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Italian citizenship by marriage or civil union

The Adelaide Consulate can only process applications for citizenship by marriage or civil partnership only from people resident in South Australia.

1.    Regulatory notes  Those who request Italian citizenship by marriage or civil union must be aware of their duties towards the Italian Republic, first of all adherence to national values ​​and irreproachable conduct. The acquisition of Italian citizenship by a foreign or stateless spouse who has contracted a marriage with an Italian citizen starting from 27 April 1983 is currently regulated by Law no. 5, February 1992. 91 (articles 5, 6, 7 and 8) and subsequent amendments. Requests for Italian citizenship can also be presented by foreign citizens who have established a civil union with an Italian citizen transcribed in the civil status registers of the Italian Municipality (Legislative Decree 5, 6 and 7 / 2017). The foreign spouse/partner of the civil union, can acquire Italian citizenship upon application, in the presence of the requirements established by current legislation, as explained in the following sections.

Regulatory references: Law N.123 of 21 April 1983Law No. 91 of 5 February 1992Legislative Decrees Nos. 5, 6 and 7 of 19 January 2017Law Decree No. 113 of 4 October 2018 (public safety decree), converted by Law No. 132 of 1 December 2018Law Decree No. 130 of 21 October 2020, converted by Law No. 173 of 18 December 2020

2. Requirements for applying for citizenship Residence in the consular district: The applicant must address the application to the diplomatic-consular representation competent for his residence;The spouse/part of the civil union of Italian nationality must be resident and duly registered in the registry of Italians residing abroad (A.I.R.E.) of the relevant consular district and cohabiting at the same address as the applicant for citizenship. Otherwise, they must provide documentation proving the motivation (e.g. work, children’s schooling, medical care or other) which determines or has determined the need for separate domicile;

   Submission deadlines: The application can be submitted three years after the celebration of the marriage/civil union, if the spouse is an Italian citizen iure sanguinis, i.e. from birth. If the Italian spouse acquired citizenship after the marriage (e.g. through residence in Italy), the three years start from the date of naturalization of the spouse. The three years are reduced to one and a half years in the presence of children born or adopted by the spouses;

Transcription and validity of the marriage/civil union: If it occurred abroad, it must have been previously registered with a municipality in Italy;The marriage/civil union bond must remain valid and stable until the adoption of the provision granting citizenship. For the purpose of granting Italian citizenship, the dissolution of the marriage/civil union due to personal separation or divorce must not have occurred on the date of adoption of the decree. However, the death of the spouse after the submission of the citizenship application does not lead to the loss of the benefit;

  •  Criminal situation: Absence of convictions by the Italian judicial authorities for crimes for which a penalty exceeding three years of imprisonment is foreseen; Absence of sentencing by foreign judicial authorities of a sentence exceeding one year for non-political crimes; Absence of convictions for crimes against the personality of the State and of reasons hindering the security of the Republic;

          Knowledge of the Italian language not lower than B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (QCER. Payment of taxes and receipts indicated in the documents and costs             section.

3. Necessary documents for citizenship application

  • Original copy of the birth certificate or equivalent possibly issued no later than six months prior to the application by the country in which you were born, completed with all personal details (including paternity and maternity), duly legalized/apostilled and translated into Italian. For Australian birth certificates, the applicant must present an original birth certificate issued by the Registry of Birth, Marriage and Death completed with the apostille and translated in Italian.
  • Criminal records certificate from the country of origin and any third countries of residence (from 14 years of age) – except Italy – and from the countries of which one holds citizenship, in original, issued no more than six months before the submission of documents by the application, duly legalized/apostilled and translated into Italian. The applicant is exempt from presenting the criminal certificate from the country of origin only if he left it before turning 14 and has not retained his citizenship. Regarding Australian criminal certificates, the applicant must present a National Police Certificate issued by the Australian Federal Police (certificates issued by private companies are not accepted), apostilled and translated in Italian.

