# Italian naturalization process for US citizens



## Zen-Ghost

Hello all,

We have been working to establish my wife's dual US-Italian citizenship by _jus sanguinis_, however we have been unable to obtain a marriage certificate for her grandparents from New York, and fear it is simply lost over time.

Absent _jus sanguinis_ our intention is to retire to Italy with an Extended Stay Visa.

My questions are: For two US citizens seeking naturalization my understanding is that we are required to live in Italy for ten years.

1.) *Is the ten year figure correct for non-EU citizens?*

2.) *How is this documented?* Do we file some type of "Letter of Intent" with Italian immigration at the beginning of our Italian residency that we intend to seek naturalization or latter present ten years worth of Permesso di Soggiorno certificates and rental agreements with our naturalization application?

3.) *How continuous must the residency be?* Could we inadvertently lose our acquired time toward naturalization? Does leaving Italy for (lets arbitrarily say) 30 days (or some other length of time) to visit the US or another country "resets the clock" back to zero? Is there a required minimum length of time required to be living in Italy each year?

Thank you for any help or advice you may offer, especially from anyone who has completed the naturalization process themselves.

Best,
Alan


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## Guest

Zen-Ghost said:


> Hello all,
> 
> We have been working to establish my wife's dual US-Italian citizenship by _jus sanguinis_, however we have been unable to obtain a marriage certificate for her grandparents from New York, and fear it is simply lost over time.
> 
> Absent _jus sanguinis_ our intention is to retire to Italy with an Extended Stay Visa.
> 
> My questions are: For two US citizens seeking naturalization my understanding is that we are required to live in Italy for ten years.
> 
> 1.) *Is the ten year figure correct for non-EU citizens?*
> 
> 2.) *How is this documented?* Do we file some type of "Letter of Intent" with Italian immigration at the beginning of our Italian residency that we intend to seek naturalization or latter present ten years worth of Permesso di Soggiorno certificates and rental agreements with our naturalization application?
> 
> 3.) *How continuous must the residency be?* Could we inadvertently lose our acquired time toward naturalization? Does leaving Italy for (lets arbitrarily say) 30 days (or some other length of time) to visit the US or another country "resets the clock" back to zero? Is there a required minimum length of time required to be living in Italy each year?
> 
> Thank you for any help or advice you may offer, especially from anyone who has completed the naturalization process themselves.
> 
> Best,
> Alan


Hi again!

1) 10 Years is the standard rule for non-EU citizens, yes. However, your wife might be able to apply after three years' residence if you are claiming Italian citizenship from her grandparents. You can't go further back than grandparents to great grandparents though. 

2) I believe that you just apply after 10 year's residence. I don't believe that you have to declare at the beginning of your residency your intention to apply for citizenship. Hopefully someone on this board who was naturalised as a citizen can give you more details.

3) This is an interesting question. In some countries like the US and UK you have to have not left for more than a calendar year in a five year period. As far as I know, Italy does not have such a rule and short visits should most definitely be allowed. I wouldn't push this though - I mean, if you are only in Italy 6 months and exactly 1 day each year just to claim residency they might raise some eyebrows I would think. As long as your official residency remains in Italy and you aren't gone for huge amounts of time, you should be ok. The only other requirements are that you have no criminal record and are financially independent, which you would have already proven to get a retirement visa. I don't know about language requirements, but I would imagine that after living in Italy for ten years that anyone would be able to speak alright!

All in all It would definitely be easier to get jure sanguinis citizenship recognised, but there are some caveats here. First, is your wife tracing through her father or mother? If it is through her mother and she was born before 1948 the citizenship is not allowed to be passed down. The other rule besides requiring an otherwise patrilineal descent is that having grandparents or great grandparents who were born in Italy is not enough - They need to have been citizens at the time that her father or mother were born. If she definitely qualifies maybe you could try to locate a church record of their marriage if they had a religious ceremony? Do you know where it took place? Otherwise, why is the record missing in New York? 

