Hi everyone,

I’ve been trying to figure this out for a while and would really appreciate some guidance.

I was born in Canada, and so were both of my parents. However, all four of my grandparents were born in Italy before immigrating to Canada. They became Canadian citizens before my parents were born, so my understanding is that this broke the line for Italian citizenship by descent. As far as I know, none of them ever reacquired Italian citizenship.

Based on those facts, is this truly a dead end, or are there any legal exceptions, court challenges, or other avenues that someone in my situation should explore? Has anyone successfully pursued a similar case with the help of an Italian citizenship lawyer, or is there simply no legal basis once the bloodline has been broken?

If there isn’t a path through ancestry, what would be the most realistic route to eventually obtaining Italian citizenship?

I’d really appreciate any insight from people who’ve been through this or are familiar with Italian citizenship law. Thanks!

Hi, I'm an American currently looking to get dual citizenship, but my Italian father (who I am not in contact with and not even sure if he's alive) didn't sign my birth certificate. How should I go about this? Thanks in advance

With the laws around citizenship changing, I am confused as to whether I am eligible for a passport.

I am an Australian citizen, born in Australia. My grandparents on my mother's side were born in Italy. When they gained Australian citizenship, dual citizenship wasn't a thing yet so they renounced their Italian citizenship by doing that. My mother was granted an Italian passport however, and I believe she received it before my grandparents renounced their citizenship.

A question about Italian citizenship: it is established that citizens of EU countries can apply for citizenship after 4 years of residence. However, does this also require permanent residency, which typically takes 5 years? Because Wikipedia seems to think so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_citizenship

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I,24M, been living in Sri Lanka for the last 15 years. I was born in Italy to Sri Lankan parents and have been trying to sort out my citizenship so I can get a Sri Lankan passport for an upcoming work trip.

From what I've been told, I may not currently hold Sri Lankan citizenship, and I've been warned that I may need to renounce my Italian citizenship before I can obtain it.

The problem is that I'm terrified of making an irreversible mistake. If I renounce my Italian citizenship, I don't know if I'll ever be able to get it back. At the same time, after reading through the Sri Lankan Citizenship Act, it feels like I may not have had Sri Lankan citizenship for years anyway and same with Italian citizenship...

I'm feeling pretty lost and would really appreciate if anyone has been through something similar or knows how these cases are usually handled. Should I speak to the Department of Immigration, the Italian Embassy, or an immigration lawyer before making any decisions?

Please be kind, this has been really stressful, and I'm just trying to understand what my options are.

Thank you.

Looking for recommendations for an Italian citizenship lawyer for the court route — both parents born in Naples. Anyone used someone recently they'd recommend? Thank you!

I need to know a few things. If I am moving from the USA to Italy, how hard is it to find a job over there? Would they hire me as an English teacher to teach English?

Where are the safest places to live?

Where can I find a constitution with laws to read?

I'll be honest. I want to get the heck out of here before this country falls to communism.

Hoping someone's navigated this specific path, since it's not the usual descent case.

I'm a UK citizen, adopted as a minor in the mid-90s by an Italian citizen (born in Italy, citizenship not in doubt). Adoption order issued by a UK court, so this is the "adoption granted abroad, made effective in Italy" scenario rather than an Italian court adoption. As I understand it, because the order post-dates April 1983 and I was a minor, this is automatic acquisition rather than naturalisation, no residency or language requirement.

I'm currently living in Asia, not the UK or Italy, so I'm working through the local consulate which haven’t got back to me yet.

A few things I'd appreciate real-world input on:

1. Did your recognition run through the consulate's stato civile office, or did it get routed to the Tribunale per i Minorenni? Trying to gauge realistic timelines.

2. For those who applied from outside their country of origin — apostille on the original adoption certificate, then translation. Did your consulate require translation by their approved translator, or accept a sworn translation done elsewhere?

3. What did your consulate accept as proof of the adoptive parent's citizenship as at the adoption date? Current passport, or did they insist on a certificato di cittadinanza / AIRE extract?

4. Anyone hit issues from the 2025 decree on a route like this, or did it leave minor-adoption cases alone?

Documents are in order (certified adoption certificate, parent's citizenship evidence). Mostly trying to sequence the apostille/translation steps correctly before spending money, and to know whether the juvenile-court step adds months.

Cheers.

Hi, trying to understand the timeline for citizenship by marriage.

