{"id":5187,"date":"2025-07-03T14:31:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T21:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/?page_id=5187"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:52:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:52:01","slug":"acquisition-of-italian-citizenship-by-statute-minor-children-born-abroad","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/servizi-consolari-e-visti\/servizi-per-il-cittadino-straniero\/cittadinanza\/citizenship-and-adoption\/acquisition-of-italian-citizenship-by-statute-minor-children-born-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Acquisition of Italian Citizenship by statute (minor children born abroad)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are two cases, provided for by Article 4, paragraph 1-bis of Law no. 91\/1992 and by Article 1, paragraph 1-ter of Decree-Law no. 36\/2025, in which\u00a0minor children born abroad<\/strong>\u00a0to an Italian parent who does not automatically transmit citizenship can acquire Italian citizenship.<\/p>\n

The minor benefiting from this provision will\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0be considered\u00a0a citizen by birth<\/strong>\u00a0or iure sanguinis (by right of blood).<\/p>\n

According to Article 15 of Law no. 91\/1992, the minor does not acquire citizenship from the day of birth, but from the day following the fulfillment of the legal conditions.<\/p>\n

First Case: Article 4, Paragraph 1-bis of Law no. 91\/1992\u00a0<\/strong>the following requirements must\u00a0both<\/strong>\u00a0be met:
\n\u2022\u00a0One of the parents must be an Italian citizen by birth<\/strong>. This excludes: citizens by naturalization (Article 9 of Law no. 91\/1992); citizens by residence or public or military service (Article 4 of Law no. 91\/1992); citizens by marriage (Article 5 of Law no. 91\/1992 or Article 10 of Law no. 555\/1912); citizens by reacquisition (Articles 13 or 17 of Law no. 91\/1992); citizens by\u00a0iuris communicatione<\/em>\u00a0(Article 14 of Law no. 91\/1992);
\n\u2022\u00a0Both parents or legal guardians<\/strong>\u00a0(including the foreign parent or legal guardian) must submit\u00a0a declaration of intent to acquire citizenship within three years from the child\u2019s birth<\/strong>\u00a0(or from a later date when the child\u2019s filiation to the Italian citizen is established, or when adoption by an Italian citizen is finalized during the minor\u2019s age).
\nIf recognition of the child by both parents who are Italian by birth occurs at different times, the three-year deadline will start from the first recognition, as the first recognition already transmits citizenship.
\nHowever, if the foreign parent (or an Italian citizen not by birth but by another title) recognizes the child first, the three-year period starts from the recognition by the second parent who is an Italian citizen by birth.<\/p>\n

The declaration of intent to acquire citizenship must be formal and made in person before a vital records clerk.<\/strong>\u00a0If the parents do not submit the declaration simultaneously, the legal requirement is considered satisfied on the date the second parent\u2019s declaration is submitted.<\/p>\n

If filiation (including adoptive) is established with only one person (or if the other parent is deceased), the declaration of just one parent will suffice.<\/p>\n

If the minor establishes legal residence in Italy, the declaration may also be submitted after the three-year deadline, but the minor must have resided continuously in Italy for at least two years after the declaration is submitted by the parents.<\/p>\n

Second Case: Article 1, Paragraph 1-ter of Decree-Law no. 36\/2025<\/strong>. This applies when all the following conditions are met:
\n\u2022 The person is\u00a0a minor on the date of entry into force of the conversion law<\/strong>, meaning those who had not reached the age of 18 by\u00a0May 24, 2025<\/strong>.
\n\u2022 They are\u00a0children of Italian citizens by birth who are in the conditions provided for in letters a), a-bis), and b) of Article 3-bis of Law no. 91\/1992.\u00a0<\/strong>In other words, their parents must have been recognized as Italian citizens:
\n\u2022 Through an administrative or judicial application submitted by 11:59 PM (Rome time) on March 27, 2025
\n\u2022 Or through an application submitted by appointment confirmed by the Consular Office or the Municipality within the same date.
\n\u2022 The declaration of the parents or guardian must be submitted to the Consular Office\u00a0no later than May 31, 2029<\/strong>. If the minor on May 24, 2025, becomes an adult in the meantime, the declaration must be submitted personally by them within the same deadline.<\/p>\n

The declarations must be made in person at the Consular Office before a vital records clerk.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please visit the Vital Records page of this website:Dichiarazione di volont\u00e0 \u2013 Consolato Generale d’Italia a San Francisco<\/a>.
\n<\/strong>
\nThe following documents must also be submitted when making the declaration:
\n\u2022 Identity documents of the applicant and the child
\n\u2022 Proof of residence in the consular district
\n\u2022 Other documents listed in the relevant declaration form.
\nFor Italian citizens registered with AIRE in the consular district of residence, the certificate of Italian citizenship by birth of the father or mother may be replaced by a self-declaration.<\/p>\n

The above mentioned declarations, made after January 1st, 2026, are free of charge.<\/b><\/p>\n

Waiver of Citizenship
\n<\/strong>Once of legal age, the person who has acquired Italian citizenship in the above ways may renounce it, provided that the renunciation does not result in statelessness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are two cases, provided for by Article 4, paragraph 1-bis of Law no. 91\/1992 and by Article 1, paragraph 1-ter of Decree-Law no. 36\/2025, in which\u00a0minor children born abroad\u00a0to an Italian parent who does not automatically transmit citizenship can acquire Italian citizenship. The minor benefiting from this provision will\u00a0not\u00a0be considered\u00a0a citizen by birth\u00a0or iure […]","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":5269,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5187","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5187"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7139,"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5187\/revisions\/7139"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conssanfrancisco.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}