Naturalize as an Italian Citizen through residency

If you are a non-EU citizen wanting to move to Italy, there is a pathway for you to become a citizen. It takes a full 10 years before you’ll be granted citizenship, but the opportunity does exist.

Exceptions to the 10 year wait

1. Your parents or grandparents were Italian by birth.

2. You were born in Italy to non-Italian citizens. In cases such as these, you must only be established as a permanent resident for 3 years.

3. You are a citizen of another EU country. In this case, you must only be established as a permanent resident for 4 years.

The Process

To begin the process, you must first establish legal permanent residency. There are various means of establishing your residency in Italy, most of which require foreigners to obtain a visa which allows long-term stay. Your visa must be properly renewed and cannot expire during the duration of your residency.

Once your 3 or 10 year residency has been satisfied, you must also obtain a B1 level certification in the Italian language. The B1 level is considered intermediate, and can be certified at an approved institution. See below for the list of approved language institutions. You can skip this certification if you have a degree in Italian, you attended school in Italy, or you hold a “carta di soggiorno UE per soggiornati di lungo periodo.”

Finally, you must be able to prove that in the last three years of your permanent residency, your annual income was never lower than €8,263.31 if single or €11,362.05 if married. If you have children, an additional €516.46 per child must be added to the annual income requirement.

Once you’re certain you qualify, the application process is relatively straightforward. Simply submit your application on the Italian Ministry of The Interior website, upload the necessary information, then wait for an approval. Once approved, you will be asked to provide your local Prefettura with original copies of the documents requested.

The required documents are as follows:

1. A long-form original copy of your birth certificate, translated into Italian and apostilled.

2. A criminal background check from both the federal government and each state you’ve ever lived in. Each background check must be translated into Italian and apostilled.

3. Proof of payment of the €250 fee.

4. Proof of income.

5. Proof of language certification.