The Italian passport consistently ranks among the top 5 strongest passports in the world, guaranteeing visa-free access to 160+ countries and providing the privileges of EU citizenship — from access to high-quality healthcare to the right to live and build a career in any member state. Acquisition by descent is the shortest route to Italian citizenship for applicants who can prove local ancestors in the direct ascending line. Marriage to an Italian citizen allows a passport to be obtained after 2 or 3 years. The standard route for most foreigners, however, is long-term legal residence in the country with proof of stable income and language skills.

Despite tighter bureaucratic procedures and a mandatory language exam, Italy is actively digitalizing the application process. The main development in 2026 is shorter waiting times for certain grounds and stricter checks on the genuineness of residence (the residence requirement). What “pitfalls” do Italian questure hide behind the facade of hospitality? In this article, we will examine the nuances of obtaining citizenship that are often left unmentioned, so that your path to the desired passport becomes easier.

Legal Basis for Obtaining Italian Citizenship

Italy’s immigration policy is governed by Law No. 91 of February 5, 1992, and Presidential Decree No. 572 of October 12, 1993. Numerous amendments have been made to the legislation over recent decades, but Italy remains committed to the principle of “right of blood.” The main criteria used to assess citizenship applicants are:

• Residence requirement — for foreigners without Italian roots, this is 10 years of legal residence. It is important that there be no interruption in official residence status (residenza).
• Financial self-sufficiency — the applicant must prove regular income over the previous 3 years. In 2026, the minimum threshold is tied to social indicators and is approximately EUR 8,263 for one person (the amount increases if there are financially dependent relatives).
• Language proficiency — a B1 (Cittadinanza) certificate issued by competent institutions (CILS, CELI, PLIDA) is mandatory.
• No criminal record — certificates from Italy and all countries where the applicant has lived since the age of 14 are checked.

Italy is highly liberal regarding dual citizenship. Italian citizens are allowed to hold multiple passports. You may retain your first citizenship status (if the law of your country of origin also permits this). You may keep both passports and exercise the corresponding rights in each jurisdiction.

Obtaining an Italian passport grants you the full range of rights of an EU citizen. You receive an indefinite right to settle and build a career in all European Union countries, participate in national and European elections, and seek protection from Italian consulates abroad. Your main obligation is loyalty to the Republic and compliance with the Constitution. Italy has no compulsory military service (it was abolished in 2005), but citizens are required to contribute to public expenditure through the tax system.

Benefits of an Italian Passport

An Italian passport gives its holder a specific set of rights and obligations and ranks among the world’s leading passports, providing visa-free or simplified access to 173 countries. Italians are guaranteed easy entry to the United States (through the ESTA system), Canada, Australia, Japan, and China. As an EU citizen, you also have the right to live, work, and retire in any of the 27 European Union countries without additional permits.

Italian citizens have access to the National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, SSN), which consistently ranks among the world’s top 10 according to the WHO. This guarantees access to advanced healthcare, subsidized medicines, and quality care. If you work in different EU countries, your pension contributions are aggregated, allowing you to qualify for adequate benefits based on your employment record regardless of where within the Union you worked. Citizenship provides access to all forms of state support — from unemployment benefits to child payments and assistance in difficult life circumstances.

Italian citizens can study at Europe’s oldest and most prestigious universities on preferential terms. Tuition at public universities in the country is often several times lower for local residents than for foreigners. Exchange programs such as Erasmus+ also allow students to study free of charge at leading academic centers throughout the EU.

Italy has one of the most extensive networks of consulates and embassies. If you encounter difficulties in a place where there is no Italian representation, you have the right to contact the representation of any EU country. You must be provided assistance on the same terms as that country’s own citizens.

With an Italian passport, you can establish a business and trade throughout the EU without customs duties and bureaucratic barriers applicable to third-country nationals. Mortgage and business loans at low European interest rates become available to you. The Italian government actively supports startups and innovation. Citizens can participate in EU grant programs and obtain preferential access to venture capital.

Holding a passport of any other EU country gives the right to accelerated acquisition of Italian citizenship after just 4 years of residence in the country. In other words, you can, for example, obtain a Romanian, Slovenian, or Bulgarian passport under one of the simplified programs and then naturalize in Italy more quickly. The company’s specialists will explain the requirements imposed on participants in these procedures during the first consultation.

