an appointment date given by 27 March 2025, and court cases filed by then.
• A claim counts as made if it was handed in before the cut-off, or posted with a dated tracking mark before it, or posted without tracking and received by the consulate before it.
• An appointment counts if you got the email confirmation from Prenot@mi, or from the consulate's own email, by the cut-off.

Cost

Not published

Time

The Cologne consulate says 730 days from the full file, for claims made before 1 January 2026.

"nel rispetto della normativa applicabile al 27 marzo 2025" (Normattiva: Law 91/1992, article 3-bis, letters a, a-bis and b)

Steps

• Both parents, or the guardian, make a formal declaration in person at the consulate, before a civil-status officer. One parent can do it alone if the other has died or is not legally recognised as a parent.
• Book through the consulate. Some ask for the papers first, for example by email, and then call you in.
• Deadline: within 3 years of the child's birth, or of the later date when the link to the Italian parent is set, such as an adoption.
• Special rule: a child who was under 18 on 24 May 2025, whose Italian parent was recognised under a claim, appointment or court case from 27 March 2025 or earlier, has until 31 May 2029. Law 26/2026 moved this from 31 May 2026. If the child has since turned 18, the person declares in person for themselves by the same date.
• After these deadlines, the child must live legally in Italy for 2 years in a row after the declaration.
• The child becomes Italian from the day after the declaration, not from birth. At 18 the person can give it up if they hold another citizenship.

Cost

Free. The 250 euro fee no longer applies to these declarations from 1 January 2026. Fees paid before that date are not paid back.

Time

Not published

Documents

• ID for the parents and, if there is one, for the child
• Proof you live in the consulate's area
• Long-form birth record of the child, with apostille and Italian translation
• Proof of how the Italian parent became Italian, such as a citizenship certificate
• Records of the parents' marriage, or of fatherhood recognition, if there are any
• The exact list differs by consulate

"La dichiarazione di volontà dei genitori deve essere presentata: entro tre anni dalla nascita del minore" (Embassy of Italy in Washington: deadline for the declaration (citizenship by benefit of law))

Steps

• Live legally in Italy for at least 2 years.
• Show Italian at level B1 or higher. A school qualification or a recognised certificate counts. People who signed the integration agreement, or who hold an EU long-term residence permit, do not need the certificate.
• Send the claim to the Interior Ministry, which has an online service for this. Add proof that your parent or grandparent was Italian by birth. Pay the 250 euro contribution.
• The grant is made by decree of the President of the Republic, on the proposal of the Interior Minister.

Cost

250 euros (the contribution under article 9-bis of Law 91/1992).

Time

The Interior Ministry page says 24 months, which can be extended up to 36 months, for claims made from 20 December 2020. The page was published on 11 November 2024.

Documents

• Proof of legal residence in Italy for at least 2 years
• Records showing your parent or grandparent was Italian by birth
• Proof of Italian at level B1, or a school qualification in Italian, unless you are exempt
• Receipt for the 250 euro contribution

"ascendenti in linea retta di secondo grado sono o sono stati cittadini per nascita e che risiede legalmente da almeno due anni" (Ministry of the Interior: citizenship by residence (article 9 of Law 91/1992))