The request for registering a birth that occurred abroad of a minor child (i.e., a person under the age of 18) of an Italian citizen is, in its entirety, an application for the recognition of citizenship for the benefit of the minor child.
Italian citizenship is passed from parent to child, up to a maximum of two generations, on the condition that the Italian parent has never renounced their citizenship.
Decree Law No. 36/2025, of 28 March 2025, converted into law on 24 May 2025 (Law No. 74/2025), introduced further requirements for the recognition of citizenship for minor children of Italian citizens.
In particular, according to the new provisions, an Italian citizen automatically transmits citizenship to their minor child born abroad, and the birth can be registered in Italy, without any administrative contribution, by sending all the required documents (certificates must be originals, apostilled by DFAT and translated) by post to the Consulate, if one of the following conditions applies:
- A parent (including adoptive) or a grandparent holds — or must have held at the time of death — exclusively Italian citizenship (i.e., no other citizenship apart from Italian) at the time of the child’s birth.
- A parent (including adoptive) was a resident in Italy for at least two continuous years, after obtaining Italian citizenship but before the birth or adoption of the child (the historical certificate of residence in Italy of the Italian parent is mandatory and must be delivered/sent by post to the Consulate together with all the other documentation necessary for minor’s registration).
- The minor has no other citizenship and cannot have any other citizenship.
New Cases for Acquisition of Citizenship Abroad (Minor Children of Italian Citizens Who Do NOT Automatically Transmit Italian Citizenship)
In certain limited cases, established by Paragraph 1-bis of Article 4 of Law No. 91/1992 and by Article 1-ter of Decree Law No. 36/2025 as converted into law, minor children born abroad to an Italian parent who does NOT automatically transmit citizenship (i.e., those NOT falling into one of the three cases listed above) may obtain Italian citizenship in two instances (upon payment of a Euros 250 contribution in favor of the Italian Ministry of the Interior and ONLY by attending in person at the Consular Office, following the instructions and within the deadlines that will be notified):
- First Case — All of the following requirements must be met SIMOULTANEOUSLY:
- At least one parent is an Italian citizen by birth (even if holding another citizenship).
- Both parents must sign a formal declaration of intent for the child to acquire Italian citizenship WITHIN ONE YEAR FROM THE BIRTH of the child. The declaration must be formal and made in person at the Consular Office.
- Second Case — A Transitional Rule, applies if ALL the following conditions are met SIMOULTANEOUSLY:
- The applicants were minors as of the date of entry into force of the conversion of Decree Law No. 36/2025 (i.e., individuals under the age of eighteen years old as of 24 May 2025).
- The applicants are children of an Italian citizen by birth, recognized as an Italian citizen based on an administrative or judicial application submitted by 23:59 (Rome time) on 27 March 2025, or based on an appointment booked by that date.
- The parents of the minors must submit a formal declaration of intent for the acquisition of Italian citizenship by 31 May 2026. The declaration must be made in person at the Consular Office.
- If the person concerned, a minor as of 24 May 2025, turns eighteen in the meantime, the declaration must be submitted personally by the person by the same deadline.
NOTE: The two new cases described above represent an acquisition of citizenship “by benefit of law”: the minor does NOT obtain citizenship by birth or iure sanguinis. In other words, pursuant to Article 15 of Law No. 91/1992, the minor acquires citizenship from the day after the declaration made by both the parents.
ATTENTION:
The municipality may refuse to register the birth of a minor if the parents’ marriage has not yet been registered. Therefore, it is highly recommended that applicants send the documents related to their marriage at the same time as submitting those for the child’s birth registration.
The registration of the birth of minors adopted abroad follows a different procedure. In this case, applicants should contact the Consular Office in Brisbane directly.