Since June 22, 2022, Italian dual citizenship applications must be submitted to the local courts of Italy, rather than the Court of Rome.
One of the motivations for the reform is to make the judicial system operate more quickly. The shift to the local courts will reduce the burden on the Court of Rome, where all citizenship cases were heard up to June 2022.
Hearing date: calendar and wait time
Since then, it has been necessary to file dual citizenship cases in the local court “that covers the jurisdiction of the Italian father, mother or ancestor’s municipality”.
Hearings have already been held and some decisions already taken. However, many other petitioners and Italian lawyers are waiting for the release of their hearing dates.
Patience will still be needed as the wait time is getting longer in some areas. This is probably because local judges are ruling on an increasing number of cases. Some of the larger local courts, like Naples, have their first hearings at the end of 2024.
Read more articles on our website:
- Citizenship by Descent, new legislation effective June 2022: what you need to know
- Citizenship by descent, new legislation in June 2022: how to find your Court of reference?