Is your child eligible for an Italian passport?
Your child must have Italian nationality to be eligible for an Italian passport.
Your child must be resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland and be registered with the Italian Consulate in Edinburgh and in Italy in the Comune where one of the parents is AIRE registered. For information on how to register in A.I.R.E click HERE.
PLEASE NOTE:
If your child
- was born outside of Italy
- obtained Italian citizenship in Italy or from an Italian Consulate/Embassy outside of Scotland
you are strongly advised to check that their birth certificate has been registered at your town hall (comune) of reference in Italy, even if they have been issued with an Italian passport in the past.
For more information about registering birth certificates, please see the Registry Office section HERE.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEWBORNS: parents must post their child’s birth certificate (complete with apostille) to the Registry Office of the Italian Consulate before submitting a passport application for the child. It is necessary to send the birth certificate beforehand so that the Registry Office can verify that the child is born to an Italian national.
We are unable to accept passport applications for newborns if their birth certificate has not been registered at the Consulate and forwarded on to the town hall (comune) of reference in Italy.
For more information about registering birth certificates, please see the Registry Office section HERE.
Passport validity:
A biometric passport is a travel document that contains an electronic microchip. The microchip holds your child’s personal details, their photograph and their fingerprints. We don’t need to collect fingerprints if you’re applying for a child under the age of 12.
Passport validity:
- 5 years from 3 to 12 year old
- 3 years from 0 to 3 year old
HOW TO APPLY FOR YOUR CHILD’S PASSPORT (0- 11 yrs):
The application must be submitted BY POST. Send the documents listed below to:
Passport Office
Italian General Consulate
Italy House
20-22 East London Street
Edinburgh – EH7 4BQ
- a child’s passport application form MOD2 (see HERE)
- copies of valid identity documents of both parents
- Act of Consent (see HERE)
- the child’s current, expired or damaged Italian passport (if applicable); in case of first Italian passport application, a copy of any other foreign photographic ID document – this is NOT necessary in case of newborn’s passport applications
- 2 recent and identical passport photos, which must meet ICAO rules. Please see photograph guidelines; one of the photos shall be autheticated and fixed (with glue or tape) on the Passport Photo Authentication Form (MOD3 – see HERE) and the other countersigned on the back by an accepted professional
- Postal Order payment (see HERE)
- a prepaid, self-addressed Special Delivery envelope (up to 500g)
- If the child’s passport has been lost or stolen, you must also submit a Lost/Stolen Report Form (see HERE), a copy of the police report and another form of identity. If possible, please provide a photocopy of the lost or stolen passport.
Please read the checklist carefully before submitting your passport application. You can find the checklist and the passport application form (MOD2) in the “Forms” section of this website (see HERE).
Please be advised that if you fail to submit the items listed in the checklist, your passport application will be rejected.
We recommend to fill the application form with all relevant information, in order to avoid delays with passport issuing. It is always necessary to fill in the minor’s height and the colour of the eyes, information that is printed on the new passport. It is also possibile to print one or both parent’s information, upon their specific requests, on page 5 of the minor’s new passport. If the parents wish to have their information printed, they must check the box in the relevant space at the bottom of the application form, underneath the signature space.
It is also possible to get the photograph countersigned by the Honorary Consul in your area.
PLEASE NOTE:
- Your child’s passport application form (MOD2) must be signed by both parents. This is mandatory even if you are single, married, separated or divorced from the mother or father of your child. If the application is submitted by one parent the other parent may sign the application at home (or sign a separate Act of Consent – see forms), as long as he/she is an EU citizen. Don’t forget to provide a photocopy of their passport or Identity card (clearly showing their photograph and signature) so that we can verify that the signatures match.
- If one of the parents is not an EU citizen, they must complete and sign MOD2 in person at this Consulate or at any Honorary Consulate (Aberdeen, Belfast, Glasgow) and must submit their passport or other photographic ID. The service is available by appointment only to be booked sending an e-mail to the Honorary Consul, or without appointment only at the General Consulate in Edinburgh, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm.
- If one of the parents is not an EU citizen and doesn’t live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must ask them to sign an Act of Consent form, in person, at their nearest Italian Consulate/Embassy or Questura (police station) in Italy.
- If the other parent refuses to sign the passport application form MOD2, you can apply for a Consular Decree which will allow the Consul General to authorize the issue of your child’s passport. The Consul General in Edinburgh can only serve as Guardianship Judge for children that live in Scotland and Northern Ireland. If your child lives in Italy, you should get in touch with the Tribunale dei Minori.
- If the other parent is deceased, you must provide a death certificate with your child’s passport application form (see Forms). If the death certificate is not written in Italian or English, you must provide a multilingual certificate or a legalized Italian translation.
Fees and how to pay:
To find out how much a passport costs, please see HERE.
PLEASE NOTE: The passport fee is subject to change every three months due to quarterly fluctuations in the exchange rate between EUR/GBP. If the passport application is submitted BY POST close to the quarter end date and cannot be processed until after the beginning of the new quarter you will be asked to make an additional payment to cover the new fees before the passport can be issued. If the passport fee is reduced as a result of the new exchange rate we will reimburse the difference.
You can pay:
- You can pay in cash (only for applications submitted in person)
- Postal Order made payable to the “Italian Consulate General”. Don’t forget to write your name on the back. You can buy a postal order from any local Post Office.
Processing time:
If your child is registered with the Italian Consulate in Edinburgh (A.I.R.E or Anagrafe Italiani Residenti all’Estero), if the application is complete and his/her residence and birth registration is up to date, the passport can normally be issued on the same day as your appointment or within 30 days in the case of a postal application. It can take longer if more information is needed, if the application hasn’t been filled out correctly or if we need to complete the registration of your child’s birth certificate. In some cases we may have to carry out routine security checks which could delay your application.
If they are not registered with the Italian Consulate in Edinburgh, you can still apply, but their passport will only be issued if other Italian authorities authorize us to do so. Your child’s passport will not be issued on the day of your appointment.