I just mention the above since you don't mention how far along you are in your research. If she doesn't qualify under the above rules but one of her grandparents was born in Italy then you can apply for expedited naturalisation after 3 years. You would then be able to apply for quicker Italian citizenship under jure matrimonius rules if you are interested.

In the worst case scenario you shouldn't have any problems getting a visa to retire in Italy and applying for citizenship after 10 years!

I wish you the best of luck with the whole process however you go about it - I have some relatives and friends who have become Italian citizens or got their spouses naturalised and the only advice that I can offer is that good things take time, since in Italy everything will take longer than you are used to

Best


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## Zen-Ghost

DonPomodoro said:


> Hi again!
> 
> 1) 10 Years is the standard rule for non-EU citizens, yes. However, your wife might be able to apply after three years' residence if you are claiming Italian citizenship from her grandparents. You can't go further back than grandparents to great grandparents though.
> 
> 2) I believe that you just apply after 10 year's residence. I don't believe that you have to declare at the beginning of your residency your intention to apply for citizenship. Hopefully someone on this board who was naturalised as a citizen can give you more details.
> 
> 3) This is an interesting question. In some countries like the US and UK you have to have not left for more than a calendar year in a five year period. As far as I know, Italy does not have such a rule and short visits should most definitely be allowed. I wouldn't push this though -
> . . .
> 
> I wish you the best of luck with the whole process however you go about it - I have some relatives and friends who have become Italian citizens or got their spouses naturalised and the only advice that I can offer is that good things take time, since in Italy everything will take longer than you are used to
> 
> Best


Don,

Thank you again for the help. We have checked with the State of New York records, each of the five boroughs of NYC, and the courthouse where the civil marriage took place with no luck. Our concern is the marriage certificate is misfiled, lost, or destroyed. I wish it was a religious ceremony with the back-up documentation at a parish.

Alan


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## New Jersey Girl

*Italian Citizenship through Blood*



Zen-Ghost said:


> Hello all,
> 
> We have been working to establish my wife's dual US-Italian citizenship by _jus sanguinis_, however we have been unable to obtain a marriage certificate for her grandparents from New York, and fear it is simply lost over time.
> 
> Absent _jus sanguinis_ our intention is to retire to Italy with an Extended Stay Visa.
> 
> My questions are: For two US citizens seeking naturalization my understanding is that we are required to live in Italy for ten years.
> 
> 1.) *Is the ten year figure correct for non-EU citizens?*
> 
> 2.) *How is this documented?* Do we file some type of "Letter of Intent" with Italian immigration at the beginning of our Italian residency that we intend to seek naturalization or latter present ten years worth of Permesso di Soggiorno certificates and rental agreements with our naturalization application?
> 
> 3.) *How continuous must the residency be?* Could we inadvertently lose our acquired time toward naturalization? Does leaving Italy for (lets arbitrarily say) 30 days (or some other length of time) to visit the US or another country "resets the clock" back to zero? Is there a required minimum length of time required to be living in Italy each year?
> 
> Thank you for any help or advice you may offer, especially from anyone who has completed the naturalization process themselves.
> 
> Best,
> Alan


Alan,
Try this website: Italianamerica.org. I have not used them yet, but I have spoken to numerous people who have used this service and was very satisfied. You pay for what you need. They have americans in the us and italians in Italy doing the leg work for you. I believe they can help your wife.
Nina


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## Guest

I second what New Jersey Girl recommends - Don't give up since getting Italian citizenship recognised jure sanguinis would be much easier for you both in the long run. There must be tons of people in the New York area who apply to have their citizenship recognised, so a specialist company probably has lots of experience dealing with the New York bureaucracy and finding documents would be very useful. 

One thing I would say though is that you can apply for citizenship jure sanguinis abroad _and _in Italy. If you are planning to retire soon there is no reason to hold off until your wife's citizenship is recognised since this could take ages (I have a cousin in the US who did this and it took 2 years from appointment to having his first passport in hand). Conversely, in Italy it would take about 5-6 months depending on the Comune where you are residing.


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