The application process for obtaining Italian citizenship can be daunting. Not only for the amount of paperwork but also for the difficulty of starting the process at the Italian Consulates.
The obstacles can be many: too long waiting times to have the Consulate process our application, or the refusal of Consulates to process an application because it regards a descendant from an Italian (grand)mother born before 1948, for example.
Delays in the process
Most Italian Consulates in the world have (years) long waiting times for processing applications and many applicants do not have the time to just wait. They should not wait, since they have a right to a fair process. The Constitution of the Italian Republic, as well as the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights (legally binding on the EU institutions and on our Member States), enshrine the principle of “due process”. Every person has the right to have his or her affairs handled impartially, fairly, and within a reasonable time by the institutions and bodies of Italy and the Union.
The Italian National law implemented such principle by specifically providing that the Consulates should take a decision on citizenship applications within 730 days from the application (Article 2 of Italian Administrative Process Act 241/1990 and DPCM – President of the Council of Ministers Decree no. 33/2014). Unfortunately, most Consulates interpret this rule in an arbitrary way: they claim that the 730-day deadline starts from the date in which the Consulate will finally admit the applicant to enter their office and the Consulate accepts the paperwork as complete. But such interpretation does not stand in Courts.Â
Leverage Your Rights
The Tribunals in Italy ruled consistently that the 730-day deadline starts from the date in which the applicant requests an appointment to the Consulate in order to file in the citizenship application.
My team and I challenged the Consulates decisions hundreds of times on this specific point: We proved that the applicants had made reasonable attempts to obtain an appointment and each time that was enough for the judge to declare that the Consulate behaved unfaily and our clients had the right to Italian citizenship. We handed to the judge the documents proving the Italian ancestry and walked out with the positive decision. The Italian passport followed.
All applicants who try to get an appointment that is farther in time than 730 days, or those who can prove to have made reasonable attempts to get an appointment have a legitimate claim in Court to obtain citizenship. The Court’s decision can be registered directly with the Italian administration. Such registration is enough to obtain an Italian passport.
Descendants in the maternal line
The Italian Supreme Court established in 2009 that it is forbidden to discriminate between women and men even in citizenship matters (judgment no. 4466/2009). All descendants born anytime from an Italian parent, father or mother, are Italian citizens by birthright.
Sadly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all the Italian Consulates still refuse to process the applications of the descendants who were born from Italian women before 1948, when the equality principle between women and men was introduced with the Constitution of the Republic of Italy. As a consequence, those descendants (and their children down the family line) can obtain the application of the non-discrimination principle only through an application to an Italian Court.Â
For more information about 1948 cases, see “How the 1948 rule really works”
You may also be interested to know that finally the Italian Parliament is discussing to change the law and finally equally recognise citizenship to all descendants of Italian mothers and their descendants (Bill 919/XIX AS). As a consequence, It will become mandatory for Consulates to receive the applications of these applicants. Your’re welcome to read my recent article on the proposals, including Bill 919: New Law: Your Second Chance at Italian Citizenship
How does an application in Court work in reality?
Proceeding with a citizenship application in Court is quite different than with Consulates. It is a full trial, not just an administrative process. It cannot be regarded as a quick or easy process.
The application in Court starts a formal dispute with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They can – and often do – make objections, especially concerning the citizenship status of the Italian-born ancestor from whom the applicant derives citizenship. The Ministries, through their representative – the Avvocatura dello Stato –Â have a right to appeal against the Court’s decision and do, in some cases.
Moreover, the Tribunal of Rome (the competent judge for all disputes concerning citizenship applications arising from applications filed at Italian Consulates), received thousands of applications during the last years and has a considerable backlog. A specialized section for asylum matters and citizenship was established at the end of 2017 to cope with it. That ensured that more prepared judges would handle the applications. However, the handling time is currently about 24 months.
