How to Get an Italian Consulate Appointment

Getting an appointment at the Italian Consulate can be a time-consuming process, but this necessity to applying for dual Italian citizenship has just become easier with the full implementation of an online booking system. If you’re an American citizen who has determined you’re eligible for Italian citizenship by marriage or by blood (jure sanguinis)—meaning you have an Italian parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent and meet other requirements for jure sanguinis—your next steps are:

• Gathering your ancestor’s information—full name, date of birth, and town of birth.
• Obtaining the appropriate supporting documentation—including Italian vital records, your ancestor’s Certificate of Naturalization, marriage certificates, and others.
• Submitting your complete application for Italian citizenship.
• Getting an Italian consulate appointment with your regional consular office, where your case will be reviewed to determine if your request for citizenship will be granted.

What Is a Consulate?

Consulates are branches of an embassy and can be thought of as “junior” embassies. An embassy represents one country inside another country, in this case the Italian Embassy and Consulates represent the Italian government inside the United States.

Since there’s only one Italian embassy in the U.S., located in Washington D.C., and the U.S. is so large, it is necessary to have consulate offices scattered regionally throughout the country. Currently, there are nine Italian consulates in the United States in the following cities:

• Boston—serving the states of Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island
• Chicago—serving the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
• Detroit—serving the states of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee
• Houston—serving the states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma
• Los Angeles—serving the states of Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, and Southern California (Counties of S. Luis Obispo, Kern, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Imperial Valley, Orange)
• San Francisco—serving the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, and California (except Imperial Valley, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties), and the American Territories of Samoa, American Territory of Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Johnston Atoll, Wake Island, and Midways Islands
• Miami—serving the states of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina, as well as Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks, Caicos, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba, and the Bahamas
• NYC—the consulate of Italy in New York serves the states of New York and Connecticut, and the British Territories of the Bermuda Islands
• Philadelphia—serving Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland (except Prince George and Montgomery counties), New Jersey (only Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem Counties), North Carolina, Virginia (except Fairfax and Arlington counties), and West Virginia
• Washington Embassy—providing Consular Services for the states and areas of District of Columbia, Maryland (only Montgomery and Prince George’s counties), and Virginia (only Arlington and Fairfax Counties and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax)

How to Get an Appointment at Your Regional Consulate Office

Your instinct may be to gather all the necessary documentation before making an appointment at your regional consulate office, but keep in mind that wait times for appointments at the Italian Consulate can range from one to six years. Each family member applying for citizenship will need their own appointment, although some consulates allow two family members to attend one appointment.

This is why it makes sense to book an appointment as soon as you’ve made a firm determination that you are eligible for Italian citizenship. Then you can immediately get started gathering the documents you’ll need to present to your consulate office on the day of the appointment.

Schedule with Your Regional Consulate Office

As of June 14, 2021, you will use the online appointment system to schedule appointments with your consulate. You can only be seen by the consulate for your state. If you live in Arizona, for example, your consulate office is in Los Angeles. Each consulate office operates separately with different timelines, requirements, and results. Note that only if you are already living in Italy, can you apply for citizenship there directly.

To use the new online reservation system called Prenot@mi, create an account. Once you receive a confirmation email, you will be able to access the main menu, where you can make your reservation.

After selecting “Make Your Reservation,” you will be taken to another page where you will “Choose Service,” and you will select “Citizenship.” You may be asked if you have a direct ancestor who was born in Italy.

Other services are available here, including visa applications and visa appointments. You will need to wait to obtain an Italian visa until your citizenship is confirmed, after which it will take approximately 90 days to receive.

When you select the appropriate service, you will be provided with an online form to fill out. Supply all requested information as accurately as possible, and then click “Confirm.” This will take you to the calendar page, where you will see any appointments that are available for booking.

What if No Appointments Are Available?

Periodically the consulate will open up another day, week, or month at the end of the calendar. You will automatically be taken to the last month available for scheduling, and you can navigate to earlier months to see if appointments are available. However, you might find none are open on your first try.

If this is the case, try signing in at regular intervals, just after 6 p.m. Eastern Time each day. The system in Italy refreshes at midnight, local time, and canceled appointments are usually released and become available at this time. Don’t be tempted by sites or persons who offer to sell you an appointment time at the Consulate. This is illegal, and your appointment might be canceled if obtained in this way.

Do You Qualify for Italian Citizenship?

In order to qualify for Italian citizenship “jure sanguinis” or by descent, you will need to prove that the ancestor your application is based on did not become a U.S. citizen before the next person in your line of ancestors was born, or that they never became a U.S. citizen at all.

For example, if your father and his father (your paternal grandfather) were born in the United States, but your paternal great-grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of your grandfather’s birth, you may qualify for Italian citizenship under jure sanguinis. This is just one example. There are many other circumstances under which you may qualify for Italian citizenship under Italian nationality law.

Get Expert Help 

The process of obtaining dual citizenship is not easy—it is time-consuming and can be frustrating and confusing at times. This is where professional assistance can be invaluable.

The Italian American Citizenship Assistance Program is staffed by experts who will help you through the process from beginning to end, including guiding you through the steps for obtaining necessary Italian citizenship documents, finding out where and how to make an Italian consulate appointment, and providing translations and apostille services as needed.

We’ve helped hundreds of people become Italian citizens and connect with their heritage. To find out more about making an Italian Consulate appointment, contact us today.