In short. Italian citizenship by residence is naturalisation under Article 9 of Law 91/1992. It is granted by a discretionary decree once you have lived in Italy legally for a set period: 10 years for most non-EU nationals, 4 for EU citizens, 5 for stateless people and refugees, and 2 if a parent or grandparent is or was an Italian citizen by birth. You also need enough income, B1 Italian and no grounds for refusal. The legal time limit for a decision is 24 months, extendable to 36.
This guide covers the residence route in depth. The overall picture is in the official guide to Italian citizenship; every route is compared in Types of Italian citizenship.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. It explains official rules and steps and is not personalised advice.
What is Italian citizenship by residence, and who decides?
It is the grant provided for by Article 9 of Law no. 91 of 5 February 1992. It is not a right: the authorities have discretion and weigh lawful residence, integration, work, income and conduct. The Prefettura (the prefecture, the Ministry of the Interior’s local office) runs the investigation; a grant is a decree signed by the President of the Republic, a refusal one signed by the delegated Undersecretary.
How many years of legal residence do you need?
In October 2026, according to the Ministry of the Interior’s page and Law 74/2025, the periods are:
| Category | Period required | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Non-EU nationals, general rule (including subsidiary or special protection) | 10 years | Art. 9, letter f |
| Citizens of another EU state | 4 years | letter d |
| Stateless people | 5 years | letter e |
| Refugees recognised by Italy | 5 years | Art. 16(2) |
| Adults adopted by an Italian citizen | 5 years after the adoption | letter b |
| Service to the Italian State, including abroad | 5 years of service | letter c |
| Parent or grandparent who is or was an Italian citizen by birth | 2 years (it was 3 before Law 74/2025) | letter a |
| Born in Italy | 3 years | letter a-bis |
| Foreign relative of a victim of a road-infrastructure collapse of national importance (events listed in the law), already regularly resident in Italy at the time of death | 5 years at the time of the grant | Law 63/2025, Art. 7 |
Married to an Italian citizen? See citizenship by marriage. Born in Italy? Read citizenship for people born in Italy.
The referendum of 8–9 June 2025 asked whether the general period should fall from 10 to 5 years. The Ministry’s page, consulted on 19 October 2026, still shows 10 years.
What counts as legal, continuous residence?
Under the implementing regulation (Presidential Decree 572/1993, Article 1) you are legally resident if you live in Italy in line with the rules on entry, stay and registration with the anagrafe (the municipal register of residents). The Ministry checks both registration and a valid residence title throughout.
- Gaps. According to the Ministry’s vademecum, deregistration breaks residence from the actual date, allowing for the time needed to re-register. If the break is judged surmountable, the office may give a reasoned favourable opinion; otherwise the application is inadmissible. The Sondrio prefecture instead says the count restarts from zero.
- Absences. Temporary absences are not held against you if they are for study, assisting your family of origin or medical treatment and are documented, and if registration and permit stay valid and your family and social life stay centred in Italy. The sources set no maximum number of days.
- Application pending. The requirements must last until the oath. The La Spezia prefecture says that moving your residence abroad while the application is pending makes it inadmissible.
The sources do not say how expired permits or permits under renewal are treated: see expired residence permit in Italy. For registration, read registering residence in Italy.
What income do you need, and how are family members counted?
Article 9 gives no figure. The Ministry’s 2025 vademecum and the prefectures use reference thresholds, checked against your tax returns for the last three years: €8,263.31 a year if you are alone, €11,362.05 with a dependent spouse, plus €516.00 for each dependent child (€8,779.31 with one child). In practice:
- taxable income subject to IRPEF (Italian income tax) and declared in Italy counts; money in a bank account, a foreign pension taxed abroad, NASpI (unemployment benefit) and the income of a spouse living abroad do not;
- the income of relatives listed in Article 433 of the Civil Code and shown on the household certificate is added up: spouse, children, parents, sons- and daughters-in-law, parents-in-law, siblings (the Catania prefecture counts only first-degree relatives on the household certificate); a cohabitant without a written contract does not count;
- a fall in income can be assessed with fairness, for example if it affects a single year; income must continue until the assessment and, according to the prefectures, until the oath.
