Citizenship by “benefit of law” (children born abroad)

ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP VIA “BENEFICIO DI LEGGE” (BY LAW) FOR ABROAD-BORN MINOR CHILDREN

NON-AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP AT BIRTH THROUGH TRANSCRIPTION OF THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE

There are two cases (Art. 4 L. 91/1992 and Art. 1, co 1-ter D.L. 36/2025) in which a child born abroad from an Italian citizen, who does not automatically transmit citizenship, may acquire Italian citizenship.

In this cases the child will not be a citizen by birth or iure sanguinis.

According to Art. 15 L. 91/1992, the minor does not acquire citizenship from the day of birth, but from the day following the assessments completion.

FROM JANUARY 1, 2026 BOTH CASES ARE EXEMPT FROM PAYEMENT 

In the first case (art. 4, co. 1-bis L. 91/1992) the following conditions must both be met:

• one of the parents is a citizen by birth. Therefore, cases of citizens by naturalization (Art. 9 L. 91/1992) or “by law” (Art. 4 L. 91/1992) or by marriage (Art. 5 L. 91/1992 or Art. 10 L. 555/1912) or by re-acquisition (Artt. 13 or 17 L. 91/1992) or iuris communicatione (art. 14 L. 91/1992) are excluded.
• both parents (including the foreign parent) or the guardian submit a declaration of intent to acquire citizenship within three years from birth (modulo dichiarazione 1) or from the date following the filiation day by the Italian citizen or from the date on which adoption by the Italian citizen is decided during the child’s minority. In the event of recognition of filiation at a later date by parents who are both Italian citizens by birth, the three years term will run from the first recognition (since the first recognition already entails the transmission of citizenship). If the recognition is made first by the foreign parent (or by the Italian parent that has acquired the citizenship not by birth but in a different way), the three years term will start from the recognition made by the second parent, citizen by birth;

In the second case (art. 1, co 1-ter D.L. 36/2025) the following conditions must all be met and the declaration must be presented by 23.59 of May 31, 2026 CEST.

• minors who had not reached the age of 18 on May 24, 2025;
• children of citizens by birth who meet the conditions set forth in Art. 3-bis, a), a-bis), and b) L. 91/1992: parents must be recognized as citizens based on an administrative or judicial application submitted by 11:59 PM (Rome time) on 27^th March 2025, or based on an application submitted by appointment communicated by the Consular Office or the Municipality by the same date;
• declaration (modulo dichiarazione 2) of the parents or guardian must be submitted, only at the Embassy in Wellington, by 31st May 2026. If someone, minor on 24th May 2025,in the meantime becomes an over the age of 18, the declaration must be submitted by himself by the same deadline;

Declarations must be made in person at the Consular Office before employees delegated to Civil Status functions.

In both cases of non-automatic citizenship, the following documents must be submitted:

1. Original copy of the Birth Certificate issued by Births, Marriages and Deaths, apostilled and translated by the NZ Department of Internal Affairs or by a translator registered with the New Zealand Society of Translators & Interpreters;
2. Declaration of intent;
3. Full birth certificate with annotation of your citizenship (showing the date and the authority that recognized you the citizenship) of the father or mother who are citizens by birth: you can require it to your municipality or to the Consular Authority that recognized the parents’ citizenship;
4. additional documentation proving that one of the parents is an Italian citizen (Art. 3-bis, co 1, a), a-bis) or b), L. 91/1992);
5. (If applicable) documentation proving the status as guardian or sole parent of the minor.

The declaration of intent to acquire citizenship must be formal and made in person, in the presence of an employee delegated to exercise civil status functions. If parents do not make the declaration at the same time, the legal requirement is considered satisfied on the date on which the declaration of the second parent is presented. If the filiation (including adoptive) is established with respect to only one person (or if the other parent is deceased), the declaration of only one parent will be sufficient.

Please note that this declaration is only possible for foreign minors born from a parent who is an Italian citizen by birth (jure sanguinis).

The declaration of intent must be made by both parents in person. The appointment will be arranged after sending an email to wellington.embassy@esteri.it, in which all documents supporting the request must be attached. Only after a positive verification the appointment will be confirmed.

The interested minor may renounce Italian citizenship acquired in the ways indicated above upon reaching adulthood, provided that this does not result in statelessness.

If the interested party, minor on May 24, 2025, becomes an adult in the meantime, the declaration must be submitted in person by May 31, 2026.

REGISTRATION OF CERTIFICATES NOT ISSUED IN NEW ZEALAND 

Before posting Certificates not issued in New Zealand to this Embassy, please verify the required legalisation/apostille for the Certificate with the Italian diplomatic/consular authorities in the country where the Certificate was issued.

Cerificates issued in a language other than English must be directly translated into Italian (double translations are not acceptable; i.e. from Spanish to English and then from English to Spanish); such translations will then have to be apostilled (if possible) or verified by the Italian diplomatic/consular authorities in the country where the Certificate was issued.

ITALIAN CERTIFICATES

Italian Certificates of Births, Marriages and Deaths can only be issued by the relevant Municipality in Italy following a request from the interested party.