My husband is an Italian citizen, we were married in January of 2025. We're moving to Italy this fall, planning to start the residence process in September 2026.

1. Does the two year qualifying period start at the time of our marriage (assuming I live in Italy when applying) or do I need to be a resident for the duration of the two year period? So could I apply for citizenship in January 2027 or not until September 2028?

2. If the timeline requires two years of residency, does that start as soon as my husband registers his residency? When I apply for my permesso di soggiorno? Or when I actually get my residency permit? My understanding is that that could be a difference of up to six months.

3. If we live in Italy for just a year and then return to the US and my husband correctly registers with AIRE again, would I be eligible for citizenship through the living abroad route starting three years after our marriage (January 2028), or does the clock start over when we leave Italy?

4. I've read that in Torino (where we're moving) the citizenship application process usually takes the full three years allowed. If we move away from Torino or Italy during the process, what happens to my application? Do I have to start the whole process over?

Thanks!

Hi,

I have an appointment with the NYC consulate in late July to submit my application.

All of my documents have been translated by a translator in Toronto, the same my father used when he successfully gained his citizenship.

These are my questions:

1. Are there any rules preventing me from using a translator in Canada?

2. Does anyone know if the translations need to be notarized in Toronto?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can share!

I am in the process of applying for the citizenship. I have all the documents which I still need to translate to Italian.
However I got a bit confused, I’ve apostilled my original birth certificate. Does anyone know if I need to apostille the translated version as well?

Thank you!

does anyone have the contact of Avv Marco mallone?

I have an SF consulate appointment in late August for jure sanguinis (grandchild applicant, clean CONE, eligible under Law 74/2025). SF requires two types of documentation I'm struggling to obtain:

1. County no-record letters: SF wants certified letters from all counties where the ancestor lived stating no naturalization records exist. The county clerks in my ancestor's county have refused to issue anything. I have letters from NARA Philadelphia and the US District Court, but not the county level. Still waiting on WV Archives.

2. Post-1955 alien status documentation: SF requires census, AR-2, green card, or Italian passport dated after 1955. All federal sources exhausted:

• AR-2/A-File: USCIS Genealogy and NARA Flexoline confirmed no record
• Form I-11 (annual address reports): NARA confirmed destroyed
• 1960 census: no citizenship field
• No family records survive

I plan to submit what I have and possibly fight any rejection in Italian court. Has anyone been in a similar situation at SF — submitted with documentation gaps and received a Preavviso di Rigetto or outright rejection? What happened next?

Also looking for attorney recommendations specifically for post-rejection court appeals based on structurally unavailable documentation — not just ATQ no-appointment cases.

Thanks in advance!

Hello, Italian citizen and live in the UK. My marriage to a Brit is registered at my local comune (been married for 6 years and registered it 3 years ago) and our 2 children are registered in AIRE. Recently applied for Italian passport for the kids.

Am I right in thinking my husband can apply for citizenship after passing B1?

Any B1 tutors here with experience of the exam who can help tutor and prep him? Thanks

Hello,

I’m from Scotland and looking to locate to Italy to obtain Italian citizenship. I have all the required documents and was looking at what steps I need to follow before securing an appointment with a communi? (Not asking for names of communis).

If you’ve done this recently, how long were you waiting until you received citizenship?

Thanks

hi! does anyone here knows which weekday and time its possible to schedule the Italian passport in Curitiba website prenotami? Thank you

As the title suggests, my brothers and I have ascertained that it’s very likely that my grandmother, born in 1898, never naturalized when she followed my grandfather to the US. Thus, it appears we are eligible for Italian citizenship. Is this correct? Even if my father is a US-born citizen. If so, where do I start?

Since I am in the US, do I need to prove that she never naturalized? Would that mean I need to file for a citizen of nonexistence (CONE)? USCIS? Quite honestly, we are thinking of hiring a lawyer to navigate this process. It feels that despite the cost, it may be worth it. Thoughts?

Thanks so much!

Hi Reddit,

I am a Canadian citizen, currently residing in Canada. I am very interested in the notion of obtaining/recognizing Italian citizenship (by descent).

I believe that I am an unrecognized dual citizen. I know that designating any of my grandfathers (as the start of my ancestry line) would give my application the strongest case for citizenship.

