Reacquisition of Italian citizenship
A person who was Italian and lost the citizenship can recover it. Law 91/1992 provides for the reacquisition in article 13, in most cases on condition of residence in Italy. The 2025 reform added a window which concerns the Italian emigration to Britain directly: a former citizen born in Italy, or who lived in Italy for two years, who lost citizenship by naturalising abroad before 16 August 1992, can reacquire it by a declaration at the consulate between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2027, without moving to Italy.
The declaration open until 31 December 2027
Article 17 of the law, as amended by decree-law 36/2025 and Law 74/2025, allows a declaration of reacquisition by a person who was born in Italy, or who was legally resident in Italy for at least two continuous years, and who lost Italian citizenship no later than 15 August 1992 under article 8, numbers 1 and 2, or article 12 of Law 555/1912. These are the losses by voluntary naturalisation abroad and the losses suffered by minor children who followed their father. The declaration can be made from 1 July 2025 until 31 December 2027, in person, before the consular officer or the civil status officer of the comune.
The window does not apply to those who renounced Italian citizenship from 16 August 1992 onwards, nor to those who lost it for other reasons. It does not require residence in Italy, the B1 certificate or an income. The contribution to the State is 250 euro under article 9-bis.
Your mother was born in Picinisco in 1942, came to London with her parents in 1949 and became a British subject by her own application in 1968, when she was twenty-six. She lost Italian citizenship on that date under the law of 1912. She was born in Italy, so she can declare her wish to reacquire Italian citizenship at the Consulate General in London before 31 December 2027. She will be Italian again from the day after the declaration. Her reacquisition does not reach you, born in London in 1972, because citizenship is transmitted at birth and she was not Italian then. Your own position is examined separately: as the child of a person who was an Italian citizen by birth, the two-year route of naturalisation by residence in Italy is open to you.
The cases of article 13
Outside the window, a former citizen reacquires citizenship in the cases of article 13. By serving in the Italian armed forces and declaring the wish to reacquire. By taking up public employment with the Italian State, in Italy or abroad, and making the same declaration. By declaring the wish to reacquire and establishing residence in Italy within one year of the declaration. By establishing residence in Italy, after one year, without any declaration, unless the person renounces within that year. A person who lost citizenship for not complying with an order to leave a foreign office or service reacquires it by declaration after two years of residence in Italy.
For a former citizen living in the United Kingdom the practical route of article 13 is the declaration before the consular officer followed by the transfer of residence to Italy within one year. The reacquisition takes effect the day after the residence is established and registered. It can be barred by decree of the Minister of the Interior, within one year and for serious and proven reasons, after the opinion of the Council of State.
Women who lost citizenship by marriage before 1948
A woman who married a foreigner before 1 January 1948 and acquired the husband’s citizenship lost the Italian one under the law of 1912. The Constitutional Court removed that rule only for the period after the Constitution, so the loss stands for earlier marriages. Article 219 of Law 151/1975 allows her to reacquire citizenship by a simple declaration before the competent authority, without residence in Italy. Her descendants born before 1948 cannot be recognised administratively, and their position can only be decided by a court, as explained in the page on women married after 1948.
Documents for the declaration
- A valid identity document of the current country of citizenship.
- Birth certificate. For a person born abroad, legalised and translated in the form required for its transcription in Italy, and the historical certificate of residence from the Italian comune proving the two years of residence.
- Historical certificate of Italian citizenship from the comune.
- Proof of the cause and date of the loss: for Britain, the certificate of naturalisation or registration, or the Home Office letter which states the date, with apostille and translation.
- The receipt of the contribution of 250 euro.
The consulate records the declaration in the citizenship register and transmits it to the comune, which annotates the birth record. The citizenship is reacquired from the day after the declaration, under article 15, and not from birth. From that day the person is registered in the AIRE and can request a passport.
What the reacquisition does for the family
Citizenship is transmitted at birth. A child born while the parent was not Italian does not become Italian through the parent’s reacquisition. Minor children who live with the parent acquire citizenship under article 14 only if they have been resident in Italy for two years. The adult children of a person who reacquires citizenship have their own routes, by naturalisation after two years of residence in Italy as the child of a citizen by birth, or, where they qualify, by recognition. These are examined in the written assessment together with the parent’s declaration, because the family usually asks the two questions together.
If you were born in Italy and became British before 1992, send us the date of your naturalisation and your Italian birth certificate. The declaration can be prepared in a few weeks, and the window closes on 31 December 2027.