Italian Citizenship through Residency – Timing

Question: When is the best time to apply for Italian citizenship by descent through residency?

Answer: Ideally, between July 3^rd and October 15^th. Why? For tax reasons. How are Italian citizenship applications and Italian taxes connected?

Actually, they are not! At least not directly as Italian citizenship does not have any Italian tax implications per se.

However, when applying for Italian citizenship by descent, some applicants also apply for Italian residency, which might trigger Italian tax implications.

In particular, in order to acquire Italian citizenship by descent, many people opt to file the application directly in Italy to avoid long waits at Italian Consulates (reservations can go as far out as 2030!).

To apply directly in Italy you need to be an Italian resident (no visa required).

Here are the typical steps to apply for Italian citizenship through residency in Italy:

• apply for Italian residency and stay in Italy 30-50 days;
• at the same time, apply for Italian citizenship;
• after 30-50 days you can go back and forth between Italy and your home country.

There is no requirement to be physically present in Italy after the initial Italian residency registration and/or Italian citizenship filing.

However, regardless of your physical presence in Italy, if you are an Italian registered resident for more than 182 days in a tax year (from Jan 1^st to Dec 31^st) you qualify as an Italian tax resident. As such, you would likely be subject to Italian tax duties, such as Italian income tax return filing, foreign assets disclosure, and Italian tax payments.

A way to avoid such Italian tax implications is to timely de-register from being an Italian registered resident. In particular, if you register as an Italian resident on or after July 3^rd you do not qualify as an Italian tax resident in that tax year.

Then, since in most cases you can complete the process of Italian citizenship recognition by descent within eight months, you could also decide to de-register from being an Italian resident after you receive your Italian passport, which would likely happen before July 3rd of the following year. As a consequence, you would not qualify as an Italian tax resident in the following year either.

Therefore, if you become a registered Italian resident on or after July 3^rd and de-register no later than July 2nd (or July 1^st in leap years) of the following year, your Italian registered residency would not qualify you as an Italian tax resident in either year.

Result: if you apply for Italian citizenship through Italian residency it is a much faster process without Italian tax implications.

Italian citizenship by descent is not for everybody though, since it requires some extra planning, travel flexibility, and to be in Italy for at least 30-50 days.

Additional areas to consider when working on your international tax planning are the duration of your physical presence and your interests in Italy.

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• Italian citizenship jure sanguinis
• Italian citizenship 1948 case
• Apply for citizenship via Comune