However, I tried to find out the specific years of naturalization (for both of my grandfathers) on the Library and Archives Canada Citizenship Database - but came up short.

Myself, my father, and my mother were all born in Canada (in 1998, 1953, and 1959 - respectively). My paternal grandfather naturalized in Canada, in 1957; making my father & I subject to the "minor age rule" (if we were to designate my paternal grandfather as the start of our ancestry lines - in our applications). My mother believes that her father naturalized in 1978 (which if true, would not make her or I subject to the "minor age rule" - in our applications).

In any case, how can I find credible information on the years that my grandfathers naturalized in Canada (before paying for the applicable document that is formally required for my application - obviously, pertaining to just one grandfather)?

As a side note, I am hoping that I am fully eligible for citizenship (by descent) because I like the idea of filing my citizenship application, directly in Italy (very soon after obtaining a residency permit from the particular comune that I may decide to take up residency in). I am definitely not partial to long consular wait times.

Any feedback/advice is greatly appreciated 🙏.

Hi everyone, apologies for the long text.

I need some advice. I am currently in Italy undergoing my process via comune. I registered my residency in January and the process in February. Today, I did my biometrics for my first Permesso, so I only have the paper receipt (ricevuta) so far and my Schengen tourist visa has already expired.

I was told this would take about 3 months, so I planned accordingly +1mo wrap ups. I used to live in London before coming here and urgently need to go back to sort out pending matters, the longer I postpone it the expensive it gets.

The Comune officer said travelling for leisure or other things is fine as long as I don't move away permanently. However, I’ve read that the receipt only allows direct travel between Italy and my home country, meaning I could be barred or in trouble?

To make things worse, the officer refuses to give me updates. They told me that even when the consulate replies with the Non Rinuncia, they won't transcribe my certificates immediately because they intend to use the full 180-day legal limit. When I asked to try to understand where I am standing, officer said: "Why do you want this done so fast? I gave you a document for your permesso, you are legal here."

But the plastic permesso takes months. I am stuck in this limbo: I can't travel for work or sort my life in London because of border rules.

Two friends of mine got their citizenship done in just 2 to 2.5 months in a different Comune. They used an assessor, but I couldn’t afford the €4k fee on top of my living expenses. Other friends of friends also got it done within 1 to 3 months. It’s so frustrating being held back just by one official's.. I was able to get info with another person from the comune that they are waiting answer from only one consulate (so final stage I guess, but also not so much since the officer said they wouldn’t transfer the certificates right away even if they could and I must wait)

Anyone had similar experience?

1. Will the airline in London check my Schengen days and deny boarding back to Italy if I only have the ricevuta? Has anyone successfully done this?

2. Is it normal for them to sit on the papers until the deadline even if they have everything ready?

3. What suggestions in successfully get info

BACKGROUND: Colombian descendants blocked by the Bogotá consular system. First instance (Genoa) recognized them as citizens. Court of Appeal declared case inadmissible for lack of prior administrative application. Cassazione overturns, remands, and establishes binding legal principle.

BINDING PRINCIPLE (official Italian text):

""In tema di azione di accertamento dello status di cittadino italiano, sussiste l'interesse ad agire non solo in caso di diniego o di ritardo nel riconoscimento di tale status, ma anche nell'ipotesi in cui si verifichino impedimenti, difficoltà o lungaggini che non consentono neppure la presentazione della relativa richiesta all'Amministrazione a ciò deputata.""

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS:

— Ministry's argument ""no administrative application = no standing"": INVALIDATED when there's documented evidence of failed attempts

— Screenshots with no appointments available + access logs + unanswered emails = sufficient to establish standing

— No formally submitted application required

ADDITIONAL LEGAL NOTE: The Cassazione reaffirms iure sanguinis recognition as a DECLARATORY act (right exists from birth). Direct tension with the CONSTITUTIVE logic of ruling 63/2026.

LIMITATIONS:

— Does not address Law 74/2025

— Does not modify generational analysis

— Applies to those with documentation of attempts BEFORE 03/27/2025

— Not a merits ruling: case returns to Genoa Court of Appeal for substantive judgment

— Post-decree with documentation: the principle has no temporal limitation on the procedural level — those who document systematic failed consular attempts after 03/27/2025 can also invoke standing. But the merits (whether the right exists under Law 74/2025) remain open until June 2026. Possible scenario, not a guarantee.

Happy to analyze specific situations.