3) if you are the spouse of an Italian citizen and have resided legally in Italy for at least six months or you have been married for three years (and there has been no legal divorce or annulment and you are not in the process of separating).

The application citizenship must be presented in five copies (the original on official 20.000 lira revenue stamped paper and four photocopies) to the Prefect of your area, or to the Italian Consulate authorities in your country of origin and should be addressed to the Ministry of Interior and include:

a) a birth certificate; b) a residency certificate; c) a marriage certificate issued by an Italian municipal office where the marriage has been registered and/or transcribed; d) a certificate of family status; e) general certificate of criminal records office issued by the Public Prosecutor’s office of the Tribunal; f) certificate of pending suits issued by the Public Prosecutor’s office of the Tribunal and by the magistrate’s court; g) certificate of Italian citizenship of your spouse; h) notarised photocopy of your valid permit of stay; i) photocopies of all the pages of your passport notarised by a notary or your consulate; j) a police records certificate issued by your country of origin that has been translated and legalised by the Italian Consular authorities abroad; k) a formal request made to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs who will evaluate your application for acquiring citizenship. PLEASE NOTE: the request should not be made directly to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs but made through the diplomatic authorities of your country in Italy; l) a notarised photocopy of your last income tax return or, in the absence of such a document, a notarised statement declaring that the photocopy presented conforms to that presented to the Tax Authorities (should this photocopy be unavailable, you may present a notarised declaration in which you indicate the nature and total amount of your income).

ATTENTION: you cannot acquire Italian citizenship through marriage if:

a) you have been found guilty of committing a crime against the Italian State either within Italy or abroad or you have been found guilty of committing a crime against political rights of a citizen;

b) you have been found guilty of committing a premeditated crime for which the law foresees a minimum three years jail sentence;

c) you have been found guilty of a non political crime for which you have been sentenced to more than one year in jail by a foreign country;

d) if there exists hard evidence against you for reason related to national security.

Italian citizenship by marriage is conferred by decree of the Ministry of the Interior and must be registered by the National Audit Court.