Poor legal assistance
In recent years, hundreds of lawyers in Italy and overseas started assisting citizenship cases by blood and in the maternal line. Many did not bother to study and practice the matter properly and had no experience not have proper knowledge of the intricacies of the law, including the interplay between Italian laws of the early ‘900s and the laws of the country of ancestor’s residence. They often fail in evaluating the legal context and the data contained in the official records concerning the family line of each applicant.Â
Unprepared lawyers tend to focus on the similarities between various cases rather than on the specific aspects that differentiate them. They keep low legal fees by presenting hundreds of applications exactly in the same way. They often cannot foresee and discuss the Italian Ministries’ objections concerning the ancestor’s possible loss of citizenship status, e.g. as a consequence of the laws in force in the USA at the beginning of the ‘900s, or concerning discrepancies in the US vital records.
Every week, we see badly assisted applications fail in Court for the incompetent defense of counsels who improvised their assistance to citizenship applicants by blood. They ignored important aspects of the laws and of the data in the non-Italian vital records. That is the reality behind many failures, as reported by appalled clients also in many social media forums.
Preparing the paperwork
Not only the process in Court involves a dispute and can be longer than expected, but the time necessary to obtain those documents in some countries – notably, the USA –Â has become much longer, amounting to currently about 10 months, or even more, if corrections are required.
The vital records from many countries outside of the continental European tradition – e.g. the USA – vary considerably from those required by the Italian authorities, based on the detailed Napoleonic population registry method. As a consequence, it is very important to review such records, with matching names and dates with each other to prove the direct line of descent beyond doubt from the point of view of the Italian registry system.
Legal fees
The costs for assisting a citizenship application in an Italian Court are higher than those for an application at an Italian Consulate.
The reference for Italian legal fees is set by the law and particularly the Ministry of Justice Decree no. 55/2014 (Tariffe forensi). The fees are composed of segments for various phases of the process before the civil Court and depend on the number of applicants for each family, as well as the complexity of the case (Parametri civili). The average costs are around € 7,000 + taxes and VAT per person.
A commonly used tool for calculating the lawyer’s fees online in Italy is offered by Avvocato Andreani at this website.
Beware of changes in the law
We cannot give for granted that the law that was in place for decades will not change. On the contrary, there have been several attempts to pass reform on the Italian citizenship regulation. One of the main points of reform is to cut the possibility to give citizenship status down to the second generation.
Such a reform, delayed by a government crisis in 2019 and now stalled during the pandemic emergency, is likely to be introduced in the next year at the latest. The process to amend the law has started in 2024.
Read all the details of the foreseeable changes in Italian citizenship law in my article “Italian Citizenship Law: Follow Ancestry Bill Updates”.
Time is of the essence. If (when) the reform will pass, like any new law in civil and administrative matters in Italy, it will apply immediately to all citizenship processes in course, both at Consulates and in Courts.Â
For more information: “The Future of Italian Dual Citizenship: What Applicants Need to Know”
Conclusions
Before embarking on the process of an Italian citizenship application in court, it is crucial to consider that you are going to be on a real trial in the justice system of a country that you may not know so well. The result, although there are consistent precedents, is not certain. Especially in a legal system that is not based on precedents like that of Italy and those of all continental European states. When weighing pros and cons, time and money are not the only important variables. Rather the quality of the information and of the legal assistance to review your documents correctly and prepare an accurate application, as well as defend your case competently in court are essential to obtain citizenship in reality.
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I lived in italia for 16 anni.I applied for citizenship 2019.one email came and i didnt noticed that email.in my application one document is expired and want to resubmit that.but unfortunately I didn’t noticed that.Now i again submit my application for citizenship with all documents needed.is it possible to fast track my citizenship process.or need to wait 2 years again?is there any way to get my citizenship as early as possible.
Depending on when the missed email was sent, you may still have the possibility to resume the application process and add the new document. That way you would avoid having to repeat the whole process again and expedite the process significantly. If you want us to resume and monitor your application process until the end, you are welcome to drop me a message on Instagram.
