Step by Step: How to get dual citizenship in Italy from your ancestors

1. Determine if you are eligible for citizenship by decent.

This could be a parent, grandparent, or great grandparent. The line needs to be unbroken and no one can have renounced their citizenship. They ideally should have never naturalized or applied for citizenship.

2. Gather all the documents.

You will need copies of each person in the line. For example if you apply through your parents you just need the parent who was born in Italy. If you are going further back you need more proof. For instance, if through your great grandparent(s) you will need the following forms:

Great grandparent’s birth certificate, death certificate, and marriage license. You will also need any divorce certificates or naturalizations. If they never naturalized, you will need to get proof of no naturalizations. This is much easier if you know for a fact that they never naturalized or if you know the county in which they did.

You will need your grandparent’s birth certificates, both of them if applying in the US. As well, you need their marriage licenses and death certificates if they have passed.

Lastly you need your parent’s birth certificates and marriage licenses and if they have passed, their death certificates too.

Of course you will need your own birth certificate and your children’s if applying for them.

3. You will need to obtain a passport.

You can do this at the post office or at the embassy closet to you. If you are in a hurry, you can expedite the shipping for an extra charge. It can be quite expensive. You will need passports for anyone applying, like yourself, spouse, and any children.

4. Translate all the documents and have them certified by an apostille.

This can take anywhere from a week to longer. You can usually pay a fee to have them expedited, but again this could be expensive. It usually costs about 30-50$ per document. Some more or less and you can get quotes and shop around your area to find a good price.

5. Gather your Italian documents.

This is typically the most difficult step if you do not have them already. You will need to mail a request with payment to the local comune in which they were born. If you do not know where the ancestor you are applying through was born, you can pay a researcher to find it for you. This can typically take three to six months. If you already know where they were born it can take three to six weeks for shipping. Or if you will be applying in Italy, you can pick it up in person same day or the next day. This will depend on the comune and how busy they are at the time of your request. If one doesn’t exist, you can request a document be made for your ancestor.

6. When you have all of your documents in English and Italian, you can officially apply for citizenship. You will do this in person with an appointment at the embassy or in person at the comune in Italy.

You may need to fill out some other forms which are available at the comune or embassy in which you are applying. These may be a statement from a living ancestor stating they never renounced citizenship. Or it may be something you fill out stating you have no knowledge of the ancestor renouncing their citizenship.

7. If applying in Italy, you must go to the local police station, Questura in your local area. You need to declare your presence and state you are applying for citizenship within eight days of arrival in Italy.

8. Apply for permesso di soggiorno in order to remain in Italy while you wait for your citizenship application to be approved.

9. Establish a residency. This needs to be some valid contract for more than 45 days. You will need to go to the local Questura and apply for residency stating where you live and they will come do a check at a random time to verify your address.

10. Go to the local city hall, Comune, and apply for citizenship. There will be a 300 Euro fee, but children under 18 can apply with their parents and do not need a separate application or fee. In some cases, the fee is waived but this is uncommon.

Note: If you apply in Italy on a passport, they will keep all documents so you may need extra copies before applying. Many countries require you to pay taxes in both countries and retain both passports.