Consolato Generale d'Italia Johannesburg

For information, send an e-mail to: consolare.johannesburg@esteri.it.

The Consulate General of Italy in Johannesburg is responsible for processing citizenship applications submitted by persons residing in the Provinces of the Free State, Gauteng (excluding the metropolitan area of the city of Tshwane), KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West. Proof of residence in one of these provinces is required at the time of application.

Applicable Law

Decree-Law No. 36 of March 28, 2025, was converted with amendments into Law No. 74 of May 23, 2025, effective May 24, 2025.

The conversion law reforms Law No. 91 of February 5, 1992, the new full text of which can be found at the following link

Attention is drawn, in particular, to the new Article 3-bis:

Notwithstanding Articles 1, 2, 3, 14 and 20 of this law, Article 5 of Law No. 123 of April 21, 1983, Articles 1, 2, 7, 10, 12 and 19 of Law No. 555 of June 13, 1912, as well as Articles 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 of the Civil Code approved by Royal Decree No. 2358, a person who was born abroad even before the date of entry into force of this article and holds another citizenship shall be considered never to have acquired Italian citizenship, unless one of the following conditions is met:

(a) the citizen status of the person concerned shall be recognized, in compliance with the regulations applicable on March 27, 2025, upon application, accompanied by the necessary documentation, submitted to the competent consular office or mayor no later than 11:59 p.m., Rome time, on the same date;

(a-bis) the status of citizen of the person concerned shall be recognized, in accordance with the regulations applicable on March 27, 2025, upon application, accompanied by the necessary documentation, submitted to the competent consular office or mayor on the day indicated by appointment communicated to the person concerned by the competent office no later than 11:59 p.m., Rome time, on the same date of March 27, 2025;

(b) the citizen status of the interested party is judicially established, in compliance with the regulations applicable on March 27, 2025, as a result of a judicial application filed no later than 11:59 p.m., Rome time, of the same date;

(c) a first or second degree ascendant possesses, or possessed at the time of death, exclusively Italian citizenship;

d) a parent or adopter has been resident in Italy for at least two continuous years subsequent to the acquisition of Italian citizenship and prior to the date of birth or adoption of the child.

Therefore, under the new Law No. 91 of 1992, the following is recognized as an Italian citizen iure sanguinis (from birth):

the applicant born in Italy on any date;
the applicant who has Italian citizenship exclusively, i.e., who does not have and cannot have any other citizenship;
the applicant who falls into one of the cases listed in points (a), (a-bis), (b), (c) and (d) of Article 3-bis

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In light of the new law it is clarified that:

1) Only applications submitted before March 27, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Italian time, accompanied by the necessary documentation, follow the previous law

“Submitted” applications are defined as:

- Delivered to the Consular Office counter before the above date and time;
- Sent by mail with tracking of date and time before the above deadline;
- Sent by mail without tracking of date and time, and received by the Consular Office before the above deadline;
- Received on Fast-It before the above deadline.

2) Only applications, accompanied by the necessary documentation, submitted to the Consular Office on the day indicated by appointment made and communicated to the interested party by the competent office by 11:59 p.m., Rome time on March 27, 2025 follow the previous regulations

“Appointment communicated to the interested party by the competent Office” means the confirmation by e-mail received by the interested party from the Prenot@mi portal or from the institutional e-mail address of the Section of the Consular Office competent for the application.

3) In all other circumstances, the new regulations shall apply to applications.

Applicable consular rates are available on this page.

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For the necessary documentation to be submitted, interested parties should provide:

(a) Citizenship application form, duly completed and signed;

(b) What is required by Circular K.28.1 of April 8, 1991 of the Ministry of the Interior, that is:

Extract of the birth certificate of the Italian ancestor who emigrated abroad issued by the Italian municipality where he was born;
Birth certificates, with official Italian translation, of all his descendants in the direct line, including that of the person claiming possession of Italian citizenship;
Marriage certificate of the Italian ancestor who emigrated abroad, with official Italian translation if formed abroad;
Marriage certificates of his descendants, in the direct line, including that of the parents of the person claiming possession of Italian citizenship;
Certificate issued by the competent Authorities of the foreign State of emigration, with an official translation into Italian, certifying that the Italian ancestor at the time emigrated from Italy did not acquire the citizenship of the foreign State of emigration prior to the birth of the ascendant of the person concerned;
Certificate issued by the competent Italian Consular Authority certifying that neither the ascendants in the direct line nor the person claiming possession of Italian citizenship ever renounced it under the terms of Art. 7 of Law No. 555 of June 13, 1912;
Certificate of residence.

To prove exclusive possession of Italian citizenship (by way of example):