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ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

What documents should you get after obtaining Italian citizenship?

Obtaining Italian citizenship can be a long and complex process – but what other documents should you get once you finally have it?

Published: 10 September 2024 14:02 CEST
Frecce Tricolori jets perform a flyover over Rome
Frecce Tricolori jets perform a flyover over Rome. Photo by Mauricio Artieda on Unsplash

There are many practical benefits to being an Italian citizen, including the right to move and reside freely within the EU, the right to vote in Italian elections and the automatic transfer of citizenship to your children at birth. 

But obtaining Italian citizenship is no short affair as the entire application process can take up to 36 months after the request has been submitted.

And even after you’ve overcome all the bureaucratic hurdles and become an Italian national, there are some documents that you should get to fully enjoy your rights as a new cittadino.

Italian passport 

One of the many perks of getting Italian citizenship is obtaining an Italian passport, which is the third most powerful passport in the world in 2024 according to the latest Global Passport Index.

New Italian citizens living in Italy can apply for their passports at the passport office (Ufficio Passaporti) of their local police headquarters (Questura) from the very next day following acquisition of Italian citizenship.

New Italian citizens residing outside of Italy must submit a passport request with their local consular authorities. 

Identity card

If you lived in Italy before becoming an Italian national, you may already have an identity card.

The card you have however can only serve as an identification document and as an ‘electronic key’ to access some online public administration services; it cannot be used as a travel document. 

READ ALSO: Can I use my Italian ID card for travel?

After acquiring citizenship, you’ll be able to apply for an identity card for Italian citizens, which you’ll be able to use as a travel document within the EU/Schengen area. 

If you are a new Italian citizen abroad, you can apply for a carta d’identita through your local consulate or embassy. 

Health card

If you’re a foreign national living in the country on a residency permit, then access to the national healthcare system and the validity of your tessera sanitaria are tied to that, meaning you’ll have to renew the card every one or two years depending on the length of your permit. 

After becoming a citizen, if you live in Italy, you are entitled to have a tessera sanitaria with 6-year validity. You do not have to renew this yourself: one gets automatically sent to your address. 

Italian citizens living abroad and legally registered with AIRE don’t have access to Italy’s national public healthcare system (Sistema Sanitario Nazionale, or SSN).

However, access to Italy’s SSN is automatically reinstated when establishing (or reestablishing) residency in Italy.

Voter’s card

The day after you become an Italian citizen, the civil registrar will notify the electoral office of your municipality of residency, and you’ll be automatically included in the local electoral roll.

After that, you’ll receive a letter inviting you to pick up your Italian voter’s card (tessera elettorale) at the local town hall.

The card is necessary to vote in person and contains the holder’s full name, date of birth, address and polling station. Every time you vote, the card – which takes the form of a piece of reinforced folded paper – will be stamped.

For new citizens living abroad and registered with AIRE the process differs slightly. 

They can expect to receive a package from their consular office at their registered foreign address close to election time. This contains a certificato elettorale (electoral certificate), the ballot papers and an envelope bearing the address of the consular office itself.

READ ALSO: What is Italy’s AIRE and who needs to register?

Overseas voters must send their ballot paper to the consular office, usually by mail, by a certain deadline. The consular office will then send the ballot papers to Italy so that the counting of votes cast abroad may take place at the same time as that of votes cast in Italy.

Italians abroad can vote in general elections and referendums, but can’t vote in regional, provincial and municipal elections.

AIRE registration

Registration with AIRE (Registry of Italians Residing Abroad) is mandatory for Italian citizens living outside of Italy, with fines for those flouting the requirement ranging from a minimum of 200 euros to a maximum of 1,000 euros for each year of non-registration.

Some of the benefits of registering with AIRE include voting in Italy’s general election and referendums, as well as applying for a new Italian passport, travel documents, vital records and certificates at the relevant consular office.

In most cases, new Italian citizens living abroad can register via the Italian Foreign Ministry’s FastIt online portal. Find out more information in this article.  

Citizenship certificate

Besides your passport and identity card, the certificato di cittadinanza (citizenship certificate) is a document that you can request and use as proof of your status as an Italian citizen.

The certificate is valid for six months from the date of issuance. 

It can be requested in person at your local town hall (or consulate if you live abroad), or downloaded online. The issuance fee is generally 16 euros per certificate.

Please note that The Local cannot advise on individual cases. For more details, seek advice from a qualified professional or contact the relevant town hall office or consular authority.

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For members

ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

Quick guide: Who is eligible for Italian citizenship?

There are many practical benefits to being an Italian citizen, not least the right to freely move and reside within the EU. But exactly who's eligible and what are the requirements?

Published: 12 September 2024 12:18 CEST
Updated: 15 September 2024 08:14 CEST
Quick guide: Who is eligible for Italian citizenship?

Italian citizenship applications can be drawn-out and expensive affairs, often requiring months of appointments and piles of paperwork.

But being an Italian cittadino comes with a number of practical benefits, including freedom of movement across the EU, the right to vote in Italian elections and free access to Italy’s healthcare system if you live in the country.