Repatriation as a Route to Italian Citizenship

Repatriation to Italy is the process of recognizing citizenship for persons with Italian ancestors. Unlike naturalization, formally this is not an acquisition but recognition of status (Riconoscimento), because the person is considered technically Italian from birth, although this fact was not documented.

Until March 2025, Italian law allowed recognition of citizenship without a limit on the number of generations. However, Law No. 74/2025 (approved by the Constitutional Court in March 2026) limited kinship for automatic recognition to two generations. The right to repatriation under the simplified (administrative) procedure is now retained mainly by those whose ancestors (parents or grandparents) maintained a connection with Italy or whose line did not become too remote in the past. The Jure Sanguinis program is suitable for you if:

• your ancestor was an Italian citizen as of March 17, 1861 (the date of establishment of the Kingdom) or later;
• the ancestor did not renounce Italian citizenship before the birth of the next descendant in the chain;

If the ancestor naturalized in another country while his or her child was still a minor, the transmission of citizenship may be considered interrupted (judicial review is required). Collecting documents is the most labor-intensive stage. To obtain the status, you need to assemble a chain of evidence proving kinship with the Italian ancestor and each descendant in the line. The basic file must include:

• birth/marriage/death certificates and documents concerning surname changes;
• a certificate confirming the presence/absence of naturalization (from the country to which the ancestor emigrated);
• passport and your criminal record certificate.

Unlike other ways of acquiring citizenship, Jure Sanguinis does not require a B1 language certificate (you are recognized as Italian by birth). You also do not need to prove the minimum income required for other applicant categories. You retain your existing passport as well.

Naturalization

Naturalization in Italy is the legal procedure for acquiring citizenship after prolonged lawful residence in the country, financial stability, and successful social integration. In 2026, this route remains the standard option for most expats. Residence-period requirements are:

• 10 years — for citizens of jurisdictions that are not EU member states (standard period);
• 4 years — for citizens of European Union member states;
• 5 years — for applicants with refugee status or those who are stateless;
• 3 years — for foreigners born in Italy or persons with direct descendants who hold Italian citizenship
• 2 years — for those whose ancestors (parents or grandparents) were Italian by birth.

To acquire citizenship, a B1 (Cittadinanza) language certificate or higher is required. At present, documents from four accredited institutions may be accepted: CLIQ (Roma Tre), CILS (Siena), CELI (Perugia), and PLIDA (Dante Alighieri). Exceptions may apply to those who have a diploma from an Italian school or university. To obtain an Italian passport, you will also need to prove income for the previous 3 years. The minimum annual income thresholds are:

• EUR 8,263.31 — for one person;
• EUR 11,362.05 — if there is a dependent spouse;
• EUR 516 — additionally for each child.

The document package is submitted exclusively in digital form through the Ministry of the Interior portal. The application is uploaded online to the ALI portal of the Ministry of the Interior. The official processing period is 24 months (with the possibility of extension to 36 months in complex cases). After the application is approved, the President signs the decree. Within 6 months, you must take an oath of allegiance to the Republic at the local comune. The cost of applying for Italian citizenship is EUR 250. This is the state fee for submitting the application. An additional stamp duty of EUR 16 is also payable.

For comparison, the situation with obtaining citizenship in Europe in 2026 is as follows:

• Germany has become the leader in terms of speed — citizenship can now be obtained there after 5 years (or after 3 years in cases of outstanding integration), while multiple citizenship is permitted.
• France requires 5 years of residence and B2-level language proficiency (higher than in Italy).
• Spain, like Italy, requires 10 years of presence in the country for most foreigners, but for citizens of Latin American countries the period is reduced to 2 years.

