The applicable law to the maximum time limit set for Italian authorities to handle Italian citizenship applications by marriage has changed a number of times in the past few years.
Which term applies to your application?
For applications submitted from 21.12.2020, the deadline is 24 months, extendable to 36 months (art.4 c. 5 and 6 of Law Decree of October 21st, 2020 np. 130 amending Article 9 ter or the Italian Nationality Act).
LEGGE 5 febbraio 1992, n. 91: Nuove norme sulla cittadinanza
Art. 9-ter
1. Il termine di definizione dei procedimenti di cui agli articoli 5 e 9 e’ fissato in ventiquattro mesi prorogabili fino al massimo di trentasei mesi dalla data di presentazione della domanda.
For applications submitted between October 5th, 2018 and December 20th, 2020, the maximum handling time is 48 months, according to Law Decree of October 4th, 2018 no. 113.
For applications submitted before October 5th, 2018, the Ministry of the Interior maintains that the 48 months deadline still applies.
Please note that these deadlines apply to procedures of Italian citizenship by marriage (i.e. if your spouse or same-sex registered partner is an Italian citizen), or by residence in Italy. That is the meaning of the language of the law quoted above, and particularly of the reference to Articles 5 and 9 of the Italian Nationality Act. These deadlines do not apply to the procedures of Italian citizenship by origin from an Italian-born ancestor.
An arguable interpretation of the law
The 4-year provision should not apply to the applications submitted before October 5th, 2018. That is because the provision which extended the 4-year deadline for applications was deleted and replaced in October 2020 (by Article 4, §5 of Law Decree 130/2020).
As a consequence, the previous 24-month deadline applies.
The main reference in the law for the duration of the Italian citizenship process is Article 3 of the President of the Republic Decree of April 18th, 1994 entitled “Regulation concerning the process for acquiring the Italian citizenship”. It stipulates that the deadline to conclude a citizenship process is 730 days.
DECRETO DEL PRESIDENTE DELLA REPUBBLICA 18 aprile 1994, n. 362, “Regolamento recante disciplina dei procedimenti di acquisto della cittadinanza italiana”
Art. 3, Definizione del procedimento
1. Per quanto previsto dagli articoli 2 e 4 della legge 7 agosto 1990, n. 241, il termine per la definizione dei procedimenti di cui al presente regolamento è di settecentotrenta giorni dalla data di presentazione della domanda.”
However, the Ministry still maintains that even applications submitted before October 5th, 2018 are subject to the long 4-years handling time. That gave origin to recent disputes before the Italian Courts (October 2021). The judgements are still very few but recognise that the applicable deadline is still 730 days.
Such encouraging decisions did not change the behavior of the Ministry of the Interior so far, but with time, such change will be an unavoidable consequence.
Important!
You may not be aware that your application may already have been processed
The Ministry has been insisting for almost a year now that they will send any formal communication concerning the application exclusively through the online application platform.
As a consequence, you may not receive any notification of a decision on your application by email, or through the Italian Consulate, or by registered mail.
It is crucial to access the online platform. Any communication on your application appears on said Ministry’s online platform and can be subject to a tight deadline for you to reply.
For example, if the Ministry regards your paperwork as insufficient, they will send a message on the online platform with a term of 10 days for you to reply. In case you do not reply, they will archive your application and invite you to start a new application, in case you have any further observations or documents to add.
Any As you probably know, access is currently granted via the new SPID system (Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale). If you do not have one, you will be required to make a new registration in order to link and access your existing application.
What you can do
It’s a fact that active applicants get decisions faster. Don’t accept to be put on a shelf: let your voice be heard! Express your mind and urge the office to respect your right to a timely and clear decision on your application.
If you applied for citizenship by marriage, please refer to my blog article Italian citizenship by marriage. How to cut the waiting time? for details.
From that page, you can also request the free form to send to the Italian administration and urge for a decision on your application.
For more information:
When in doubt, ask us. Contact us
Discover your real options. If you dispose of basic information on your Italian descent (your Itali-born ancestor’s date and place of birth, and the date and place of birth of each descendant) and possibly dispose already of family records, we can evaluate your actual options and devise the best strategy for you to obtain the Italian citizenship. Book a private consultation with me
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What do you think about this information?
What is your experience? Leave your comment below and I will return to you.
Hello Lara,
I’m writing this comment in English but I am also quite proficient in Italian I just hope that others reading my experience of this process can find my commentary useful .
I am British and I met my wife in Rome back in 1989 and after a year we were married. I then lived and worked in Rome for several years. In 1999 I moved back to the UK with my Italian wife and our now adult son .
