How to Apply for an Italian Passport
How to Apply for an Italian Passport
An Italian passport is available only to Italian citizens. Applications are submitted at the local police headquarters (Questura) in Italy or at an Italian consulate abroad. Biometric data collection is mandatory.
Applicants must book an appointment and present all required documents in original form.
Italian Passport Requirements for Foreigners
Foreigners may apply for an Italian passport only after acquiring Italian citizenship. This may occur through descent (jure sanguinis), naturalization, marriage, or residency-based eligibility.
After citizenship recognition, applicants must meet standard passport requirements, including valid identification and residency documentation where applicable.
Italian Passport Applica Get Italian Passport
The Global Passport Power Rank 2022 developed by Passport Index, the leading global mobility intelligence platform, ranks the Italian passport in the second category of the most powerful passports, allowing visa-free entrance to 113 countries and scoring higher than the U.S. passport, which is third in the passport power ranks and allows visa-free entrance to 107 countries. Aside from allowing visa-free entrance to a number of countries, an Italian passport enables you to live, work and study in any EU member state without any restrictions.
Who can apply for an Italian passport?
By law, an Italian passport can be issued upon request to an Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel.
Italian citizens who were born in Italy as well as individuals who obtained Italian citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis), by marriage or by naturalization are eligible to apply for an Italian passport. Individuals who renounced their Italian citizenship and who later re-acquired it can also apply for an Italian passport. How to Apply for an Italian Passport How to Apply for an Italian Passport
Applying for a passport in Italy
If you are an Italian citizen residing in Italy or if you applied for Italian citizenship by descent directly in Italy and have decided to continue residing in the country you can apply for a passport at the local “Questura” (police headquarters). The same applies if you have claimed Italian citizenship via a court case and you reside in Italy, if you have applied for Italian citizenship by residency or if you have applied for Italian citizenship by marriage and you and your Italian spouse live in Italy.
Via an Italian consulate
If you have applied for Italian citizenship jure sanguinis (by descent) via an Italian consulate, after having submitted your citizenship application comprising all the certified copies of your family’s vital records (birth, marriage, death and divorce certificates, if applicable, and your ancestor’s naturalization records or proof that your ancestor was never naturalized) the citizenship clerk will evaluate your claim to Italian citizenship, and if it is approved you will be officially recognized as an Italian citizen and you will be registered with the A.I.R.E. (Registry of Italian Citizens Residing Abroad. How to Apply for an Italian Passport How to Apply for an Italian Passport How to Apply for an Italian Passport
Only when your AIRE[2] registration is complete will you be able to apply for an Italian passport. This entails booking an appointment at the Italian consulate that covers the jurisdiction where you reside and submitting a duly completed and signed application form.
Similarly, individuals who obtained Italian citizenship by descent while residing in Italy can decide to apply for an Italian passport via an Italian consulate in the U.S., however they can do so only after registering with the AIRE.
If you have applied for Italian citizenship via a 1948 case, and you reside in the U.S., you will need to register the final judgment granting you citizenship through the Italian consulate that covers the jurisdiction where you reside.
The consulate will then send the certified copy of the judgment, together with a certified copy of your vital records (namely your birth and marriage certificates, which the court will provide you with after your claim to citizenship has been approved) to the municipality in Italy where your ancestor was born. Finally, you will be able to apply for a passport at your Italian consulate as soon as the municipality in Italy registers your records and you have registered with the AIRE.
If you have applied for Italian citizenship by marriage and you reside abroad, you will need to apply for an Italian passport via the Italian consulate that covers the jurisdiction where you reside.
What documents do you need in order to apply?
Italian Passport Application from Abroad
In order to apply for a passport, you will need to book an appointment via the Italian consulate that covers the jurisdiction where you reside, if you live outside Italy, or via the “Questura” (local police headquarters) if you reside in Italy. An in-person appointment will be required because electronic passports now require fingerprinting. Please note that children under twelve do not need to take fingerprints in order to be issued a passport.
In order to apply you will need the following:
- a valid form of ID (passport or driver’s license)
- your old Italian passport – if you are renewing your passport
- an application form, which is provided by the Questura or by the Italian consulate
- 2 passport size photographs with white background
- a consent form (if you are applying for a minor child’s passport)*
- a passport fee
It generally takes between one and six weeks to be issued a passport.
* As per Italian law, if you have minor children, you will need your spouse’s formal consent to apply for an Italian passport as well as for your children’s passports. Contact Us Today to start
Italian citizens residing abroad may apply at an Italian consulate. Processing times vary by country and consulate workload, so advance planning is essential.
