Ambasciata d'Italia Manila

Italian Citizenship by Marriage or Civil Union

Legal framework
Requirements
Documents
Procedure

Phase 1: Registration and submission of the application
Phase 2: Consular verification
Phase 3: Assessment and time limits of the procedure
Phase 4: Decree, notification and oath

Fees
Contacts and useful links

Legal framework

In accordance with the legislation in force, which requires knowledge of the Italian language, information concerning citizenship by marriage is provided in Italian.

Applicants for Italian citizenship by marriage or civil union must be aware of their duties towards the Italian Republic, foremost among which are adherence to national values and irreproachable conduct.

The acquisition of Italian citizenship by a foreign or stateless spouse who married an Italian citizen on or after 27 April 1983 is currently governed by Law No. 91 of 5 February 1992 (Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8), as subsequently amended.

Applications for Italian citizenship may also be submitted by foreign nationals who have entered into a civil union with an Italian citizen, provided that the civil union has been registered in the civil status registers of an Italian municipality (Legislative Decrees Nos. 5, 6 and 7 of 2017).

The foreign spouse/partner in a civil union may acquire Italian citizenship upon application, provided that the requirements established by the legislation in force are met, as explained in the following sections.

Legislative references:

Law No. 123/1983
Law No. 91/1992 and Presidential Decrees Nos. 572/1993 and 362/1994
Law No. 94/2009
Law No. 76/2016 and Legislative Decrees Nos. 5, 6 and 7/2017
Law No. 113/2018 and Law No. 132/2018
Law No. 130/2020 and Law No. 173/2020

Requirements for applying for citizenship

Residence within the consular district:
- The applicant must submit the application to the diplomatic or consular representation competent for their place of residence, exclusively through the designated online application system (see below: Section 4, Procedure, Phase 1 – Registration and submission of the application).
- The Italian spouse/partner in a civil union must be resident and duly registered with the Register of Italians Resident Abroad (A.I.R.E.) of the competent consular district and must be living at the same address as the applicant for citizenship. If this is not the case, both spouses must provide documentation substantiating the reasons (e.g. employment, children’s education, medical treatment or other circumstances) that necessitate or have necessitated separate residence.
Time limits for submission:
- If the Italian spouse is an Italian citizen iure sanguinis (i.e. by birth), the application may be submitted three years after the celebration of the marriage/civil union.
- If the Italian spouse acquired Italian citizenship after the marriage (e.g. through residence in Italy), the three-year period runs from the date of the spouse’s naturalisation. This period is reduced to one and a half years in the presence of children born to or adopted by the spouses.
Registration and validity of the marriage/civil union:
- If celebrated abroad, it must have been previously registered with an Italian municipality (Comune).
- The marital or civil union bond must remain valid and stable until the adoption of the decree granting citizenship. For the purposes of the granting of Italian citizenship, as at the date of adoption of the decree, the marriage/civil union must not have been dissolved by personal separation or divorce.
- The death of the spouse after submission of the citizenship application does not result in forfeiture of the benefit.
Criminal record:
- Absence of convictions by Italian judicial authorities for offences punishable by a sentence exceeding three years’ imprisonment.
- Absence of convictions by foreign judicial authorities to a sentence exceeding one year for non-political offences.
- Absence of convictions for crimes against the personality of the State and of any grounds precluding the security of the Republic.
Knowledge of the Italian language at a level not lower than B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Payment of the fees and charges indicated in the sections “Documents” and “Fees”.

Documents required for the citizenship application

Original extract of the birth certificate or equivalent document, issued preferably no more than six months previously by the country of birth, containing full personal details (including parents’ details), duly legalised/apostilled and translated into Italian.
Original criminal record certificates from the country of origin, any third countries of residence (from the age of 14) – excluding Italy – and from countries of which the applicant holds citizenship, issued strictly no more than six months prior to submission of the application, duly legalised/apostilled and translated into Italian.

The applicant is exempt from submitting the criminal record certificate of the country of origin only if they left that country before the age of 14 and did not retain its citizenship.

Receipt of payment of the €250 contribution payable to the Ministry of the Interior, in accordance with the instructions set out in the “Fees” section.
Identity document: photocopy of a valid passport or foreign identity card (pages showing personal details, photograph, issue and expiry dates).
Copy of the marriage certificate or extract from the marriage register, to be requested from the competent Italian municipality where the marriage has been registered, preferably issued no more than six months previously.

PLEASE NOTE: If the applicant is an EU citizen, they may avail themselves of self-certification pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 445/2000.

Certificate attesting knowledge of the Italian language at a level not lower than B1 of the CEFR. Only the following certifications are accepted:
- PLIDA – Società Dante Alighieri
- CertIT – Università Roma Tre
- CILS – University for Foreigners of Siena
- CELI – University for Foreigners of Perugia
- Co.L – University for Foreigners of Reggio Calabria

Other certifications issued by the above institutions or by other bodies are not valid and will not be accepted.

The following categories are exempt from submitting proof of Italian language knowledge:

Foreign nationals (including those resident abroad) who have signed the Integration Agreement pursuant to Article 4-bis of Legislative Decree No. 286/1998 (Consolidated Immigration Act).
Holders of an EU (or EC) long-term residence permit pursuant to Article 9 of the same Consolidated Act (including those resident abroad), provided it was issued by the Italian authorities. Family residence permits or permits issued by other States are not acceptable.
Those who have obtained an educational qualification issued by a public or officially recognised educational institution acknowledged by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Procedure

PHASE 1 – REGISTRATION AND SUBMISSION OF THE APPLICATION

Applicants resident abroad must register on the Ministry of the Interior’s portal (portaleserviziapp.dlci.interno.it/AliCittadinanza/) without using SPID, but using their own email address.

