Italian Citizenship Through Parents (2024)

In this article we would like to discuss some of the specific aspects of applying for Italian citizenship directly through one’s parents. Many people make a claim for Italian citizenship through their grandparents, great grandparents or beyond but we would like to dedicate this article to specifically address those of you who are making a claim for Italian citizenship directly through a parent.

** This article is being written under the assumption that the claimant of Italian citizenship has already reached the age of majority (age 18) and their parents have never registered their birth in Italy. There are some instances where people find that they are actually already Italian citizens. This would occur if your birth had been registered when you were born. In this circ*mstance you only need to apply for an Italian passport since you are already considered an Italian citizen. If you require assistance, our dual citizenship experts at Italian Citizen Assistance will be able to help facilitate that for you.

Which Parent can I use?

As with many other routes used to apply for Italian citizenship, if you wish to make a claim through one of your Italian parents you need to prove that you are eligible to apply for Italian citizenship by descent. In order to do so, you need to collect a number of documents. Among these are your parents’ birth certificates – although some consulates may just require one-, their marriage certificates and, if applicable, their death certificates. It is important to bear in mind that if you were born before 1948 you cannot apply for citizenship through your mother, though it may be possible to pursue Italian citizenship via the court system. Further information about this can be found in our article about 1948 cases.

If both of your parents came from Italy and both had Italian citizenship at the time of your birth and you were born after 1948, you will need to make a decision as to which parent you would like to make your claim through. These decisions can be based upon various factors and ease of gathering said documents. They may include: if someone has a good relationship with the parent and can easily communicate with them, if they are in contact with them, if the parent is living or deceased, how easy is it to acquire the documents for that parent, or if one or both of your parents already has all of the required documents needed to make you claim for Italian citizenship.

Which are the required documents?

You may or may not need your parents’ cooperation to obtain some of their documents such as their naturalization records, their birth and their marriage certificates depending on the US state in which they were born and married.

The process that one must undergo to make this claim for Italian citizenship by descent as an adult is actually what is considered to be a delayed birth registration. This is accomplished by providing the following documentation:

– the birth certificate of your Italian parent who you will make a claim through
– (if applicable) your parents’ marriage certificate
– (if applicable) any divorce decree(s) for marriage(s) for your Italian parent
– (if applicable) your Italian parent’s naturalization documents
In the USA in lieu of naturalization papers in the event that your Italian parent never became a citizen of the USA, it is possible to apply for a certificate of ‘Non Existence’
– (if applicable) a death certificate of your parent must also be provided.

** some consulates may require vital record documents pertaining to both of your parents

In addition to these documents you also need the cooperation of the parent you intend to go through in order to apply for Italian citizenship as they need to sign a document whereby they declare that they never renounced Italian citizenship. However, one advantage of filing an application in Italy is that this declaration renouncing Italian citizenship is not necessary.

Format of the documents, legalization and translation into Italian

Once you have collected all the legal paperwork necessary, you will need certifications and translations for all non-Italian documents that are not in the Italian language.

Please keep in mind all of these documents must have the highest level of certification that is possible. For example, a certified copy or equivalent would be required as opposed to a short form or more simplified form of the document. If you are from the US, you may find that legal practices differ slightly from state to state. The terminology used for the equivalent certification levels may differ as well.

After you have gathered all the non-Italian documents, you will need each one to be “apostilled”. An apostille is an internationally recognized certification for countries that are a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention. The specialized seal is given to vouch that the domestically issued signature/certification is sufficient for international use.

When you have received your documents back with the attached apostille seals, you will then need to have your non-Italian documents translated into Italian. If you choose to make your claim for Italian citizenship in Italy, additionally, you would be required to have these translations certified. However, if you apply outside of Italy in the country of origin where the documents are from: for example, if you reside in the US and documents are from the US also, then certification of the translations would be included within the consular fee to be paid at your appointment.

The appointment with the Italian consulate

Finally, after having followed these steps and obtaining all the documents, certifications and translations, you will then be ready to attend your appointment with the Italian consulate.

Because it is generally a lengthy process to gather the necessary documents, we recommend that our clients make an appointment with the consulate as soon as possible — even before you have the documents– keeping a realistic time frame and date in mind. There are many variables but it is best to make your appointment in advance since there can be a 18-24 months wait for the next available appointment depending on which consulate you are applying through and what their current wait time is. For those who may require help to make their appointment, this is included as a part of our Executive Full Service Package, for more info click here

Passport application

Once you have received your confirmation of citizenship, you will then want to apply for your passport through the Italian consulate if applying outside of Italy. If you are in Italy, it can be done through the local station of the Italian national police or Questura which has jurisdiction over the municipality where you received recognition of citizenship. In the USA and many other countries the appointment can be made through the scheduling system of the consulate that has jurisdiction over the location where you live. If making an appointment in Italy the procedure may vary from municipality to municipality and province to province.

Special rules

– If your parents naturalized after 1992, before you were born, you qualify for Italian citizenship by descent because your parents would not have lost their Italian citizenship.

– Some people believe that they do not qualify for Italian citizenship because their parents naturalized (before 1992) before they were born. While in most cases this is correct, there are also some exceptions. In particular, if an Italian woman naturalized and then married an Italian man she would have automatically re-acquired Italian citizenship, provided that the marriage was celebrated before 1983. In fact, according to Italian law, which changed only in 1983, women married to Italian men were automatically considered to be Italian citizens (click here to learn more about citizenship through marriage). It does not matter if then your father naturalized after the marriage because that would not have affected your mother’s citizenship status.

– For those of you who would like to apply through a parent who was unable to pass their citizenship to you due to their gaining a second citizenship prior to your birth and prior to 1992, therefore automatically giving up their Italian citizenship, you may still be able to obtain Italian citizenship. This can be done by residing in Italy for 3 years. Once you have met that requirement, along with acquiring an Italian B1 level language certificate (for more information about the B1 Certificate click here) you would be able to apply for citizenship through naturalization.

If you feel as though you may need help with this process for claiming Italian citizenship through your parents and to establish if you are in fact eligible through our free eligibility assessment, please do not hesitate to contact us through our contact form.

If you have any questions about any specific subjects please feel free to message our team of dual citizenship experts your question may inspire a future article.