If you’re fine with a multi-year wait or don’t want to spend the extra money to apply in Italy, you can schedule a consulate appointment.

You can only use the consulate which has jurisdiction over your permanent residence, and you must provide evidence that you live in the consular jurisdiction.

Consulate appointments are not always available, and are often booked by others the second new appointments are released. Many, but not all, consulates have moved to a wait list. You can join the wait list and be contacted as soon as an appointment is available for you. If there is no wait list, you will need to frequently check for appointments and hope to book one when it appears.

Once you have a successful consulate appointment, the consulate has up to 24 months to process your file.

If you have the time and money to apply in Italy, it is almost always the best choice. You can apply in any town of your choice. When using our service partner, you will be a recognized citizen within 90 days of landing in Italy on average!

You must establish permanent residency in Italy. To do so, you must have a proper lease. This means if you choose to apply in Italy, you cannot rent a hotel room or use an Airbnb.

You will need to remain in Italy for at least 45 days from starting the process. This is because the local police have 45 days to verify you are living in the address that you’ve provided to the government. Once you’re verified, you are able to travel freely!

There are two methods for applying through the Italian court system.

The first is reserved exclusively for 1948 cases. If you have a female in your line who gave birth to the next line member before January 1, 1948, and you have no other viable line, you might be a 1948 case. Learn more by clicking the button below.

The second option is for those who cannot, with reasonable attempts, make a US Italian consulate appointment.

Recently, Italy has started allowing those who are unable to schedule a consulate appointment to process their file through the court system. You do not need to go to Italy at any point of this process. Everything can be done remotely.

This process involves hiring an Italian attorney to represent your file. The attorney will petition the court with a “denial of justice,” which states you have documented evidence that you have been unable to make a consular appointment.

This method requires proof that several attempts to locate an appointment were made, such as screenshots of the appointment booking page taken over multiple days with no availability in sight. In the case that a consulate is completely closed to new appointments, you can use an automated response detailing that the consulate is not accepting new appointments.

This method is similar to a 1948 case, as an attorney represents you and a judge will have the ultimate decision whether or not to grant you citizenship.

This process is not necessarily faster than waiting for a consulate appointment if you are able to book one. Judicial cases take an average of 16 to 24 months to completion, but can take longer. This timeline does not include the time needed to gather the required documents, which must be done in advance.