Italy
Getting Italian citizenship while living in Italy
Say whether a parent or grandparent was Italian by birth and how long you have lived legally in Italy: the tool names the route that fits.
Can living in Italy open Italian citizenship?
Declaration under art. 4
1 more year
| Legal residence needed | 2 years after turning 18 |
| Your residence | 1 year |
| Effect | Citizen from the day after the declaration |
The declaration must follow within one year of meeting the condition; the comune where you live receives it.
Applying for Italian citizenship in Italy means dealing with the comune, the town hall where you take up residence, instead of a US consulate. For recognition by descent the rules are the same as abroad: since March 28, 2025, article 3-bis limits it to a parent or grandparent who held only Italian citizenship, or to an Italian parent who lived two years in Italy before your birth, and moving to Italy does not change your place of birth. Living in Italy does open two other doors. Article 4 of Law 91/1992 lets a foreigner whose parent or grandparent was Italian by birth become a citizen by declaration after two years of legal residence in Italy as an adult, declared within a year. And article 17 lets people born in Italy, or who lived there two years, and who lost citizenship by naturalizing abroad before August 16, 1992, take it back by declaration until December 31, 2027.
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Three routes, three different laws
| Route | Who | Condition in Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Recognition by descent at the comune | Line accepted by art. 3-bis | Legal residence in the comune |
| Declaration (art. 4) | Parent or grandparent Italian by birth | 2 years of legal residence as an adult |
| Reacquisition (art. 17) | Former citizens who naturalized before August 16, 1992 | None if born in Italy; window to December 31, 2027 |
Recognition at the comune
The comune's registrar checks the same chain of records as a consulate: the ancestor's birth extract, each birth, marriage and death record down to you, with apostilles and translations for foreign records, and proof of the ancestor's naturalization status. The difference is the gatekeeper. A consulate checks that you live in its district; a comune checks that you are registered as a resident, and the police check that your stay is legal. A US citizen arriving as a tourist cannot simply register: residence requires a visa issued for that purpose.
After March 28, 2025, a comune applies article 3-bis like any consulate. A family that moves to Italy to file through a great-grandparent will be refused, whatever the town, unless a case was lodged by March 27, 2025.
The declaration after two years
Article 4 is the door for those whose line no longer qualifies by descent but who have an Italian-born parent or grandparent. It is not automatic: you live legally in Italy for two years after turning 18, then declare within one year. Citizenship begins the day after the declaration, not at birth, so it does not pass back to your parents. It does pass forward: a child born after the declaration is born to an Italian parent, although article 3-bis still asks whether that parent held Italian citizenship only or lived in Italy two years before the birth, which by then you have.
The 2027 window for former citizens
Many emigrants lost Italian citizenship when they naturalized in the United States under the 1912 law. Article 17, in force since July 1, 2025, lets them reacquire it by declaration until December 31, 2027, if they were born in Italy or lived there two years. It helps the emigrant, not the grandchildren born abroad, who remain subject to article 3-bis.
Before you move
Check the line first with the family tree checker, then compare the consular route with a move. If the plan is to live in Europe anyway, the page on second citizenship compares the descent routes of other countries that do not require living there, and the dual citizenship page covers what changes for taxes once you live in Italy.