Getting Citizenship in Italy

If you’ve been following along, you will know through my Permesso di Soggiorno part 1 that I arrived in Italy on the 5th of January, 2016 and I’ve been through the cheese grater while trying to get clarification on processes, procedures and correct information all in the hopes of getting citizenship in Italy.

That journey is finally over

As of today, after a visit with the citizenship office, I’m apparently a permanent resident of Florence. I did not know this.

Yesterday, after my 45 days home imprisonment,in Italy, which is a requirement for me to prove my residency, I finally had the home visit and I’ve been verified.

My documents are signed, I’ve been given the option to pay 200 euros to process the application immediately. The alternative is to not pay it, then wait for 12 maybe 18 months for the application to be approved. I chose to pay the 200 euros. In the next 2-3 weeks, I will have my Italian passport and citizenship and I will no longer have to go through any of this.

This process, is a nightmare, it really is.

The Simplified Steps – Getting Citizenship in Italy

I can’t tell you if this is for all citizenship applications, but if you are doing a reaquisition (reaquista) of your Italian Citizenship due to blood lines, then this should apply to you as well:

Within 8 days of arriving in Italy, proceed to the Questura and notify them that you have moved to Italy and would like your permesso di soggiorno.

Within a few weeks (maybe even a couple of months) you will have your appointment with them to go through the paperwork. Bring reading material and water, you will be there many hours, maybe even the whole day (I was).

At this point, you will be finger printed, you can go straight to the citizenship office and begin your application for Italian citizenship. Nothing will happen until your Permesso di Soggiorno is completed and you have had your home visit, whereby you are home imprisoned all day, every day for up to 45 days.

Once this has been performed, the guy literally comes to your door, you prove your ID and sign a document, you will then go back to the citizenship office or comune and they will tell you that in approximately 7-10 days, they will receive the notification that you will be presented with your Italian ID card. Around this time, if you have elected to pay the 200 euros to speed up the process, you will be informed that your application will be finalised within 3 weeks.

Celebrate

That’s it, I’ve done it! After nearly 7 months of chasing my fake tail, I’ve finally made it through the horror of getting my Italian Citizenship and in just a couple of weeks, I will have my Italian passport too.

Good luck and I hope my own journey has helped you to get it done faster and with less heart-ache.

Fox