Living in Italy for a certain number of years can make you eligible for citizenship (update to October 2025)
How many years of residency do I need?
Applications for the naturalization can be filed:
- after 10 years of legal residence in Italy.
This requirement can be reduced to:
- 2 years: for foreigners, whose father or mother or one of the ascendants in the second straight line is or was a national by birth;
Example: Ettore’s grandfather was an Italian citizen. Ettore has now been living in Italy for 2 years. He can apply for Italian citizenship at the relevant Italian Prefecture where he has established his residency.
- 3 years: for those born in Italy by foreign parents
Example: Maria was born in Italy but moved abroad with her family at the age of five. Since she did not maintain continuous residence in Italy until the age of 18, she lost the automatic right to claim citizenship. However, she may still apply for Italian citizenship after completing three years of legal residence in Italy.
- 4 years: for EU citizens
Example: Isabelle is a Belgian citizen and has been living in Florence, Italy for four and a half years. Isabelle can apply for Italian citizenship at the relevant Prefecture (Prefettura) where she has established her residency.
- 5 years: for stateless persons or refugees, as well as for legal-age foreigners adopted by Italian citizens. Adult children of naturalized parents can be included in this category.
- No period of residence: for foreigners who have worked for the Italian State for a period of at least 5 years, even abroad.
Residency: what does it mean?
Residency is the formal registration with the Vital Statistics Office (Anagrafe) in the city where the person is domiciled. Residency must be uninterrupted, if the person leaves Italy and residency is cancelled, previous years spent in Italy do not count.
Residency registration is an indispensable and essential condition for obtaining residency. Applicant cannot prove in any other ways of having lived in Italy without being registered with a Comune.
You can read more here –> What does it mean “residenza”?
Keep your permit of stay valid!
Residenza (registration with the City Hall) is different from the Police permit (permesso di soggiorno). Foreigners living in Italy must mandatorily:
- apply for their Police permit within 8 days from their arrival in Italy;
- keep their Police permit valid (Permesso di Soggiorno) and extend it before the expiry date;
- They should be aware that spending time outside the country may cause the revocation/cancellation of their permit.
For what concerns the last point:
- the permit cannot be renewed or extended if the holder has stayed out of Italy — consecutively — for more than 6 months; or
- in case of two year permits, if the holder has stayed out of Italy — consecutively — for more than half the validity of the permit (e.g. 12 consecutive months for a permit with a validity of 24 months)
- CE long term residence permit (permesso di soggiorno Ue per soggiornanti di lungo periodo) is revoked if the holder leaves the EU for 12 consecutive months or leaves Italy for more than 6 years
- Permit for family member of an EU citizen (Carta di soggiorno) can keep its validity when the holder leaves Italy for periods of no longer than 6 months in a year or for longer periods in case of required military service. The permit keeps its validity even if the holder leaves Italy for up to 12 months in the following cases: pregnancy, maternity, illness, study or professional reasons, or work assignment reasons.
What else do I need, other than residency?
The applicant must prove:
- Absence of criminal records and in countries where applicant has lived by the age of 14 and for which he/she holds dual citizenship.
- Proof of having produced an income in Italy and paid taxes in Italy for at least the last 3 years before submitting the application (for the last 2 years for those, whose father/mother or one of the ascendants in the second straight line is or was a national by birth)
- Language and culture test, level B1
Below a general list of the documents required (to be customized case by case)
FAQs — Frequently asked questions
𝟭. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱? 𝗡𝗢
𝟮. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗼𝗯𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 ? 𝗬𝗘𝗦
𝟯. 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁? 𝗬𝗘𝗦
𝟰. 𝗗𝗼 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? 𝗬𝗘𝗦
𝟱. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗬𝗘𝗦
6. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀? YES, They will be uploaded, and physically submitted only upon request.
7. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲? 3 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀
8. 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? 𝗡𝗢
For further information
- consult our website or
- write an email at citizenship@mazzeschi.it