Simplified Naturalization

Accelerated naturalization for obtaining Italian citizenship is available to three main categories of applicants. The timeframes depend on social status and family circumstances:

• Spouses of Italian Citizens.
  The waiting period for obtaining citizenship through marriage in Italy is reduced to 2 years if the spouses live together in the country after the marriage. If the spouses are outside Italy, the period is at least three years. However, if the couple has a biological or adopted child, the required period may be reduced by half (to 1 year in Italy or 1.5 years abroad). To obtain the status, you will need a marriage certificate (registered with an Italian comune), a B1 language certificate, and criminal record certificates from all countries of residence. At the time the citizenship decree is signed, the marriage must not have been dissolved or be in a state of separation.
• Refugees and Stateless Persons.
  Persons who have obtained humanitarian status in Italy and those recognized as stateless are entitled to obtain a passport after 5 years of legal residence instead of ten. Instead of a birth certificate and a criminal record certificate from the country of origin (which are often impossible to obtain), refugees may submit an “Affidavit” (Atto di notorietà) executed in an Italian court. The income and language proficiency (B1) requirements remain mandatory.
• Investors (“Golden Visa”).
  Purchasing real estate or making investments does not grant the right to a passport. An investor follows the naturalization route but has an advantage in terms of mobility. The required residence period for obtaining citizenship through investment in Italy is 10 years (as with ordinary residence permits). Buying shares or bonds also does not make it possible to become a passport holder. However, it is easier for investors to maintain continuity of residence because the requirements regarding mandatory physical presence in the country during the first years are applied less strictly to them, although the residence requirement is checked in full at the time of the citizenship application.

The full list of grounds for reducing the residence period is presented in the table below.

For all preferential categories (except refugees), the basic set of documents remains unchanged but is supplemented by specific certificates. For example, those obtaining citizenship through marriage need a marriage certificate and an Estratto dell’atto di matrimonio (extract from the Italian register). Refugees provide a copy of the certificate recognizing their status. EU citizens are required to provide a registration certificate from the comune at their place of residence.

The application process takes place digitally on the ALI portal. After the documents are uploaded, the system assigns you a case number (K10/…), which you can use to track the stages of processing.

In 2026, Golden Visa programs restrict participation by citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus. One immigration option may be obtaining a passport of an EU country under one of the simplified programs. Our lawyers will help select the optimal route to acquiring citizenship based on your individual circumstances.

Citizenship by Birth

Italy does not apply unconditional “right of soil.” However, there is a clear mechanism for acquiring status for children of foreigners who grow up in the country. The main way to obtain a passport is to meet the “18 years + 1 year” condition. A child has the right to become a citizen if two requirements are met:

• the child must have legally resided in Italy from birth until the age of 18 without prolonged interruptions;
• within one year after reaching adulthood (i.e., before turning 19), the child must submit a declaration to the comune at the place of residence expressing the wish to become an Italian citizen.

Children with at least one parent who is an Italian citizen automatically become Italian. An Italian passport may also be obtained automatically by minors whose parents are unknown or stateless, as well as those born in the country who, under the law of their parents’ state, cannot inherit their citizenship (prevention of statelessness).

Until a child reaches the age of 18, his or her status depends entirely on the parents’ status. If a parent obtains Italian citizenship through naturalization or marriage, minor children living with that parent automatically receive passports. In 2026, new Budget Law rules entered into force. A father or mother now has 3 years (instead of one) to request recognition of citizenship for children born abroad, and this procedure has become free of charge.

If your child was born in Italy and has reached the age of 18, an application to the comune will require a birth certificate and a residence certificate (Certificato storico di residenza) confirming continuous residence in the country since birth.

Step-by-Step Guide to Obtaining Italian Citizenship

The path to citizenship is a years-long integration marathon. Before you can apply for a passport, you must go through all stages of legalization in the country:

1. Entry Visa (D) and Residence Permit.
   Permission to enter for immigration purposes is issued by diplomatic missions on the basis of employment, business, study, family reunification, or elective residence. The processing period for applications is from 30 to 120 days. The initial residence permit (Permesso di Soggiorno) is obtained at the Single Immigration Desk, police office, or post office within 8 days after entering Italy. Documents are processed for up to 90 days; if the application is approved, the applicant receives a residence permit valid for up to one year, which can be renewed if the underlying basis is maintained. To preserve continuity of residence, it is important not to remain outside Italy for more than 6 months at a time.
2. Registration with the Comune (Residenza).
   The ten-year period for obtaining Italian citizenship starts not from the date the visa is issued, but from the date of your first registration in the Anagrafe register.
3. Permanent Residence (Permesso UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo).
   It is usually applied for after 5 years of living in the country. The status is indefinite, but the card is valid for 5 years, after which it must be replaced.
4. Collecting Documents for Citizenship.
   All certificates and extracts must be apostilled in the country of issue, translated into Italian, and legalized (through the consulate or a court in Italy). If you did not graduate from a local school/university, an exam (CILS, CELI) is mandatory — the certificate takes up to 3–4 months to be issued.
5. Electronic Submission of the Application.
   All applications for Italian citizenship are submitted online through the Portale Servizi del Ministero dell’Interno. You will need SPID (digital identity) to access the service. When completing the application, scans of all documents and a receipt confirming payment of the EUR 250 fee are attached. After submission, your application passes through 7 stages of review. You can track them in your personal account. Under the current rules, the maximum processing period is 24 months. The state may extend it to 36 months if additional checks are required.
6. Oath.
   After receiving notification that the application has been approved (through the portal or by mail), you have 6 months to take the oath at the comune of your place of residence. On the day after the ceremony, you become an Italian citizen. You can then apply for an identity card (CIE) at the comune and a passport at the questura.

