Citizenship

Please note it will not be possible to reply by email or by telephone to general requests of information on the procedures or the necessary documents in order to submit an application for Italian citizenship. We advise all applicants to carefully check the information contained in the citizenship web pages.  

IMPORTANT, please read: Information on the protection of individuals with reference to the processing of personal data for the purposes of recognition of Italian citizenship jure sanguinis or of its acquisition by naturalization (articles 5 and 7, as well as article 9, paragraph 1, letter c, and paragraph 2 of Law no. 91/1992) (General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, art. 13) Click HERE

SECTIONS:

• Citizenship by marriage/civil partnership with an Italian citizen

  As per ministerial instructions, all correspondence and contacts with the applicants of Italian citizenship by marriage (according to articles 5,6,7 8 of Law 91/1992) can be made only through the Ministero dell’interno web site  CIVES and not by email or telephone/other.

• Citizenship by birth right – Jure Sanguinis

  Law No. 74 of 23/05/2025, which converted with amendments Decree-Law No. 36 of 28/03/2025, introduced significant limitations on the transmission of Italian citizenship and consequently also on the procedure for recognition of jure sanguinis citizenship for descendants of Italian citizens. The new citizenship law has confirmed the limitation on the indefinitely automatic transmission of citizenship jure sanguinis, introducing some changes that prioritize the exclusive possession of Italian citizenship by the ancestors.

  For residents abroad, the new citizenship law allows the recognition of Italian citizenship ONLY in the following two cases:

  1. A FIRST-DEGREE ANCESTOR (PARENT) POSSESSES, OR POSSESSED AT THE TIME OF DEATH, EXCLUSIVELY ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP.

  2. A SECOND-DEGREE ANCESTOR (GRANDFATHER/GRANDMOTHER) POSSESSES, OR POSSESSED AT THE TIME OF DEATH, EXCLUSIVELY ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP.

  At the same time, transitional “tempering” rules for the new limitations have been introduced, the most significant of which are:

  1. Applications received by 27 March 2025 will be processed according to the previous legislation.

  2. Applications received after that, based on appointments communicated by consular offices by 27 March 2025, will be processed according to the previous legislation.

  3. The possibility, by 31 May 2026, of registering minor children (minor as of 24 May 2025, the effective date of the law converting the decree) of recognized Italian citizens based on the conditions outlined in points 1 and 2 above.

  4. The reopening from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2027 of the terms for the re-acquisition of citizenship for those born in Italy or having resided there for at least two consecutive years, who lost citizenship according to Article 8, numbers 1 and 2, or Article 12 of Law No. 555 of 13 June 1912.

  5. Facilitation of so-called “return immigration”: descendants of Italians will be able to obtain residence permits for subordinate work outside the quota system (countries of origin will be determined by inter ministerial decree), and the period of residence in Italy for naturalization will be reduced from three years to two years for foreigners who are descendants up to the second degree of Italian citizens.

  IMPORTANT:

  • Anyone who has received an appointment that has been explicitly confirmed in writing with communication dated before 23:59 (Rome time) on 27 March 2025 by the Citizenship Office of this Consulate will be able to maintain that appointment and submit their application under the previous regulations.

  • All appointments suspended between 27 March 2025 and 25 June 2025 have been rescheduled, and the applications received will be examined under the previous regulations. The Citizenship Office of this Consulate has contacted all affected parties by email. If you have not received such communication, please contact us urgently at cittadinanza.edimburgo@esteri.it

• Re-acquisition of lost Italian citizenship

• Renunciation to Italian citizenship