How can I voluntarily acquire citizenship?
If you have married an Italian citizen and two years have passed since your marriage and you are resident in Italy, you can apply for Italian citizenship. In case you and your spouse have one or more children, the deadline for submitting the application is halved.
To apply, you must connect to the Ministry of the Interior site and register on the portal to obtain access credentials. After logging in you will need to fill in all the fields provided by the form and enter the following mandatory documents:
– regularity of the legal residence (personal registration or residence permit) for at least two years in the territory of the Republic after the wedding or other terms provided by law;
– birth certificate of the country of origin complete with all general information;
– criminal certificate from your country and, if you lived in another country after turning 14, you will also need to present the third country certificate;
– receipt of the payment of 200.00 euros;
– copy of the identification document authenticated by the diplomatic / consular representation of the state that issued it.
Once the electronic application has been submitted, you will be convened at the diplomatic mission that received the request for identification and completion of the application, to which you will need to deliver a hard copy of the documents previously entered online plus the following documents:
– extract of the marriage certificate;
– certificate of Family status;
– certificate of Italian citizenship of the spouse.
All documents produced in the country of origin must be translated into Italian and legalized according to the procedure in order to be legally valid in Italy.
Citizenship by marriage is recognized by the Prefect of the province of residence of the applicant.
At the time of the adoption of the concession decree, there must not have been the dissolution, annulment or cessation of the civil effects of the marriage and the personal separation of the spouses must not exist, the marital relationship must not be merely instrumental but certain, effective and long lasting.