Do criminal records and security checks matter?
Yes. Article 6 lists the convictions that block citizenship by marriage; for naturalisation, Article 9 lists none, but criminal records and security weigh in the discretionary assessment. The prefectures name security, missing residence, insufficient income, a criminal record, weak integration and poor Italian as grounds for refusal. For the Catania prefecture a conviction stops counting only through rehabilitation (riabilitazione). The Questura (provincial police headquarters) sends its own report.
How do you prove B1 Italian?
Article 9.1 requires Italian at no lower than B1 on the Common European Framework, already when you apply. You can show it with:
- a certificate from a recognised body: the Università per Stranieri of Siena (CILS) or Perugia (CELI), Roma Tre (CERT.IT), the Società Dante Alighieri (PLIDA), the Università per Stranieri “Dante Alighieri” of Reggio Calabria, or a CPIA (adult-education centre);
- a qualification from lower secondary school upwards, obtained in Italian at a recognised institution.
Regional vocational courses are not enough. You are exempt if you signed the integration agreement (Article 4-bis of Legislative Decree 286/1998; the vademecum ties it to people who entered on family reunification and asks you to state the signing details), hold the EU long-term residence permit (or a “CE” one issued from 9 December 2010), or have serious learning limitations certified by a public health body (Constitutional Court judgment 25/2025; a GP’s note is not enough). EU citizens are not exempt.
How do you apply, and which documents are required?
The application is online only, on the Ministry’s portal (cittadinanza.dlci.interno.it), using SPID or CIE (digital identity or electronic ID card). It goes to the prefecture, and you follow it on the portal or in the IO app. You attach:
- an identity document and, according to the prefectures, your residence title;
- your birth certificate and a criminal record certificate from your country of origin and, according to the prefectures, any other country where you have lived (refugees and subsidiary-protection holders do not need the originals);
- your tax returns for the last three years (CU, 730 or Unico), which the prefectures ask for;
- the B1 certificate, unless exempt;
- the receipt for the €250 contribution and a €16 revenue stamp, which the prefectures say are paid on the portal through pagoPA.
Documents issued abroad must be legalised or carry an apostille (an international certificate of authenticity) and be translated into Italian. According to the Sondrio prefecture, certificates from EU countries need no legalisation and a criminal record certificate is valid for 6 months from issue. See apostille and legalisation.
An incomplete or irregular application is rejected with the reason stated. The Catania prefecture says you can resubmit it, reusing valid documents and fees already paid, and that such a rejection cannot be challenged directly because it is not final.
How long does it take, and what does silence mean?
For applications filed from 20 December 2020 the legal time limit (Article 9-ter) is 24 months, extendable to a maximum of 36; for earlier applications it was 48. The Catania prefecture counts it from a complete and regular application. The sources consulted publish no real average processing times.
If the time limit passes without a reply, you have not become a citizen: the decree and the oath are still required. You may ask the administrative court to declare that the authority must decide (an action against silence, Article 31 of the Code of Administrative Procedure), for as long as the failure continues and in any case within one year of the deadline. The court can rule on the merits only where the activity is tied by law or no discretion remains; since this assessment is discretionary, the usual order is to decide, not to grant.
What happens after the decree?
The decree is served through SEND, the digital notification platform; the vademecum says that if you do not download it within 120 days it is no longer available. You then have six months from notification (180 days in the Ministry’s instructions) to swear loyalty to the Republic and obedience to the Constitution and laws before the municipal civil-status officer. Without the oath the decree loses effect, though the prefecture can readmit someone who never learned of it.
You become an Italian citizen the day after the oath. The sources consulted do not describe the later registrations (civil status, anagrafe, new documents): ask the municipality.
What changes for your minor children?
