Italy-citizenship
Italian citizenship by residency
Living in Italy for a certain number of years can make you eligible for citizenship
How many years of residency do I need?
Applications for the naturalization can be filed after ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ in Italy, which can be reduced to:
- 3 years: for those who were born in Italy or who have parents or grandparents that were Italian citizens;
Example. Ettoreโs grandfather was an Italian citizen. Ettore has now been living in Pisa, Italy for 3 years. Ettore can apply for Italian citizenship at the relevant Town Hall where he has established his residency. - 4 years: for EU citizens
Ex. Isabelle is a Belgian citizen and has been living in Florence, Italy for four and a half years. Isabelle can apply for Italian citizenship at the relevant Town Hall where she has established her residency. - 5 years: for stateless persons or refugees, as well as for legal-age foreigners adopted by Italian citizens;
- No period of residence: for foreigners who have worked for the Italian State for a period of at least 5 years, even abroad.
Residency: what does it mean?
Residency is the formal registration with the Vital Statistics Office (Anagrafe) in the city where the person is domiciled. Residency must be uninterrupted, if the person leaves Italy and residency is cancelled, previous years spent in Italy do not count.
๐ ฝ๐ พ ๐๐ ด๐๐ ธ๐ ณ๐ ด๐ ฝ๐ ฒ๐ โฆโฆโฆโฆโฆ ๐ ฝ๐ พ ๐ ฒ๐ ธ๐๐ ธ๐๐ ด๐ ฝ๐๐ ท๐ ธ๐ ฟ !
Residency registration is an indispensable and essential condition for obtaining residency. Applicant cannot prove in any other ways of having lived in Italy without being registered with a Comune.
Keep your permit of stay valid!
Foreigners living in Italy must keep their residence permit valid (Permesso di Soggiorno) and they should be aware that spending time outside the country may cause the revocation/cancellation of their permit:
- the permit cannot be renewed or extended if the holder has stayed out of Italy โ consecutively โ for more than 6 months; or
- in case of two year permits, if the holder has stayed out of Italy โ consecutively โ for more than half the validity of the permit (e.g. 12 consecutive months for a permit with a validity of 24 months)
- CE long term Residence Permi is revoked if the holder leaves the EU for 12 consecutive months or leaves Italy for more than 6 years
- Permit for family member of an EU citizen (Carta di soggiorno) can keep its validity when the holder leaves Italy for periods of no longer than 6 months in a year or for longer periods in case of required military service. The permit keeps its validity even if the holder leaves Italy for up to 12 months in the following cases: pregnancy, maternity, illness, study or professional reasons, or work assignment reasons.
What else do I need, other than residency?
The applicant must prove:
- Absence of criminal records and in countries where applicant has lived
- Proof of having produced an income in Italy and paid taxes in Italy for at least the last 3 years before submitting the application
- Language and culture test
THE INTERVIEW: what will they ask me?
โ Did you choose to live in Italy
โ Is your family living in Italy with you and how is composed?
โ What did you during your stay in Italy and what is your current job?
โ Which school did your children attend? If they are adults, what are they doing?
โ How do you earn your income? Did you always pay taxes?
โ Do you own a house or you live in a rented flat?
โ How did you learn Italian?
โ Do you belong to any associations, NGOs, etc?
โ Do you know the political and legislative system and our Constitution?
โ Do you have past or pending criminal charges?
FAQs โ Frequently asked questions
๐ญ. ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ณ ๐บ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ? ๐ก๐ข
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ ? ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ
๐ฏ. ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐? ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ
๐ฐ. ๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป? ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ
๐ฑ. ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐บ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด? ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ
๐ฒ. ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ? ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ
๐ณ. ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐? ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ
๐ด. ๐๐ผ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ท๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ? 3 ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐
๐ต. ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐? ๐ก๐ข
Useful resources
- What does it mean residenza? https://www.mazzeschi.it/residenza-what-is-exactly-under-italian-law/
- What is the integration agreement โ https://www.mazzeschi.it/what-is-the-integration-agreement/
- Glossary of tax words-https://www.mazzeschi.it/glossary-of-tax-related-words-and-acronyms/
- 20 FAQ Live and work in Italy-https://www.mazzeschi.it/%e3%80%80live-and-work-in-italy-20-faqs/
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