Today one of the hot topics in Italian politics is how to make citizenship faster and therefore change the 1992 law on Italian citizenship with a referendum. In September 2024, Italy reached 500.000 signatures required to kick start the referendum process.

Today, the entitlement to citizenship comes with continuative residence for a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 10 years according to your specific situation, with no gaps or interruptions. 

The entitlement to Italian citizenship by residency comes with:

–   10 years of uninterrupted residency, if you are a citizen of an extra-EU country;

–   4 years if you are a citizen of a EU country;

–   5 years if you are the adult child of an adoptive Italian parent or if you were granted refugee status;

–   3 years if you have direct Italian ancestry;

–   3 years if you were born in Italy (both for EU and non-EU citizens).

The 2024 referendum proposal is to cut down from 10 to 5 years the maximum residency requirement in order to apply.

The rest of the requirements would remain unaltered.

You will be asked to provide a B1 language certificate attesting your Italian intermediate level. If you complete your secondary studies in Italy, the certificate will not be required.

If you wish to check your Italian level, take our Italian language test!

The B1 certificate or school diploma  has to be included in your application kit, along with a set of your criminal reports showing that you have no criminal records.

To complete your set of documents, you will additionally need to provide proof of adequate income, as well as your tax revenues (dichiarazione dei redditi). 

When all the relevant documents are gathered, the application itself can be submitted online. The Italian Ministry of Interior has a dedicated website called Portale Ali, where you’ll have to create an account.

The final step of the submission involves paying two administrative fees: €16 for the “marca da bollo” (revenue stamp) and €250 for the citizenship processing fee. Once these payments are made, you can officially submit your application by clicking the “send” button.

Given the complexity of the procedure and the fact that the website is entirely in Italian,  carefully review each step of the online submission process. If you want to ensure everything is complete and correct before submission, or if you need assistance with the submission itself, we offer tailored services.

After the online submission, your local Prefettura will send you a formal invitation to collect the original documents. The Ministry of Interior has up to 2 to 3 years time to provide a final decision on your application. If approved, a formal Decree (Decreto) will be issued granting you Italian citizenship.

You will then be invited to an Oath ceremony at the  Municipality  (Comune) where you reside to swear allegiance to the Italian Republic: this is indeed a formal process whose positive outcome will grant you all the rights and benefits of Italian citizenship.

At FTIC, we believe in the power of our expertise to change people lives.

We know it can look daunting, but that’s why we are here to help!

What now?

Having the 500.000 signatures goal been reached, in the following months the Italian Court named “di Cassazione” will perform some formal verifications in order to approve the referendum, and a voting session will be set in spring 2025.

If you wish to know more about this topic or to discover if you have all the requirements to apply, book your free consultation and a FTIC expert will guide you!