HOW TO GET ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BY DESCENT

04 Nov HOW TO GET ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BY DESCENT

If one of your ancestors was Italian, you might be eligible for Italian citizenship.

According to the Italian law of “Iure Sanguinis”, citizenship is passed on from parent to children without limit of generation.

If you are planning on applying for Italian citizenship by descent, you will have to show evidence that your ancestors were in fact Italians. In particular, you will have to provide proof that your ancestors have maintained and passed on their Italian citizenship. For foreign residents (i.e. outside of Italy) the competent authority is represented by an Italian Embassy and/or Consulates in your country. The competent authority then will have to look at the existing citizenship law at the time of your birth.

There are different scenarios to get the Italian citizenship by descent:

• CATEGORY 1 (DIRECT DESCENT): Father born in Italy, Italian citizen at the moment of your birth, and you never renounced your right to be an Italian citizen;
• CATEGORY 2 (DIRECT DESCENT): Mother born in Italy, Italian citizen at the moment of your birth, and you never renounced your right to be an Italian citizen;
• CATEGORY 3: Father born in another Country, your grandfather was Italian at the time of his birth, neither you nor your father ever renounced your right to be Italian citizens;
• CATEGORY 4: Mother born in another Country, your grandfather was Italian at the time of his birth, neither you nor your father ever renounced your right to be Italian citizens;
• CATEGORY 5: your direct maternal or paternal ancestors were born in another Country from Italian parents and they never renounced their right to Italian citizenship.

Bear in mind that if you are applying through an Italian mother or grandmother, you must also provide information on your father and grandfather as Italian citizenship might be affected by naturalisation. On top of that, the mother can only transfer her citizenship to children born after January 1^st 1948.

The required forms and documents to submit might change depending on the country you are from.

For example, you might need to pay a fee to the Italian competent authority. Most likely, you will also be required to submit:

• A copy of your passport;
• Proof of address;
• Birth Certificate of the Italian ancestor, issued by the Italian Municipality;
• Original Vital Records (birth, marriage, death) of every descendant, including yourself, issued by the competent authority of your Country. The certificates must be legalised with an Apostille and then translated into Italian (the Apostille should not be translated);
• Proof that your ancestors were never naturalised before the next descendant was born.

If your competent authority is represented by the General Consulate of London, and you are unable to attend the Consulate in person to legalise the translation of your documents, we will do that for you!
Contact us if you would like a quote for the translation of your documents!