Please note that the email address provided during online submission constitutes an elected domicile (pursuant to Article 47 of the Civil Code). It is therefore essential to check the email inbox regularly, as all communications relating to the citizenship application—including requests for additional documentation, summons, notifications of decisions, etc.—will be sent exclusively via electronic means.

Applicants must enter their personal details with the utmost care, as these cannot be amended. In the event of an error, a new registration using a different email address will be required. In particular, personal details must correspond exactly to those shown on the birth certificate (including any annotations) and/or on documents issued abroad by the competent foreign authorities (such as marriage certificates, identity documents, court decisions changing name/surname, etc.). In the event of discrepancies, appropriate supporting documentation must be provided.

The application must declare the presence of any minor children of the applicant from a previous relationship who are cohabiting with the applicant.

All places of residence from the age of fourteen onwards must be declared, and no periods of time may be left undeclared.

Special characters or symbols must not be used (for example cedillas, acute or grave accents within words, circumflex accents, etc.). Only an accent on the final letter may be inserted using an apostrophe, where applicable in the original language.

PHASE 2 – CONSULAR VERIFICATION

The Consular Office will be automatically informed of the submission of the application and will carry out the necessary checks. The applicant will then receive, via the Ministry of the Interior’s portal, a communication regarding acceptance or rejection of the application.

In the event of rejection, the application may be resubmitted once the errors indicated in the rejection have been rectified. Payments already made may be reused if the application is resubmitted within one year.

In the event of acceptance, the applicant will be summoned electronically to the diplomatic or consular representation for authentication of the signature on the citizenship application, submission of all original paper documentation (including that already uploaded via the portal), and collection of the applicable consular fees.

All such documentation will be retained in original by the diplomatic or consular representation, with the exception of the identity document and the language certificate, for which certified copies will be made subject to the relevant fees.

PHASE 3 – ASSESSMENT AND TIME LIMITS OF THE PROCEDURE

Assessment of the application and conclusion of the procedure fall exclusively within the competence of the Ministry of the Interior and must be completed within 24 months from the date of submission of the application, extendable up to a maximum of 36 months. If the procedure concludes positively, the Ministry of the Interior will forward the decree granting Italian citizenship to the diplomatic or consular representation competent for the applicant’s place of residence.

PHASE 4 – DECREE, NOTIFICATION AND OATH

The decree granting Italian citizenship will be notified via the portal, with a communication addressed to the applicant. Upon notification, documents will also be requested in order to verify the continued existence of the marital or civil union bond, dated after the decree, such as, by way of example (non-exhaustive list):

Full marriage certificate issued by the competent Italian municipality (not an extract) and the corresponding foreign certificate;
Criminal record certificate from the current country of residence, duly legalised and translated (see “Documents” section).

As at the date of adoption of the decree, the marriage or civil union must not have been dissolved nor must there have been personal separation (judicial separation). The death of the spouse occurring after submission of the citizenship application does not result in forfeiture of the benefit.

Within and no later than six months from notification, the applicant will be summoned to the consular offices to swear an oath of allegiance to the Republic and its laws. The six-month deadline is mandatory; failure to comply will result in loss of the right to acquire citizenship.

Payment of a fee is required, in accordance with the instructions set out in the “Fees” section.

The full marriage certificate must be requested from the Italian municipality in whose registers the marriage is recorded; the criminal record certificate must be requested from the competent authorities in the country of residence and must comply with legalisation/apostille and translation requirements, as explained in the “Documents” section.

The applicant will swear allegiance to the Italian Republic by pronouncing the following words:

“I SWEAR TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE REPUBLIC AND TO OBSERVE THE CONSTITUTIONAND THE LAWS OF THE STATE.”

Italian citizenship will be acquired as of the day following the oath.

The original birth certificate will be sent for registration to the relevant Italian municipality together with the request for AIRE registration and the record of the oath taken.

Fees

Contribution of €250 payable to the Ministry of the Interior, to be paid exclusively via PagoPA during completion of the application or by bank transfer to the account indicated by the Ministry of the Interior (receipt to be uploaded with the online application). Any bank charges are borne by the payer.

Payee: “Ministero dell’Interno D.L.C.I Cittadinanza”

Bank: Poste Italiane S.p.A.

IBAN: IT54D0760103200000000809020

Payment reference: Application for citizenship by marriage pursuant to Article 5 of Law No. 91/1992 and the applicant’s full name

BIC/SWIFT (Poste Italiane): BPPIITRRXXX (for international transfers)

BIC/SWIFT (EUROGIRO): PIBPITRA

Consular fee schedule and applicable amounts:
- Authentication of signature on the application: Art. 24 – €20.00
- Legalisation of translator’s signature: Art. 69 – €24.00
- Certified copy of a valid identity document: Art. 71 – €10.00
  (Where the document is not in Latin characters, a translation is also required)
- Certified copy of the language certification: Art. 71 – €10.00
- Certification of conformity of translations of civil status acts and criminal records: Art. 72A – €13.00
- Fee for the oath record: Art. 8 – €15.00