All the following conditions must be met jointly:
- l) One of the parents must be an Italian citizen by birth. Accordingly, this excludes cases of parents who became citizens by naturalization under Article 9 of Law No. 91/1992, by “operation of law” under Article 4 of Law No. 91/1992, by marriage under Article 5 of Law No. 91/1992 or Article 10 of Law No. 555/1912, by reacquisition under Articles 13 or 17 of Law No. 91/1992, or by iuris communicatione (Article 14 of Law No. 91/1992).
2) Both parents (including the non-Italian parent) or the guardian must submit a formal declaration of intent to acquire citizenship within one year of the child’s birth (or within one year of the later date on which the child’s filiation from the Italian citizen is legally established, or on which the adoption by an Italian citizen is finalized while the child is still a minor). In the event that both parents are Italian citizens by birth and filiation is established later by both, the one-year deadline shall begin from the first parent’s acknowledgment, as the first acknowledgment transmits citizenship. If filiation is first established by a non-Italian parent (or by an Italian citizen not by birth), the one-year period will run from the acknowledgment by the second parent who is an Italian citizen by birth.
The declaration of intent to acquire citizenship must be formal and must be made in person before an official delegated to perform civil status functions. If the parents do not submit the declaration jointly, the legal requirement shall be deemed fulfilled as of the date of submission by the second parent. If filiation (including adoptive) is established in respect of only one parent (or if the other parent is deceased), the declaration of a single parent shall be sufficient.