        • Payment Receipt of €250.00 to the Ministry of Interior, with the payment method indicated in the “Costs” section. • Identity document: photocopy of passport or valid foreign identity              card (pages with personal data, photograph, issue and expiry dates). • Revenue stamp: when completing the citizenship application on the portal, the applicant must enter the details of the 16 Euro bank transfer made to the Banca d’Italia current account – IBAN IT 07Y0 1000 0324 5348 00812 0501. • Copy of the marriage certificate or summary extract from the marriage register, to be requested to the competent Italian municipality in which the document is registered, possibly issued no more than six months before the application. This document can be uploaded when submitting the application under “generic document” and must be presented when called for a meeting at the Consular Offices. NOTE: If the applicant is an EU citizen, he/she will be able to make use of the self-certification pursuant to DPR 445/2000.

• Certificate of knowledge of the Italian language not lower than B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (QCER). The certifications allowed are exclusively the following: PLIDA of the Dante Alighieri SocietyCertIt from Roma Tre UniversityCILS of the University for Foreigners of SienaCELI of the University for Foreigners of Perugiae.Co.L of the University for Foreigners of Reggio Calabria

Certifications other than the aforementioned bodies or other institutions are not suitable and cannot be accepted. The following categories are not required to present proof of knowledge of the Italian language:

 • Foreigners (even if resident abroad) who have signed the Integration Agreement referred to in art. 4 bis of Legislative Decree no. 286/1998 Consolidated Immigration Act. • Holders of a long-term residence permit for EU (or CE) referred to in Article 9 of the same consolidated law (even if resident abroad), only if issued by the Italian Authorities. Residence permits for family reasons or those issued by other states are not eligible.

• Those who have obtained a study qualification issued by a public or private educational institution recognized by the Ministry of Education, University of Research and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

 4.    Procedure PHASE 1 – REGISTRATION The applicant must register on the portal of the Ministry of Interior (https://www.interno.gov.it/it/temi/cittadinanza-e-altri-diritti-civili/cittadinanza/cittadinanza-invia-tua-domanda) without using SPID but with the e-mail address. We wish to specify that the email address declared on the portal when submitting the online application constitutes an elected domicile (art. 47 c.c.), it is therefore necessary to frequently check your email as all communications relating to the citizenship application, including requests for documentary integration, meeting requests, notifications of decisions, etc. will take place ONLY via email and internet.

The applicant is required to register his/her data with the utmost care as it cannot be modified and, in the event of an error, a new registration will have to be made with another e-mail address. In particular, the personal details indicated in the birth certificate (including any annotations) and/or in deeds and documents drawn up abroad by the competent foreign authorities (such as marriage certificates, identity documents, name/surname change sentences) must be reported. etc.). In case of discrepancies, the applicant is required to provide appropriate supporting documentation. The possible cohabitation of minor children of the applicant, born from a previous relationship, must be declared in the application.

You must declare all residences from the fourteenth year onwards and leave no periods of time undeclared. No special signs or characters should be used (for example the cedilla, acute or grave accents within the word, circumflex accents, etc.). It will be possible to insert only the accent on the last letter using the apostrophe, if it is also present in the original language.

 PHASE 2 – CONSULAR CHECK The Consular Office will automatically be informed of the submission of the application and will carry out the necessary checks. The applicant will then receive, electronically via the Ministry of the Interior portal, a communication relating to the acceptance or rejection of their application. In case the application is rejected, it can be resubmitted taking care to correct the errors indicated in the rejection paper itself. If resubmitted within one year, payments already made can be reused.

In case of acceptance of the application, the applicant will be called in for a meeting, via email, to the diplomatic-consular mission for the authentication of the signature on the citizenship application, for the delivery of all the paper documentation IN ORIGINAL, including those already sent electronically via the Portal, for the collection of the required consular fees.All the documentation before mentioned will be kept in original by the diplomatic-consular mission, with the exception of the passport and the language certificate, for which a certified copy will be made with the relevant payments.

