[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Italy’s largest city, Rome is famous worldwide for its art, culture, food, and ancient history. But Rome is also popular with applicants for Italian dual citizenship. With its own dedicated citizenship office and well-defined processes, Rome is an excellent choice for filing your Italian citizenship application. Here’s everything you’ll need to know to apply for Italian dual citizenship in Rome.
Before You Leave for Italy
Try and book a direct flight from the U.S. to Italy without layovers in another Schengen country. The stamp in your passport will be enough to show your date of entry into Italy. When you are applying for Italian dual citizenship in Italy, you must have proof of when you entered the country.
However, if you are unable to fly directly to Italy and need to land in another Schegen country first, there is a solution. Within 8 days of your arrival, you must file a dichiarazione di presenza (declaration of presence) at your local questura. This will serve to show your date of arrival in Italy.
I recommend going with the form already completed, plus a copy of your passport (your ID page, as well as the page showing your stamp of entry into another Schengen country).
Step 1: Presenting Your Documents
When you apply for Italian dual citizenship in Rome, they ask you to present your documents first. Normally in most towns, you would file for residency first but… hey, if it ain’t broken in Rome, don’t fix it!
The first thing you should do is go to the citizenship office. It is located on the second floor at Via Petroselli 50. There, take a number and wait your turn. If the office isn’t busy, they’ll look at your documents right away. If it’s busy, they’ll give you an appointment to come back within 7 days.
When looking at your documents, they’ll ask for your passport with the entry stamp (or the declaration of presence). I recommend bringing copies of both to save time. Then, they’ll look at your documents in reverse chronological order from your last Italian-born ancestor to you. If everything is in order, they’ll keep your documents and give you a receipt.
You use this receipt to start the residency process.
Important: for Rome, bring translations authenticated by your consulate back home. Alternatively, you can bring translations that have been sworn in an Italian court.
Documents You’ll Need to Apply for Italian Dual Citizenship in Rome
Rome follows Circolare K. 28 del 1991, meaning that they don’t require any documents than those spelled out by law. These include:
- Birth, marriage, and naturalization documents for your Italian born ancestor, your intermediate ancestors, and you
- No divorce records
- No death records
Step 2: The Codice Fiscale
In Italy, a codice fiscale is akin to a social security number. You use it for everything from signing up for healthcare to purchasing televisions, so it’s highly important.
You must obtain a codice fiscal after handing in your documents and before applying for residency.
To do so, go to the Agenzia delle Entrate office at Via Ippolito Nievo, 48 in the Trastevere neighborhood. You must bring your passport and a photocopy.
You’ll fill out a form and they’ll give you a number. Once called, you’ll get the codice fiscale. This is an easy process that you can finish in one afternoon.
Step 3: Residency
In Rome you can establish residency in two ways:
- Valid rental contract registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate
- A letter of hospitality (dichiarazione di ospitalità) from your landlord
Since Rome is a very large city, it has municipalities. To figure out which municipio your address is in, type the name of your street in Google plus the term “municipio Roma.” For example, “via Ippolito Nievo municipio Roma.” You need to go to the anagrafe office in your municipio to file residency.
In Rome, each municipality is identified with Roman numerals, i.e. Municipio I, Municipio II, etc. all the way up to Municipio XV.
There is an app called TuPassithat’s very handy for those wishing to apply for Italian dual citizenship in Rome. Sign up using your codice fiscale to get a residency appointment in your corresponding municipality. Otherwise, you can always go to the office yourself and get your appointment in person.
Step 4: The Vigile Visit
After you file for residency, the municipio will send an officer (vigile) to your home. His job is to check that you are actually living where you say you are.
According to Italian law, Rome can take up to 45 days to send a vigile. If no vigile is sent, you are considered an automatic resident after the 45thday elapses.
Note that you do not have to sit at home looking out your window for the vigile the whole time! They know you have a life to live and will leave your apartment to do daily tasks. If the vigile comes, he will leave a note with a phone number. At that point, you can call and reschedule.
Important: After the vigile visits, wait 5 to 10 days for your information to be uploaded into the system and the residency has been finalized.
Step 5: Make Payment
After the visit and you wait 5-10 days, you can go back to the citizenship office in Via Petroselli to check that your residency is finalized.
If it is, they will send off your application for processing. At this point, you’ll make a 30 euro payment for the administration of your application. The workers will then send a registered e-mail to all your consulates back home to request that they check whether you or your ancestors renounced the right to have Italian dual citizenship.
Be sure to leave an e-mail address and phone number where they can contact you to let you know when your citizenship is recognized.
They will then give you a receipt showing your application is being processed.
Step 6: Waiting
At this point, there’s nothing to do but wait!
If you are getting close to your 90 days, you’ll need to obtain your permesso di soggiorno in order to stay in Italy legally past the 90thday.
Once your citizenship is ready, the office will contact you. Then, you’ll get an appointment to have your birth certificate transcribed in Italy which should take about a week to do. After that, you can obtain your Italian identity card.
Identity Card (Carta d’identità)
Since 2017, the identity card is plastic and looks like a credit card or driver’s license. You can get an identity card appointment through TuPassi. Italy no longer issues paper identity cards (unless it is a rush and you are leaving the country soon).
You can use your identity card to travel within the European Union.
Passport
You can obtain your passport from the questura (police precinct) closest to where you have residency. In Rome, you do not need an appointment.
Validity of Your Documents
Rome does not accept documents that are more than 1 year old.
The only date that counts here is the date of issue, not the date of apostilling. If your documents are older than 1 year but were apostilled the day before you arrived in Rome, it will not work. The documents themselves must not have been issued more than 1 year before your application.
Do you want to apply for Italian dual citizenship in Rome? We can accompany you through each step. Contact us for more information.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]