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Documents for Obtaining Italian Citizenship

Regardless of the basis, to obtain Italian citizenship you will need the following documents:

• an application form completed in Italian or English (available for download from the official website);
• birth certificate;
• criminal record certificates from the country of citizenship and all states where you have lived;
• valid international passport;
• receipt confirming payment of the administrative fee;
• a EUR 16 revenue stamp (Marca da bollo), purchased at any Tabaccheria tobacco shop.

Depending on the basis, you will need:

• for naturalization — tax returns (CU, Unico, 730) for the last 3 years and a B1 language proficiency certificate;
• for citizenship through marriage — a certificate of registration of the marriage in Italy, a B1 language proficiency certificate, and a family composition certificate (Stato di famiglia);
• for repatriation — birth, marriage, and death certificates of all ancestors in the Italian line, and a certificate confirming that the Italian ancestor did not renounce citizenship (Non-rinuncia);
• for humanitarian grounds — a copy of the certificate recognizing the status; instead of certificates from the country of origin, an Atto di notorietà (an affidavit issued by a court).

In 2026, only two methods of document certification are recognized:

• apostille and consular legalization — the document is apostilled in the country of issue, translated by an accredited translator, and the translation is certified by the Italian consulate;
• apostille and court-certified translation — the document is apostilled in the country of issue, while the translation is completed in Italy and certified by an Italian court (Tribunale).

Italy applies a rule of automatically including minor children in a parent’s application. If the child lives with you in Italy, you must provide the child’s birth certificate with a translation and apostille, as well as a certificate of cohabitation (Stato di famiglia). For children aged 14–18, a criminal record certificate is required from the countries where they previously lived. If the second parent is not applying for citizenship, he or she must sign official consent to the change in the child’s immigration status.

Professional Assistance and Migrant Reviews

The process of obtaining an Italian passport is a complex legal and digital procedure. Despite the availability of information, the rate of refusals for formal reasons remains high. The work of a lawyer in Italy goes beyond simple consultation. The main tasks include document auditing, interaction with public authorities, and court representation.

Benefits of using the company’s specialists:

• legalization guarantee — lawyers ensure the correctness of court-certified translations and apostilles, which cannot be completed remotely, cheaply, and without errors;
• time savings — specialists know in which regions and courts of Italy (following the 2022 reform) the queues for processing are shorter, which makes obtaining status easier.
• risk minimization — resubmitting an application after a refusal will not only take time but will also require the repeated payment of state fees and translation charges.

An analysis of the experience of migrants who have gone through the procedure suggests that comune officials have become stricter regarding the oath ceremony. If an applicant cannot recite the oath without prompting or does not understand the questions, the procedure may be suspended. Reviews confirm that in large cities (Rome, Milan, Naples), waiting times often approach the maximum of 3 years, while in smaller comuni (especially in the north of the country), the process may take 12–18 months.

The opinions of those who have already obtained Italian citizenship agree on one point — obtaining a passport becomes a test of patience. However, those who pay attention to details and use legal assistance in obtaining status reach the finish line faster and more easily.

An alternative option for moving to the EU, including Italy, may be obtaining a passport from any of the 27 member states. A company lawyer will advise which program is suitable for you and provide support at every stage of obtaining the status. With the help of qualified specialists, you can become a citizen of the European Union within 12 months without the need to travel abroad.