Citizenship in Italy
Naturalisation timelines, tests, and dual nationality
Ten years of legal residence for non-EU nationals, four for EU citizens, two or three for spouses of Italians, plus a B1 Italian exam. Citizenship by descent still exists but was sharply restricted in March 2025.
| Residence route | 10 years for non-EU nationals, 4 for EU citizens source |
| Spouse of an Italian | 2 years resident in Italy, or 3 abroad; halved with children |
| Language | B1 Italian required |
| Descent | Generally limited to an Italian parent or grandparent since March 2025 |
| Dual citizenship | Permitted |
The descent route after March 2025
Italy's jure sanguinis rules were the most generous in the world: an unbroken line to an Italian ancestor, however distant, could produce recognition of a citizenship you were deemed always to have held. In March 2025 the government introduced a decree, subsequently converted into law, that narrowed this dramatically. The general position now is that automatic recognition requires an Italian parent or grandparent, with additional conditions and transitional rules for applications already filed.
If you were building a case on a great-grandparent, do not commit money to document retrieval, apostilles or a consular appointment before confirming your eligibility under the current law. This is the single most changed area of Italian immigration and almost everything published before 2025 is misleading.
The residence route
Ten years of continuous legal residence for a non-EU national, registered with a comune, with income above a threshold in the recent years and a B1 Italian certificate. EU citizens qualify at four years. Time as a student counts as legal residence provided it was properly registered.
Processing after filing has historically been long, though statutory limits have been set. The residence certificates from your comune are the evidence, which is why the anagrafe registration matters so much.
Marriage
The spouse of an Italian citizen may apply after two years of legal residence in Italy, or three years of marriage if living abroad, each halved where there are children of the marriage. A B1 Italian certificate is required, and the marriage must subsist through to the decree.
What it gives you
An EU passport with the right to live and work in twenty-seven countries, no residency obligation, and transmissibility to children. Italy permits dual nationality, so Americans, Britons, Canadians and Australians generally keep their original citizenship.
Free: the Italy visa checklist
A one-page PDF listing every document each route asks for, so you can see what you are missing before you spend anything. No spam, unsubscribe in one click.
The list is not open yet, so nothing was sent and your address was not stored. The guides on this site are free and need no sign-up.
We email a short course on how the Italy routes work, then the report offer. Your address is never sold.
Official sources
Checked against these pages in September 2026. Fees and processing times change without notice — confirm before you act.