PHASE 3 – EVALUATION and TERMS OF PROCEDURE

The application’s evaluation and the definition of the procedure are exclusive responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior, within 24 months from the date of the application’ submission, extendable up to a maximum of 36 months. If at the end of the evaluation of the case the procedure is concluded positively, the Ministry of the Interior will send to the applicant the Decree conferring Italian citizenship to the diplomatic-consular representation competent for the residence of the interested party.

PHASE 4 – DECREE, NOTIFICATION AND OATH The Decree conferring Italian citizenship will be notified – via the portal – with a notification addressed to the applicant. At the time of notification, documents, aimed at verifying the permanence of the marital bond, with a date subsequent to the decree such as, for example (non-exhaustive list) will also be requested. • Full marriage certificate issued by the competent Italian municipality (not the extract) and corresponding the foreign document. • Criminal certificate from the country of current residence, duly legalized and translated (see “Documents” section).

On the decree date, there must not have been any dissolution of the marriage or civil union nor any personal separation (separation sentence). However, the death of the spouse after the submission of the citizenship application does not lead to the forfeiture of the benefit. No later than six months from notification, the applicant will be called for a meeting at the consulate to take an oath of loyalty to the Republic of Italy and its laws. The six-month deadline is mandatory, after which the right to obtain citizenship will be lost. A stamp duty payment is expected to be paid. The complete marriage certificate must be requested from the Italian Municipality in whose registers the document is registered; the personal certificate is requested from the competent authorities in the country of residence and must comply with the provisions regarding legalization/apostille and translation, as explained in the “Documents” section. The applicant will swear an oath of loyalty to the Italian Republic by pronouncing the words: “I SWEAR TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE REPUBLIC AND TO OBSERVE THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAWS OF THE STATE”

The acquisition of Italian citizenship will take effect from the day following the oath.The original birth certificate will be sent for transcription to the relevant Italian municipality together with the request for registration in AIRE and the report of the oath.

5.    Costs:

• A contribution of €250 in favor of the Ministry of the Interior, has to be paid exclusively via PagoPa when completing the application or by bank transfer to the current account indicated by the Ministry of the Interior (receipt to be included in the online application) with any expenses borne by the person arranges the bank transfer:

Beneficiario: “Ministero dell’Interno D.L.C.I Cittadinanza”
Nome della Banca: Poste Italiane S.p.A.
Codice IBAN: IT54D0760103200000000809020
Causale del versamento: Richiesta cittadinanza per matrimonio ex art. 5 L. 91/1992 e nome e cognome del richiedente
Codice BIC/SWIFT di Poste Italiane: BPPIITRRXXX (per bonifici esteri);

Codice BIC/SWIFT: PIBPITRA (per operazioni del circuito EUROGIRO)

• €16 tax stamp to be paid exclusively via PagoPa to the Revenue Agency when completing the application or via adhesive sticker purchased in Italy or by bank transfer to the Banca d’Italia current account, IBAN code: IT07Y0100003245348008120501, with any expenses by the person making the transfer

• Articles of the Consular Table to be applied with related amounts o Authentication of signature on the application: art. 24o Revenue stamp on the application: art. N/Ao Legalization of the translator’s signature: art. 69o Certified copy of the valid identity document: art 71. (Where the document is not in Latin characters, a translation is also required).o Certified copy of the linguistic certification: art. 71o Conformity of the translation of civil status documents and criminal certificates: art 72o Revenue stamp on the citizenship decree: art N/AA

6.    Contacts and useful links: FIND YOUR CONSULATE –  https://serviziconsolarionline.esteri.it/ScoFE/services/consulate/find-consulate.scoSEND YOUR APPLICATION TO THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR – https://portaleserviziapp.dlci.interno.itFOREIGN MINISTRY SITE – https://www.esteri.it/mae/it/servizi/italiani-all-estero/cittadinanza.html

PLEASE NOTE: For women, the procedure does not apply to the acquisition of Italian citizenship by marriage where the latter was celebrated before 27 April 1983. In this case, in fact, the acquisition of Italian citizenship is automatic. Therefore, in such cases, applicants must continue to make an appointment for citizenship through the online system of this Consulate.