Mazzeschi

What’s new about Italian Citizenship rules? B1 language requirement

Mar 05, 2019

Citizenship law has recently been amended. The main changes regard citizenship by marriage and naturalization. Applicants are now required to have and to prove “an adequate knowledge” of the Italian language.

Interestingly to note, holders of an EU long-term residence permit (Permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo) and those who comply with the Integration Agreement provisions are exempt from the language requirement.

The new law (n. 113/2018) defines “adequate knowledge” as having reached Level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – CEFRL (threshold or intermediate level).

Applicants are required to prove that they meet the language requirement by means of:

• a certificate/diploma issued by an Italian school; or
• a certificate of Italian as a foreign language issued by an approved institute. Only certificates released by the following institutions are accepted:
  • University for Foreigners of Siena (CILS Certification)
  • University for Foreigners of Perugia (CELI Certification)
  • University Roma 3 (cert.it Certification)
  • Dante Alighieri Society (PLIDA Certification).

At this link, it is possible to check the list of institutes that can issue the required certificates: https://www.linguaitaliana.esteri.it/lingua/corsi/certificazioni/ricerca.do

Circular letter n. 6686/2019 has clarified that all citizenship applications by residency and by marriage submitted starting from December 5^th, 2018 onwards that do not comply with the language requirement, will be rejected.

Any questions about Italian citizenship? Contact us for an initial assessment by filling out an online form, or send us via email to citizenship@mazzeschi.it .