Further, the Italian passport is considered to be one of the world’s “most powerful” as it grants visa-free entry to more countries than almost any other passport.

But who is eligible for Italian citizenship?

There are several different routes to Italian nationality, which are generally grouped into two major categories: automatic citizenship (acquisto automatico or cittadinanza automatica), which, as suggested by the name, is granted automatically to those eligible, and citizenship ‘by concession’ (cittadinanza per concessione), which must applied for and is only granted if all the relevant requirements and eligibility criteria are met.

Cittadinanza per concessione

Citizenship by descent 

Italy is fairly lenient when it comes to jus sanguinis, or ancestry-based, citizenship applications.

Anyone who can prove that they had an Italian ancestor who was alive after March 17th, 1861 (when the Kingdom of Italy was officially born) and that no one in their line of descent renounced Italian citizenship before the birth of their descendant is eligible to apply.

However, proving you’re a direct descendent of someone who’s often long dead and you may only know through grainy black and white photographs can be a long and convoluted process.

READ ALSO: An expert guide to getting Italian citizenship via ancestry

Further, anyone applying via their maternal line of descent needs to be aware of the ‘1948 rule’ and how this could affect their application process. Find out more about that here.

Unlike citizenship through residency or marriage (see below), your ancestry-based application isn’t subject to language requirements or other administrative hurdles as you’re essentially applying to have an existing right recognised.

You can apply for citizenship via ancestry at the nearest Italian consulate in your home country or at your local town hall if you live in Italy. 1948 rule applicants must directly petition Italian courts to have their citizenship case heard.

Citizenship by marriage

If you’re married to an Italian, you can file your application for citizenship after two years of legal residence in Italy, or after three years if living abroad.

This time is reduced by half if you have children (natural or adopted).

Under a 2018 law change, applicants must take a B1 language test. For info on what the test involves and where you can take it, see our guide.

You cannot apply for citizenship via this route if you’re divorced from your Italian spouse, or if she or he has passed away.

READ ALSO: What I learned from applying for Italian citizenship by marriage

You can apply for citizenship via marriage at an Italian consulate in your home country, or in Italy by submitting your application to the interior ministry online.

Citizenship by residency

Though it is often considered the most complex way to gain Italian citizenship, this is a popular route among aspiring citizens: of the 121,457 people that were granted citizenship in 2021, nearly 51,000 people qualified via residency.

As suggested by the name, you need to prove that you’ve legally lived in Italy for a minimum period of time in order to apply. This is 10 years for non-EU nationals and four years for EU citizens, but certain categories benefit from lower thresholds.

READ ALSO: Who is entitled to Italian citizenship by residency and how do you apply? 

As with the marriage route, most applicants must prove proficiency in the Italian language at B1 level (lower-intermediate level) or higher by taking a test. For further info, see our guide.

Applicants are also subject to income requirements.

Children born in Italy to foreign parents

Unlike in other countries around the world, including the US, merely being born in Italy doesn’t grant a child Italian citizenship.

Italy-born children of foreign nationals must reside in Italy ‘without interruption’ until the age of 18 and submit a statement of intent within one year of their 18th birthday in order to apply for citizenship.

READ ALSO: Reader question: Will my children get an Italian passport if born in Italy?

If that time window is missed, or they fail to provide proof of continuous residency, then the only option left is to apply for citizenship by residency (naturalisation) after three continuous years of legal residency in the country. 

This, however, is still lower than the normal residency threshold for EU nationals (four years) and non-EU nationals (ten years).  

Cittadinanza automatica

Children of an Italian national at birth

If at least one parent is an Italian citizen, the child will automatically be granted Italian citizenship at birth by virtue of the so-called jus sanguinis (‘blood right’).

This applies to children born abroad as much as it does to those born in Italy.

Children adopted by an Italian national

A foreign minor who’s adopted by an Italian citizen is automatically granted Italian citizenship. 

A foreign national aged 18 or over who’s adopted by an Italian citizen can apply for naturalisation following five years of continuous residency in the country.

Children of stateless or unknown parents

A child born in Italy to stateless (meaning they have no legal nationality) or unknown parents automatically acquires Italian citizenship.

Children whose parents become Italian citizens

A person who acquires Italian citizenship (or reacquires after losing it) passes it to any child under the age of 18 provided that they live with them “in a stable and concrete manner”. 

Things are different for children whose parents become Italian citizens after they turn 18 as they’ll have to file their own application. 

For instance, over-18s whose parents become Italian citizens via the residency route (or naturalisation) need to file their own naturalisation application following five years of legal residency in the country starting from their parents’ naturalisation date (generally coinciding with completion of the oath ceremony).

Special merits or services

Following a joint proposal from the Interior Minister and Foreign Minister, Italy’s head of state can grant citizenship to foreign nationals who’ve “rendered eminent services to Italy, or when there is an exceptional interest of the State”.

This is a very rare case.

For more information about applying for Italian citizenship see the Italian foreign ministry’s website or contact the nearest Italian consulate in your country.

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