Getting Italian Citizenship by Marriage

If you fell in love with an Italian, so of course you desire to live in Italy either.

Well, it’s not that hard to get Italian citizenship if you get married to an Italian. As a destination wedding planner in Italy, we pay attention to all legal aspects of a wedding in Italy for foreigners. 

We can help you getting married in Italy and obtain Italian citizenship thanks to our competence in the legal field.

Let’s see what the Italian law says:

The foreigner can acquire Italian citizenship if articles 5, 6, 7, and 8 of law 91/92 are respected.

The foreign bride or groom can acquire this status upon application in the presence of the following requirements:

Must have been in Italy two years after marriage with legal residence or three years if the spouse lived abroad after the wedding.

These terms are reduced by half in case the couple have children born or adopted.

Pursuing the current legislation, at the time of adopting the provision of conferral of Italian citizenship, there must be no dissolution, annulment, or termination of the civil effects of the marriage. Furthermore, there must be no personal separation of the spouses.

From 1 August 2015, the application for Italian citizenship by marriage can be sent exclusively online through the following procedure:

1. Accessing the website of the Italian competent Ministry of the Interior https://cittadinanza.dlci.interno.it and click on “register.”

2. After registering and confirming, the portal access password will be sent to the e-mail address used for registration.

3. Access the portal with the e-mail address and password provided during the registration process.

4. Click “citizenship” – “submit your application”.

5. Choose Model A.E. – foreign citizens residing abroad – Art. 5 – Request marriage with an Italian citizen.

6. Fill in all the fields provided by the selected form. In addition, the registration form must include Surname – Name – Date, and place of birth present on the birth certificate.

N.B. The explicit recognition of the marital surname as a component of the name of origin in the Decree granting Italian citizenship is possible where the events modifying the original surname result in the birth certificate (or if the legal system of the State of origin does not provide marginal notes on the birth certificate, in the marriage certificate).

7. Scan and upload the four mandatory documents:

a) the birth certificate  issued by competent authorities of the country of provenance, legalized and translated (For those born in the Republic of Slovenia and in countries that have joined the Vienna Convention of 8 September 1976, the birth certificate must be requested with multilingual model and is therefore exempt from translation and legalization);

b) criminal certificate of the country of origin and of any third country of residence in which the person interested has lived since the age of 14, in compliance with the obligations prescribed by current legislation on legalization/apostille and translation. According to E.U. regulation 2016/1191, the criminal certificate issued to an E.U. citizen by the Authority of his member state on a particular multilingual standard form is exempt from legalization and translation.

c) Receipt of payment of 250.00 euros on the current account of the Ministry of the Interior.

Payment must be made by bank transfer to

MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR – CITIZENSHIP:

COMPULSORY CONTRIBUTION FOR CONCESSION OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR MARRIAGE

Euro 250.00 by way of compulsory contribution established by Law 15.7.2009, n.94, article 9, paragraph 2 to be paid alternatively: by foreign bank transfers;

or through the Eurogiro circuit (existing circuit between member postal organizations).

Identification elements that applicants must use for the payment:

Postal current account in the name of “Ministry of the Interior D.L.C.I. – Citizenship. Reason for payment Name and surname of the applicant,” Citizenship application by marriage “; IBAN code relating to the current account: IT54D0760103200000000809020 – BIC / SWIFT code of the Italian Post Office:

– for foreign transfers: BPPIITRRXXX

– for Eurogiro operations: PIBPITRA

d) Certificate certifying the knowledge of the Italian language not lower than level B1. It will be uploaded to the portal:

– a qualification issued by a public educational institution (self-certification with an indication of the details of the deed) or equal (certified copy); or

– a certification issued by a certifying body (certified copy). At the moment, they can undoubtedly be considered certification bodies belonging to the unified certification system C.L.I.Q. (Italian Language Certification of Quality):

– The University for Foreigners of Siena

– The University for Foreigners of Perugia

– The Roma Tre University

– The Dante Alighieri Society

Therefore, certifications of a level not lower than B1 issued by the entities mentioned above, possibly in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, may be considered valid under the standard mentioned above.

e) Identity document: international passport or valid identity card. For non-EU citizens, a certified copy of the paper will be required legalized by the diplomatic-consular representation of the State who released to the person.

Once the application has been sent, two documents will be generated:

– a document summarizing the application

– a dispatch receipt with an identification number.

Please note that if the application does not comply with the required documentation, the necessary legalizations, language requirements, or errors in the data entered, it will be considered inadmissible and rejected in the system.

The interested party will be notified via communication in the A.L.I. portal of the acceptance or not of the application.

The applicant will then be summoned to this Consulate General for identification and for the other formalities necessary for completing the application, including the original acquisition of the documentation attached to the application submitted online, delivery of any other valuable document for the investigation of the same, payment of the stamp duty of € 16.00 and authentication of the signature on the application (€ 14.00).

Please note that the following documents: extract from the marriage certificate, certificate of family status, certificate of Italian citizenship of the spouse are replaced if the applicant is an E.U. citizen by self-certification according to Presidential Decree 445/2000 and most recently by law 183/2011.

The applicant who is a citizen of a country not belonging to the European Union can be exempted from presenting the extract of the marriage certificate, the certificate of family status, and the certificate of Italian citizenship of the spouse, only if these documents are already in possession of the General Consulate.

Based on art. 4, paragraph 5 of the D.P.R. n. 572/93, the italian Ministry has the right to request, as appropriate, other documents.

Following the presentation of the original documentation, the file will be the exclusive responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior.

The applicant can personally check the status of the case by accessing

http://www.interno.gov.it/it/temi/cittadinanza-e-altri-diritti-civili/cittadinanza/cittadinanza-consulta-pratica

All communications relating to the procedure will be sent through the personal area of ​​the portal and notified via the e-mail address used for registration.

The Decree granting Italian citizenship will be notified to the interested party by registered letter. Those who change their address are invited to inform this Consulate General.

Within six months of notification of the Decree granting Italian citizenship, the applicant must report to the Consulate General to take the oath of loyalty to the Italian Republic and its laws. Before taking the oath, it will be necessary to present an updated criminal certificate.