My son is now an adult and has dual British/ Italian citizenship jus sanguinis
but he was born an autistic and is a vulnerable adult so the rights of my family are of considerable Importance
With Britain leaving the EU I realised that we would need to sort out our position so I applied for ‘settled status for my wife and started an Italian citizenship request for myself . I am not a politician but I am a husband and a father and having equal status is important for a family such as ours.
In every way we are an Italian family, we speak Italian in our home and watch Italian t.v and listen to Italian songs .My late father in law was a Rome fireman that was decorated by the president of the Italian Republic .
I started my citizenship request in August 2018 which was by no means easy I obtained all the required documents including legalised translations and apostille
which took some considerable time to collate ready to upload onto the ministry website
I checked everything against the information published on the consular website and uploaded my request and documents in December.
To my dismay I found out at the end of January that my application had been refused because the government had introduced a language requirement
but I was unaware of this change .
Despite my protestations that they could accept my request with ‘reserve’ pending obtaining the certificate the flatly refused .
I now have an Italian B1 certificate but it took me until the end of may to get a place on the course and then a further 4 months to obtain the certificate
I am fluent in Italian anyway and I found it rather absurd that having lived and worked in Rome for many years I needed a school certificate at the age of 53
This time I am not leaving anything to chance I have legalised and apostillised translations of all my documents that are not in Italian
I have even gone to the trouble of obtaining an Italian penal certificate to go alongside my British one .
The one thing I am unsure about is that a British residence certificate appears on the list of required documents when Britain has no such thing for British citizens .There is a residence certificate for citizens of 3rd countries that are not EU/EEA nationals
If this certificate does not exist for British citizens how do I submit it perhaps this only applies “where required” for non UK citizens that reside in the UK ? I can’t get any help from the Italian consulate in this regard so perhaps you can give me some advice.
Many thanks
Thanks for waiting for my reply in this very busy period at our office. We are very grateful that you shared your experience with us, Adrian. That is extremely valuable for us working in the sector and for every applicant for Italian citizenship. As for your question, I confirm your conclusion: a British residence certificate is required only for Italian citizenship applicants in the UK who are non-British citizens. So your British passport is quite enough. I understand that the bureaucratic complications and the unresponsive Italian offices can make us feel alone and frustrated. But the effort is worth: once you obtain your dual citizenship, accessing rights and services will get much smoother. Good luck with the process!
Dear lara
I apply for ltalian citizenship on the 24 april 2017,i would like to know If my application is among the year and if the language certificate is required for my application.
## Sono in corso verifiche istruttive sugli elementi acquisiti relativi a chiarimenti e integrazioni con altri uffici coinvolti nel procedimento.
 – Consulta anche la sezione “comunicazioni”, dove possiamo esserci ulteriori informazioni ##
It arrived till this message.
Thanks ??
The 4-year deadline applies to your application. But the language proficiency requirement doesn’t, as it applies to citizenship applications by marriage submitted after December 4th, 2018. Good luck!
Hi Lara. I am applying for citizenship through my father’s family (my great-gradfather). He was born in 1874, my grandfather in 1907 and my father in 1939. Does this mean that I cannot obtain my citizenship for 4 years now? Is there anything I can do to speed it up?
The 4-years rule does not apply to Italian citizenship application by lineage. The handling time varies considerably from Consulate to Consulate. If the waiting time from the appointment request until the decision exceeds 2 years (like in most Italian Consulates in North and South America), you may skip the Consulate and apply to the Rome Tribunal. You are welcome to request a private consultation about that.
hi Lara
Really need your help my wife submitted her citizenship by residence on june 10th 2016 the practise was favorable on june 2019 but til she has not got any notification or concession for the decree, any help for speeding up or we have to wait
Make sure that the Prefettura has your updated address to send you the official notice by registered mail. Call and meet their citizenship office. Insist. Active applicants obtain the citizenship faster.
Hey Lara,
I wanted to ask you that since I was born in Rome and later moved to another country but I kept traveling to Italy in all these years to meet my family and now I currently stay in Italy for my masters degree ( I hold a Carta di Soggiorno, for the family member of an EU citizen, in this case my father who holds the italian citizenship), what would my status qualify as an applicant for the citizenship? I’m 22 years old as of now and this is the first time in all these years that I am staying in Italy for such a long duration.
If your Italian father acquired his citizenship after your birth by naturalization and not by lineage, your options for obtaining the Italian citizenship is also by naturalization, after ten years of residence, by showing that you are financially independent. But there might be more options, depending on your family history, your previous residence and evidence, etc… You may check the regulations in English at this page: Italian Nationality Act in English