I just moved to italy with ‘permesso di soggiorno” and applied for citizenship through “jure sanguinis” at my commune. I was told by them to change all of my documents to reflect my GF’s surname to “i” not “o”. That is obviously a huge task to complete. Can I take my case and petition the italian court?Thank you for your assistance?
Elaine DiCecca
Yes you can. The judges have the power to override possible discrepancies in the official records and they usually grant citizenship in these cases. However, applying for citizenship in Court may involve loger handling times (some Courts have a considerable backlog) and costs for legal asisstance, fees and possible other expenses. These usually are higher than the expenses to obtain a rectification of the information on your documents. So you may want to evaluate your options.
I actually live in Haiti.
The Dominican Republic consulate denied my application.
My grandfather was italian until 1952 naturalized Haiti after my mother was born in 1946.she reinstated her Italian Citizenship in 1996. Is there any possibilities for me to obtain citizenship by descent from my mother? Or even my great grandfather who never naturalize. Hopefully your team of lawyer can help.
There is a way, if you can prove by official records the circumstances that you describe. It is relevant to know why the Italian consulate rejected your application. If you need help with that, you are welcome to contact us and request a consultation.
My son has tried to get an appointment with the Italian consulate in London for more than a year through prenot@mi.
Absolutely impossible.
I am Italian, so it would be by direct descent.
Can it be done from Italy or through denial of justice?
Yes, your son may apply for Italian citizenship in Italy at any local municipality. Alternatively, he may also apply for citizenship in Court. The mere application and start of the judicial process may cause the Italian Consulate to receive his application and handle it faster (so-called procedure “in autotutela”). You are welcome to ask our assistance for that.
Hello Lara,
We are in a similar position as Carla, but here in Canada. We have been denied an appointment to submit our application several times for one reason or another. We have now been told that there are no appointments that are being granted or are available for the remainder of 2024. We were also wondering if it is possible to bypass the consulate and file directly in Italy? How can we confirm we have all the documentation required? The consulate website is very vague and have tried several times to confirm but do not get very clear answers.
Thanks for reaching out, Michelle! Facing the constraints of Italian Consulates and government proposals to restrict citizenship by descent creates significant obstacles. Considering court application might be the best course. My article, “The Future of Italian Dual Citizenship“, explores how these changes affect applicants. I can assist in reviewing your documents for a court application. A crucial step now is to save all correspondence and attempts to secure a Consulate appointment, invaluable for a potential court case 🤗
This is a very good article. I have been working with Luminosaglobal on what documents are needed to apply for Italian Citizenship through Jure Sanguinis. My Grandfather born Italy. My Father born in U.S. but before Grandfather obtained USA citizenship. We have all the documents except waiting on Naturalization document for Grandfather which is expected soon. Obtained appointment at Italian Consulate Miami January 31, 2024. Luminosa advised has legal counsel that can apply directly to Rome and quoted a cost of about $4,000. They said would speed up process. After reading your article I am concerned that going through Rome may cost a lot more with no assurance of speeding up the process.
Interested in your comments. Thank you,
Thanks for your appreciation and for sharing your experience so honestly. That is also my policy and it guided me very well over in may career. I understand your concern. In fact, there might be hidden costs and that is why service agreements never exclude further costs that are not foreseen from the beginning. In my article above I kept into account all the possible court fees and other costs because, in my esperience, they do occur. A good part of those additional costs are foreseeable and should be included in the initial price quote of serious lawyers. During the rather long time of the judicial process Court fees often change, difficulties often arise, especially during the operations to enforce the judgement and obtain the necessary registration of Italian citizenship by the local administrative authorities after the judgement (namely, the local municipality where the Italian ancestor was born). My estimate of costs around 7000 Euros takes into account all of that. I like to avoid surprises and have satisfied clients in the long run.