Acquisition of Italian Citizenship by marriage / civil union

REQUIREMENTS:

• Be married or civilly married for at least three years with an Italian citizen. This period is reduced to 18 months in the presence of children born or adopted by the spouses. For those married before 27 April 1983, a different procedure applies. In this case, please contact the Citizenship Office at this link.
• The bond of marriage / civil union must remain until the time of the oath of loyalty to the Italian Republic, which normally takes place after a period of 2/3 years after the submission of the application.
• The marriage / civil union from which Italian citizenship is claimed must be:

1. In progress;
2. Valid in Italian law;
3. Transcribed at the competent Italian municipality;

• Certified knowledge of the Italian language at a level not lower than B1.

ATTENTION: The assessment of knowledge of the language must be carried out by producing:

• A qualification issued by an Italian public educational institution or by an equal institution;
• A certification issued by a certifying body. At the moment they can be considered certifying bodies, belonging to the Italian Quality Language Certification system:
• The University for Foreigners of Siena
• The University for Foreigners of Perugia
• The University Roma Tre
• The society Dante Alighieri

Therefore, certifications of a level not lower than B1 issued by the aforementioned bodies in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute may be considered valid.

Foreigners residing in the consular district of this Consulate General can take the certification exams of knowledge of the Italian language, level B1, at the Italian Cultural Institute in Melbourne which is the examination center for the certifications of the University for Foreigners of Siena CILS (Italian as a Foreign Language Certification).

HOW TO PROCEED?

Register on the portal of the Ministry of the Interior.

After registering, the applicant must access the portal using the credentials received following registration.

Starting the procedure is simple, you only need 3 steps:

1. Verify that you have all the mandatory documentation;
2. Submit your application online;
3. Wait for the invitation to the Consulate.

1) Verify that you have all the mandatory documentation.

The documentation is mandatory and must be submitted at the same time as the submission of the application:

• Photocopy of valid passport;
• Birth certificate of the country of origin with Apostille. In case of documented impossibility, present a certificate issued by the diplomatic-consular authority of the country of origin indicating the exact personal details (name, surname, date and place of birth), as well as paternity and maternity of the applicant;
• The deed or extract for summary of the register of marriages with marginal annotations issued by the competent Italian municipality (celebration of the rite or transcription);
• Translation of the birth certificate into Italian with conformity issued by the Consulate or legalized by apostille;
• Criminal certificate issued no more than 6 months before the date of sending the request:

1. the country of origin;
2. Of any third country of residence from the age of 14;
3. Of the countries of which he is a national.
4. The certificate must be legalized/apostilled by the issuing country;

NB: It is advisable to request the certificate both with the maiden / single surname and with the married / civilly united one.

The criminal certificate is valid for six months from the date of issue under Italian law.

• Translation into Italian of the Criminal Records certificate with conformity issued by the Consulate or legalized by means of an apostille;
• Certificate of knowledge of the Italian language not lower than level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) or qualification issued by a public or equal educational institution recognized by the Ministry of Education, University and Research and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (click here for the complete list of educational institutions authorized to issue the required certification).
• Receipt of payment of the mandatory contribution of € 250.
• Bank transfer of Euro 250 (new amount set by Law Decree 4/10/2018 n. 113, entered into force on 5/10/2018), net of sending or brokerage costs, to the account in place at the credit institution:

Poste Italiane Viale Europa 175 – Rome – Account n. IT54D0760103200000000809020 in favor of the Ministry of the Interior Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration CITIZENSHIP – Piazza del Viminale 1 – 00184 ROME.

The reason for payment must indicate the name and surname of the applicant (always indicate the maiden / single surname).

The SWIFT code for payments through foreign transfers is: BPPIITRRXXX (in this regard it should be noted that in case of difficulty on the part of the banking institutions to recognize the final three Xs of the code, the same can be omitted as they serve only to identify the branches, while in this case it is a central office).

ARE THERE ANY OTHER COSTS?

When the applicant is summoned to deliver the original documentation, he will have to pay in AUD cash the consular perception required for the authentication and legalization of some documents.

2) Submission of the application

Foreign citizens or stateless persons residing abroad must:

• Create an account on the SERVICE PORTAL of the Ministry of the Interior;
• Upload mandatory documentation.

IMPORTANT:

The data of the person applying for Italian citizenship must coincide exactly with the data shown on the birth certificate.

3) Wait for the invitation to the Consulate

An email of acceptance or inadmissibility of the request will be sent through the portal of the Ministry of the Interior within 24/36 months from the date of upload of the application on the portal of the Ministry of the Interior.

In case of acceptance, the applicant person will be summoned to the Consulate for:

• Authenticate the signature affixed to the citizenship application;
• Deliver all the original paper documentation, including the documentation already transmitted electronically through the portal;
• Make or verify the payment of the expected consular perceptions.

All the original documentation will be kept by the diplomatic-consular representation, with the exception of the passport and the language certificate, for which a certified copy will be made with relative payments.