Decision of the Court of Rome, I Civil Section, No. 7306 of 25 March 2016

This decision of the Court of Rome concerns a case of Italian nationality acquisition by aliens, or stateless persons in consequence of marriage with an Italian, which is governed by Article 5 of law No. 91 of 1992. The Supreme Court of Cassation’s jurisprudence has clarified that the right of acquiring Italian nationality under Article 5 encounters a limit in the administrative authority’s discretionary power of evaluating whether there are obstacles due to national security. Such evaluation can be made in the two years following the application, after which, and if all other requirements are met, the applicant has, automatically, a right to the recognition of Italian citizenship. In the case at hand, the administrative authority had rejected the application after the term had expired. Moreover, all requirements provided in law No. 91 were met: the applicant – a Cuban woman – had being legally resident in Italy for 2 years after her marriage with an Italian; moreover, no cause of marriage dissolution had meanwhile intervened. In addition, she had established a genuine relationship with her spouse, and started an integration process into the Italian community.