Why you shouldn't wait to apply for Italian citizenship by marriage

Local Italy

01-07-2025

If you're a foreign national married to an Italian, you're currently entitled to apply for Italian citizenship in your own right once enough time has passed.
But a draft law from Italy's hard-right coalition government could increase processing times and block non-residents from applying altogether as part of an ongoing crackdown on citizenship acquisition.
Here's what you need to know if you're thinking of applying for Italian citizenship through marriage.
What are the current rules?
Under current Italian law, the spouse of an Italian national can apply for citizenship after two years of marriage if they are resident in Italy, or three years if they live outside of Italy.
For couples who have a child together, the waiting time is reduced by half.
Applications must be made via the interior ministry's online portal, and most applicants must submit proof of Italian language proficiency at the B1 (low-intermediate) level, as well as a birth certificate, marriage certificate and criminal record check, along with sworn translations in Italian.
How could the rules change?
In March, Italy's government issued an emergency decree that imposed major restrictions on who can apply for Italian citizenship by ancestry. The decree was ratified by parliament (with some changes) in May.
When the decree was first announced in March, the government also announced that it was putting forward a bill that would further restrict access to citizenship.
Under the proposed rule changes, 'spouses of Italian citizens may continue to obtain naturalisation but only if they reside in Italy.'
That means that if the bill becomes law, non-resident spouses of Italian nationals will no longer be eligible to apply for citizenship unless they relocate to Italy.
The bill also proposes raising the maximum processing time for all citizenship applications to four years.
When might these changes happen?
The bill – known as DDL 1450 – was presented to the Senate for review in April.
As of early July, it hasn't yet been debated by Italy's parliament, and there are currently no publicly available details on when this might happen.
Under Italy's perfect bicameral system, a bill must be approved by both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate before it passes into law – a process that usually takes several months, and sometimes even years.
However, it can take less time if the provisions are straightforward and both houses are in agreement from the start – and given that the government enjoys a comfortable majority in both the lower and upper house and seems to be highly motivated about restricting access to Italian citizenship, this is very possible.
It's worth bearing in mind that once you've submitted an Italian citizenship application, it should be processed under the rules in place at the time, even if they change shortly afterwards.
That means that if you already qualify to apply for marriage-based Italian citizenship, it's worth filing your application as soon as possible to avoid having to wait an extra year to have it processed; or worse, if you're a non-resident, being disqualified altogether.