Italian Citizenship iure sanguinis – Maternal line Italian Court

Main features

Double citizenship: allowed

Length of the procedure: 1-2 years

Citizenship for children: yes

Italian language test: no

Criminal record: not an impediment

Italian healthcare: for residents only

Residence during the procedure: Italy or abroad

Taxation in Italy: residents only

Conditions of eligibility for the program

Complete documentation concerning ancestors

Foreign naturalization of the ancestor after the birth of the child

Female line of descent prior to 1948

Services provided by Aprigliano Law Firm

Assistance with the translation and legalization/apostille of documents

Assistance with the recovery of Italian certificates

Assistance with the correction of wrong information in certificates

Consulting for issuance of foreign certificates

Full legal assistance during the legal proceeding until the delivery of the judgment

Passport application

Aire registration (where applicable)

Concierge services*

* Provided by third-party professionals.

Features

Italian Law provides the possibility of being nationals of more than one country, i.e. the right to double or multiple citizenship. Said double citizenhsip has several advantages, such as the possibility of living in two different countries and enabling people to travel more freely around the world. The features above are even more advantageous for nationals of countries where an entry visa is required in order to be allowed to enter third countries. Not all passports are the same. Some passports, including the Italian passport, grant entry to most countries without the need of a specific visa, whereas other passports do not provide such privilege.

According to the annual ranking which measures passports on the basis of the number of countries they offer visa-free access to, the Italian Passport ranks No. 3, granting entry to 175 countries without obtaining an advance visa (No 1 grants entry to 177 countries). The Italian passport enables nationals to travel and settle in any EU State without unnecessary formalities.
There are several ways to acquire the Italian citizenship: by marriage, by residence or for reasons of descent from an Italian citizen. Acquiring the Italian citizenship guarantees the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections, to perform activities that are reserved to Italian citizens, and to turn to the Italian embassy in any other country in case of necessity.
Before listing other rights and duties arising from the acquisition of the Italian citizenship, a distinction between Italian nationals residing in Italy and Italian nationals residing abroad must be made.

Taxation
It must be specified that, as regards tax matters, Italian Law adopted the “World Wide Taxation” principle and the “territoriality” of income principle. According to the World Wide Taxation principle, all incomes earned in Italy and abroad by a resident national shall be subject to taxation in Italy, whereas Italian nationals established abroad shall pay taxes on incomes earned in Italy only.

Italian Healthcare
Italian Healthcare provides free medical care to all Italian nationals residing in Italy. Such nationals are issued the Italian Health Insurance Card which grants access to medical care. Italian nationals residing abroad are not issued said Health Card and have access to Italian health care in the case of an extreme emergency only.

Grounds for denial
The granting of the Italian citizenship by marriage or residence is subjected to the discretion of public administration, which can deny it in the event the foreign national has a criminal record. Such provision does not apply to applicants for Italian citizenship by descent and to nationals re-acquiring citizenship.

Time frames
The timing of judgment delivery by the Italian Judge may vary, depending on the workload of the Court when applying. The procedure takes 1-2 years on average.

Children and spouse
The children of a foreign national applying for the judicial recognition of citizenship by descent, acquire the Italian citizenship automatically whereas the spouse can immediately apply for the Italian citizenship by marriage.

Procedure

The application for the recognition of the Italian citizenship by descent from an Italian woman born or married before 1948 can be filed at any time. When filing the application, the applicant must provide all the documentation required by law regarding his/her ascendants, from the Italian ancestor up to the applicant himself/herself. The application must be filed by judicial process, after which a civil proceeding before the Italian Court initiates. A judgment granting the applicant the Italian citizenship since birth terminates said proceeding.
The procedure consists of 3 steps:

  • Step 1. File of the legal action before the Italian Court
  • Step 2. Conduct of the legal action
  • Step 3. Delivery of the judgment granting the applicant the Italian citizenship since birth

The applicant is not required to stay in Italy during the legal proceedings before the Court.
Aprigliano is a leading Italian Immigration and Citizenship Law boutique offering a wide range of integrated services tailored to the needs of each Client. We have extensive experience in the procedures of judicial recognition of the Italian citizenship, and have over the years provided assistance to many Clients who have been granted the Italian citizenship by means of a Court judgment.

We do not believe that achieving the Client’s desired outcome is enough; what we aim for is exceeding our Client’s expectations by taking care of every single detail. We see our Clients as people, not numbers, with different cultural backgrounds, personalities and expectations. Our goal is to understand each person’s needs in order to provide a tailored service that will make the application process positive and stress-free.
Contact us for more information.

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    Length of the procedure: 1-2 years

    Highlight: Italian language test: no

    Length of the procedure: 4 years

    Highlight: Italian language test: yes

    Length of the procedure: 4 years

    Highlight: Italian language test: yes