Under Article 14, minor children who live with a parent acquiring citizenship acquire it too. Since Law 74/2025 a child must also have lived legally in Italy for at least two continuous years on the date the parent acquires citizenship (or since birth, if under two); the Ministry’s circular to prefects of 24 July 2025 takes the parent’s oath, not notification of the decree, as the reference. If the condition is missing, the automatic acquisition does not apply, and it is worth checking the alternatives with the firm’s lawyers. After turning 18, someone with another nationality may renounce Italian citizenship.
What can you do if the application is refused?
A refusal is issued by decree. According to the vademecum, you can apply again only after one year from the refusal decree, or five years if the reason is security.
You can challenge a refusal before the administrative court. The deadline to seek annulment is 60 days (Article 29 of the Code of Administrative Procedure); when it starts to run depends on the case. For State acts the court of first instance is, in general, the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Lazio, sitting in Rome (Article 13). Act quickly and speak to an immigration lawyer.
What changed in 2025, and what might change?
Law 74/2025 (in force from 24 May 2025), which converted Decree-Law 36/2025, cut the period from 3 to 2 years for people with a parent or grandparent who is an Italian citizen by birth, separated out those born in Italy (3 years) and added the two-year condition for minor children. Law 63/2025 added a route for relatives of victims of road-infrastructure collapses. The 2026 budget-law circular (no. 889) covers only Article 4(1-bis)(b) declarations (foreign minors with a parent who is an Italian citizen by birth), with a waiver of the €250 contribution for them, but not Article 9.
In October 2026 the Chamber of Deputies is examining bill A.C. 2124 on acquiring and revoking citizenship (language, the oath, grounds for refusal). It is not law and the text may change: until it appears in the Gazzetta Ufficiale, the rules in this guide apply.
Frequently asked questions
How many years do you need for Italian citizenship by residence?
It depends on the category: 10 years for non-EU nationals in general, 4 for EU citizens, 5 for stateless people, refugees and adopted adults, 3 for people born in Italy, and 2 with a parent or grandparent who is or was an Italian citizen by birth. Residence must be legal.
How long does it take, and what if nobody replies?
The legal limit is 24 months, extendable to 36, for applications filed since 20 December 2020. If it passes without a decree, citizenship is not granted automatically: you can sue over the silence before the administrative court. The outcome depends on the competent authorities.
What minimum income is required?
Article 9 sets no figure, but the Ministry’s 2025 vademecum uses reference thresholds: €8,263.31 a year if you are alone, €11,362.05 with a dependent spouse, plus €516.00 per dependent child. Tax returns for the last three years count; savings do not.
Is B1 Italian compulsory for everyone?
No. On the Ministry’s conditions, you are exempt if you signed the integration agreement, hold the EU long-term residence permit, or have serious learning limitations certified by a public health body. EU citizens are not exempt. Everyone else needs B1 evidence.
Official sources
- Citizenship by residence, Article 9 – Ministry of the Interior (Italian text)
- Citizenship: submit your application – Ministry of the Interior (Italian text)
- Ufficio IV – Citizenship – Ministry of the Interior (Italian text)
- Vademecum on granting citizenship – Ministry of the Interior (Italian text)
- Citizenship by residence – Catania prefecture (Italian text)
- Law 74/2025, Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 118 – Gazzetta Ufficiale (Italian text)
- Acquisition and revocation of citizenship, dossier – Chamber of Deputies (Italian text)
- Code of Administrative Procedure, Articles 13, 29 and 31 – Chamber of Deputies (Italian text)
The sources were consulted on 19 October 2026. Prefecture pages are operational and sometimes inconsistent with one another: always check the latest instructions of the competent office.
How can SH Immigration Specialists help?
For Italian citizenship by residence, administrative help can mean checking the requirements, preparing the documents and following the application on the portal: see our Italian citizenship assistance. Legal advice, appeals and representation are handled by the lawyers of the SH Immigration Specialists law firm. The outcome depends on the competent authorities. For an assessment, contact us.
This content provides general information and does not constitute legal advice.
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