Cidadania Italiana: saiba como funciona o processo no Brasil e na Itália

Married people with Italian citizens can apply for the citizenship application by marriage. If you are living in the UK and would like to know more about the process, we will explain everything you need to know. Check out!

Requirements

According to art. 5 of Law 91/1992, the spouse of an Italian citizen living outside of Italy, therefore also in the UK, can apply for Italian citizenship 3 years after the date of the marriage or after 18 months if the couple has children. From the 11th of February 2017, also the same-sex married couple is able to apply for Italian Citizenship.
The marriage certificate needs to be necessarily registered with the Italian Authority in Italy, before the starting of application. Provided there is no separation or divorce, citizenship will be granted if the marriage lasts until the signing of the decree for the issuance of Italian Citizenship.
In order to be able to apply for the citizenship, it is essential for the applicant, to never had: convictions for crimes leading to a maximum penalty of 3 years in prison or convictions by a foreign judiciary authority of more than one year for non-political crimes; convictions for any of the crimes listed in Book 2, Title I, items, I,II and III of the criminal code (crimes against government personnel); records against the security of the Italian Republic.
Applicants who have their main residence in the United Kingdom must have a valid residence permit issued by the UK Home Office, and their Italian spouses must be registered as resident in this Consular district (AIRE) and state in their application clearly that the foreign spouse is living in the UK, specifying the address for both spouses.

Procedure

Italian citizenship application is addressed to the Ministry of the Interior and must be submitted to the diplomatic-consular mission if resident abroad. In the UK it depends on the area the couple is resident in order to establish the jurisdiction of the competent Consulate.
The applicant will have to provide all the information requested and all the necessary documentation for the application. Once the application is submitted, checked and all is right, the applicant will receive a reference number and will have to attend an appointment at the Consulate, in order to verify the identity and provide the original documentation. The documents will be checked during the appointment and will not be returned, except for the Passports and residence permit.
Following the original documents submission, the citizenship process will be managed by the Ministry of Interior. The applicant will be able to check the progress of the application online.
With the new regulation introduced by art. 14 of Decree n. 113/18, the maximum time for the Authorities to issue the Citizenship, it has been extended to 48 months from the day of filing of the application.

Documentation

What the applicant needs in order to start the application: Marriage certificate issued by the Italian Municipality; Full Birth Certificate of the applicant legalized and translated into Italian. This certificate has no expiration date; Certificate of no criminal record from the country of origin and any country other than Italy, where he has been living, including the UK, legalized and translated into Italian. These certificates are valid for six months from the date of issue by the competent foreign authority; Applicant’s UK Resident Permit issued by the UK Home Office; Passports of the Applicant and the Italian Spouse.

17 thoughts on “How to Apply in the UK for Italian Citizenship by virtue of being married to an Italian Citizen”

  1. Hi there
    My husband is Italian and we have been married for 7 years we also have a son together that was born in Italy. I also have another son from my first marriage. Does he also quality to have Italian citizenship? He is currently in University in South African and is financially dependant on us. We all live in the UK now. I need to apply to my Italian citizenship which I will start doing just to clarify must I contact the South African Police department and apply for a Police Clearance Certificate? Your assistance will be appreciated.

    Many thanks

    Ann

  2. Hi, am a Nigerian by nationality, married to Italian. We’ve been married for 3 years, have 3 kids in the Uak and we currently live in the UK. We got married in Italy before moving to UK. Now I want to apply for Italian citizenship alone as my kids has done so already. How do i go about the process of putting up application and obtaining a criminal record from my country of origin Nigeria?
    Thank you

    1. Hello Godwin, thank you for contact us. We are going to send the information via email on how we can help you. Thanks again!

  3. Born in Uk to Italian parents have British passport and would like Italian passport as dual nationality have registered my detail to town hall in Italy and registered my address and marriage certificate and also registered my son this took over 6 months, but now just want to apply for passport but this is proving difficult need help!

    1. Hi Vincenzo, we will send you an email explaining all our services and how we can help you with your passport. Thank you

  4. I am British and applying for Italian citizenship through marriage. I called the Home Office to ask if there is any way I can get a UK residence permit or proof of my residency, but they said no, because I don’t require one as I have a British passport. The info on the Embassy website clearly states that I need a residence permit, so what do I do? Will they just accept my passport? I don’t want to submit all the other documents they require but be rejected because that one is missing.

      1. Hello there. I had the same question so could you let me know the answer as do not see how I can get a residence permit as a UK citizen. Thanks! Carina

        1. Hi Carina, our advisers can help you to understand what you need to do. We will send you an e-mail with more information!

  5. Hi, my wife is an italian citizen, we met in the UK, we have 2 children, the first born has italian passport, and the second has a british passport, we got married by proxy, we were in UK but the married was conducted in Gambia, as we are muslims, so the Home office recoginised and accepted our marriage, therefore granting me a residence card. How can i register our marriage with the italian consulate in UK, in order to apply the passport. when we contacted them about the matter, they asked us to go gambia in the italian embassy to register it, but there is no Italian embassy in Gambia.
    Your assistance in this matter will be helpful, thank you.

    1. Hello, our advisers can help you to understand what you need to do. We will send you an e-mail with more information.

  6. Hello
    I am a British Citizen (born in the Uk & lived here all my life).
    I am married to an Italian who moved to the uk in 1971 (we have been married 34 years) the marriage has been registered in Italy .
    My husband has been given settled status in the UK but still holds his Italian passport.
    Can I apply for an Italian passport.
    Many thanks

    1. Hello Fiona, our advisers can help you to understand what you need to do. We will send you an e-mail with more information.

  7. Good Afternoon, I have been married to an Italian citizen for over 40y (I am from the UK) living in the UK. Do I have to apply for the Italian citizenship before I have access to the Italian passport? and if so do I have to produce a certificate of knowledge of the Italian language as I can speak very little?

    1. Hello Susan, our advisers can help you to understand what you need to do. We will send you an e-mail with more information!

  8. I want to know if I got married in Ghana and my wife is now in the uk with me, can I apply for Italian citizenship for her, and do I have to go to Italy to register in comune or I can do everything in the Uk?

    1. Thanks for the comment. We delivered your case to our team and they will contact you by e-mail to send more info.

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