Particular attention is paid by Law no. 91/92 to the acquisition of citizenship of a minor as a result of:
a)recognition or judicial declaration of filiation;
b)adoption;
c)naturalisation of the parent.
a) Citizenship by recognition or judicial declaration of filiation
A minor who is recognised as a child of an Italian citizen or who is declared the child of an Italian citizen by a judge is an Italian citizen (art. 2, paragraph 1 of Law no. 91/92).
b) Attribution of citizenship following adoption of a child under the age of 18
A minor foreign national adopted by an Italian citizen acquires Italian citizenship by virtue of a decree issued by the Italian Judicial Authority or, in the case of adoption abroad, by a foreign authority’s decree made effective in Italy through an order (issued by the Juvenile Court “Tribunale per i minorenni”) for transcription in the civil status registers.
If the adoptee is an adult, he or she can acquire Italian citizenship by naturalisation after 5 years of legal residence in Italy after adoption.
c) Attribution of citizenship to minors following the naturalisation of the parents
According to art. 14 of Law no. 91/92 “Minor children of a person who acquires or re-acquires Italian citizenship shall acquire such citizenship if they live with that person, but may renounce it after reaching the age of majority, provided that they have the citizenship of another country. The first sentence applies if, on the date of acquisition or reacquisition of citizenship by the parent, the minor has been legally residing in Italy for at least two continuous years or, if under the age of two, from birth”.
The acquisition, therefore, takes place on the condition of the cohabitation of the minor according to Italian law, provided that the latter resides, on the date of acquisition or reacquisition of citizenship by the parent, for two continuous years in Italy (or from birth, if under two years of age), a requirement introduced by Legislative Decree no. 36 of 28 March 2025, as converted by Law no. 74 of 23 May 2025.
Art. 12 of Presidential Decree no. 572/93 specified that cohabitation must be stable and effective and attested with appropriate documentation, it must also exist at the time of the acquisition or reacquisition of the parent’s citizenship.