{"id":11498,"date":"2025-07-17T12:21:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T16:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/servizi-consolari-e-visti\/servizi-per-il-cittadino-straniero\/cittadinanza\/in-sintesi\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:47:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:47:02","slug":"in-sintesi","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/servizi-consolari-e-visti\/servizi-per-il-cittadino-straniero\/cittadinanza-2\/in-sintesi\/","title":{"rendered":"SUMMARY OF THE VARIOUS CASES"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Do you have a child who is a minor and was born abroad in a country from which they have acquired citizenship, and you are:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
an exclusively Italian citizen (meaning: you have no other citizenship besides the Italian one) <\/strong>OR<\/strong><\/li>\n
a dual citizen with at least one parent holding, or holding at the time of death, exclusively Italian citizenship?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Then your child is an Italian citizen and you can request the Consulate to register their birth certificate in Italy, submitting the documentation requested by the Consular Office to prove the above circumstances.
\nSee the “Births” section of the Vital Records pages<\/a> for more information (This information is currently available only in Italian<\/em>).
\nEmail stcivile.washington@esteri.it<\/a> if you have any further questions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2. Do you have a child who is still a minor<\/span> who was born abroad in a country from which they have acquired citizenship, and you are an Italian citizen who also holds another nationality (i.e. you are a dual-citizen; for example, you hold both the Italian and the US citizenships), but, at the same time, neither of your parents holds, or held at the time of their death, exclusively Italian citizenship?<\/strong><\/p>\n
In this case, obtaining Italian citizenship for your child is possible and it is ensured, under certain conditions, by “Benefit of law.” A minor child can obtain Italian citizenship if both parents declare their wish to have them acquire it at the Consular Office.<\/p>\n
Please note, however, that the declaration must be submitted within three years of the child’s birth (or from the subsequent date on which parentage, including due to adoption, from an Italian citizen is established). Otherwise, if the declaration is submitted after the child turns three years old, the child must legally reside in Italy for at least two consecutive years, in order to acquire Italian citizenship; after this time-frame elapses they will become Italian citizens.<\/p>\n
Upon reaching the age of majority (i.e. legal age), anyone who acquired citizenship as a minor through a parental declaration of intent can obviously renounce it, if they so wish, provided that they hold at least another citizenship.<\/p>\n
Consult the \u201cLegal Benefits\u201d section<\/a> of the web pages dedicated to Italian Citizenship for additional information.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
3. Are you an adult born abroad, recognized as an Italian citizen by “Iuris Sanguinis<\/em>” before March 28, 2025, and have a minor child, or one who was a minor on May 24, 2025, whom you have not yet registered?<\/strong><\/p>\n
If your child is still a minor, you can submit, only by May 31, 2029, and together with the other parent, the declaration required for the application referred to\u00a0 above, at number 2, (Acquisition of Italian Citizenship by Benefit of the Law).
\nObviously, if your child, who was a minor on May 24, 2025 (the effective date of Law No. 74\/2025 converting Legislative Decree No. 36\/2025), has since reached adulthood, they will be required to submit the declaration by the same deadline themselves.
\nConsult the “Legal Benefit” section<\/a> of the web pages dedicated to Italian Citizenship for additional information.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
4. If you are you an adult born in a foreign country of which you hold citizenship<\/span> and have not yet applied for Italian citizenship, nor did your parents apply for you while you were a minor AND you have either:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
at least one parent who is exclusively Italian? <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>OR<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
a grandparent who holds, or held at the time of their death, exclusively Italian citizenship?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nThen you are entitled to apply for Italian citizenship, but you must do so directly, submitting the documentation requested by the office to prove the above circumstances.
\nConsult the “Citizenship by descent” section<\/a> of the web pages dedicated to Italian Citizenship for additional information, before making an appointment appointment on the Prenot@mi<\/a> portal.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
5. Were you born abroad in a country where you hold citizenship, and have a parent who acquired Italian citizenship through naturalization and who resided in Italy for at least two years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before your birth (or possible adoption)?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Then, according to current legislation, you can apply for Italian citizenship (in the case of a minor, the application will be submitted by the parents).
\nConsult the “Citizenship by descent” section<\/a> of the web pages dedicated to Italian Citizenship for additional information, before making an appointment appointment on the Prenot@mi<\/a> portal.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
6. Are you an adult who was born abroad who has submitted an application to be recognized as an Italian citizen by “Iure Sanguinis<\/em>” to the Consular Office (or received confirmation of your application appointment) by March 27, 2025? Are you awaiting for the Consular Office’s decision on your application and have minor children?<\/strong><\/p>\n
The legislation in force until March 27, 2025, still applies to you: please report immediately to the Consular Office if you have minor children, or report the children who were still minors as of May 24, 2025, by writing to washington.cittadinanza@esteri.it<\/a>.
\nIf your application for Italian citizenship is successful under the legislation in force on March 27, 2025, you will be scheduled to submit the declaration of acquisition of citizenship for your child, which you and the other parent must submit together.
\nIf your child has since reached the age of majority (i.e. legal age), he or she will be responsible for submitting the declaration themselves.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
7. Were you born in Italy and, having moved abroad, lost your Italian citizenship<\/span> pursuant to Article 8, paragraphs 1 and 2, or Article 12 of Law No. 555 of June 13, 1912, by acquiring a foreign citizenship?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Unless you have formally renounced your citizenship before the Italian authorities, you can regain it by submitting a declaration to that effect to the Consular Office by December 31, 2027.
\nConsult the \u201cReaqcuiring Italian Citizenship\u201d section<\/a> of the web pages dedicated to Italian Citizenship for additional information.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For all other questions regarding the law, please write exclusively to the following email address: washington.cittadinanza@esteri.it<\/a>. The office will respond within the required timeframe (30 days).<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Last update: April 21, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. Do you have a child who is a minor and was born abroad in a country from which they have acquired citizenship, and you are: an exclusively Italian citizen (meaning: you have no other citizenship besides the Italian one) OR a dual citizen with at least one parent holding, or holding at the time […]","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":14607,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11498","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11498"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16334,"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11498\/revisions\/16334"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}