Italian citizenship by marriage or civil partnership

The foreign spouse of an Italian citizen does not become Italian by the marriage. Article 5 of Law 91/1992 gives the spouse the right to apply for citizenship after a period of marriage, and the State grants it by decree if the conditions are met and no obstacle exists. The same applies to a partner in a civil partnership, under Law 76/2016. The procedure is entirely administrative, it is lodged online with the Ministry of the Interior, and it ends with an oath. For couples living in the United Kingdom it is handled through the consulate of their district.

The conditions

The spouse must be married to, or in a civil partnership with, an Italian citizen for at least two years if the couple lives in Italy, or three years if they live abroad. Where the Italian spouse acquired citizenship after the marriage, the period runs from the date of the acquisition. Both periods are halved where the couple has children, born or adopted.

The marriage must be valid for Italian law and transcribed in the civil register of an Italian comune. A marriage celebrated in the United Kingdom is transcribed through the consulate, with the long-form British certificate, the apostille and the translation, and the transcription must exist before the application is lodged. The bond must subsist until the decree is adopted: a divorce, an annulment or a legal separation which intervenes before the decree ends the procedure.

The applicant must hold a certificate of Italian at level B1 of the Common European Framework or higher, issued by the University for Foreigners of Siena, the University for Foreigners of Perugia, Roma Tre University, the Dante Alighieri Society or the University for Foreigners of Reggio Calabria. Certification sessions are held in the United Kingdom. A diploma from an Italian school or university replaces the certificate, and the exemptions for age, illness or disability recognised by the Constitutional Court in judgment 25/2025 apply.

Article 6 lists the obstacles: a conviction in Italy for an offence punishable with a maximum of three years or more, a foreign conviction of more than one year for a non-political offence recognised in Italy, a conviction for an offence against the personality of the State, and reasons connected with the security of the Republic. Pending proceedings suspend the examination.

An example from the United Kingdom

The documents, for an applicant in the United Kingdom

• Long-form birth certificate of the applicant, legalised with the apostille and translated into Italian. Where the applicant was born outside the United Kingdom, the certificate of the country of birth with its own legalisation.
• Criminal record certificates from the country of birth, from every country of citizenship and from the countries of residence since the age of fourteen. For the United Kingdom, the police certificate issued by ACRO, with apostille and translation. Each certificate is valid for six months.
• The full marriage certificate, atto integrale di matrimonio, issued by the Italian comune where the marriage is transcribed, of recent date. The extract is not accepted.
• Passport of the applicant and of the Italian spouse, and the spouse’s registration in the AIRE at the current address.
• Proof of the shared residence, such as a council tax statement or a utility bill in both names.
• The B1 certificate or the qualifying diploma.
• The receipt of the contribution of 250 euro paid to the Ministry of the Interior under article 9-bis.

Once the online application is lodged, the consulate summons the applicant to verify the identity and the original documents. Consular fees for the certification of copies and signatures are charged at the appointment under the consular tariff. Names and dates must coincide between the British certificates, the Italian transcription and the passports, and a discrepancy must be corrected before the application, not after.

Procedure, time and oath

The application is lodged through the citizenship portal of the Ministry of the Interior. The applicant registers, selects the country of residence and the consulate, uploads the documents and pays the contribution. The consulate then summons the applicant to identify them and to verify the originals. The Ministry examines the file, obtains the opinions of the security bodies and decides within twenty-four months, a term which can be extended to thirty-six months under article 9-ter. For a spouse resident abroad the decree is issued by the Head of the Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration of the Ministry of the Interior, for a spouse resident in Italy by the Prefect.

The decree is notified through the portal and takes effect only with the oath. Under article 10 the applicant swears allegiance to the Republic and observance of the Constitution and the laws within six months of the notification, before the consular officer in the United Kingdom or before the mayor in Italy. The consulate asks, for the oath, for a new marriage certificate and new criminal record certificates issued after the decree, to confirm that the conditions still hold. Citizenship is acquired from the day after the oath. From that day the new citizen can be registered in the AIRE and request the passport. The minor children do not follow automatically while the family lives abroad, as explained in the page on acquisition by minors.

If you are married to, or in a civil partnership with, an Italian citizen, send us the marriage certificate, the date of its transcription in Italy and your documents. The written assessment tells you from which date you can apply, what the file must contain and where the application is lodged.