It’s time for another update on how our family quest for Italian citizenship is going. Last time I wrote about this (you can read my previous post here) I was waiting to sit an Italian language exam which I needed to pass in order to apply for citizenship*. This is what happened next.
Italian language exam for citizenship
The language qualification requirement was introduced by the Italian authorities at the end of 2018, and it only seems to apply to those of us who are applying for citizenship through marriage.
The exam is an official qualification which you can only take on certain dates and at registered centres – it seems to be a bit like the way that GCSEs and A Levels are run in the UK. I live in Surrey, to the south of London, and the nearest place where I could take the exam was at La Dante in Cambridge cultural centre, 80 miles from my home. It cost £200 to take the exam.
The date for the exam was confirmed just a couple of weeks before it took place. Although this meant that I didn’t have enough time to prepare properly, I decided to go for it as it would be several months before I’d have another chance to sit the exam. I studied Italian at university around thirty years ago and, although I do still know the language, my skills are very rusty. I reasoned that if I didn’t pass the exam it would still be useful practice, and I could study hard to retake it at the next opportunity.
Italian exam preparation
There was no time for me to arrange any lessons before the exam. I prepared for it by myself as best I could by downloading a set of practice papers and working through them a couple of days beforehand. You can find the sample exam papers which I used here. I also listened to Italian podcasts whenever I could, especially when I was driving. I discovered some free intermediate-level podcasts – the ones which I found the most helpful were News in Slow Italian, 30 Minute Italian and Incontro Italiano.
I prepared for the oral part of the exam by thinking about how to talk about myself, as I knew that I’d have to start by doing that, and it’s something which I don’t find easy even in English!
Italian exam format
The exam is in four sections: reading, writing, listening and speaking. It takes place over the course of a day. You have to pass all four sections in order to pass the exam overall. If you don’t pass all of the sections you can retake them individually (within a set time limit), without having to do the whole thing again.
I found the speaking part of the exam to be the most difficult. It involved presenting myself (this was OK as I’d practised what to say), a role play in Italian with another candidate and a monologue in Italian on a particular subject. We weren’t told before the exam what the monologue or role play would be about, and we were allowed just three minutes to prepare for them. None of us who were taking the exam had met each other beforehand. One of the other candidates had a very strong Neapolitan accent and I found him hard to understand. I was really hoping that I wouldn’t be paired with him for the role play – thankfully I wasn’t!
The examiners recorded what we said but didn’t speak to us at all during these tasks (apart from reading the initial instructions in Italian). I felt exhausted by the end of this part of the exam and was convinced that I’d have to retake it.
Italian exam results
I’m amazed and delighted to say that I did actually pass the exam! I was informed by email a few days ago, and am now waiting to receive my certificate.
UK Criminal Records Certificate
Now that I know that I’ve passed the exam, I’ve applied for a certificate to show that I don’t have a criminal record. This is called a ‘Police certificate for immigration purposes’ and you apply for it from the Criminal Records Office here. It costs £45 to apply for this certificate. I didn’t apply for it before now because the Italian authorities say that it has to be dated within six months of when you make your application. So I needed to wait until I knew that I’d passed the exam, in case I had to wait for months to retake it.
What next?
Once the Police certificate arrives I need to have it legalised and then translated into Italian by a translator who is approved by the Italian Consulate. I will use the same translator as before, and I will also ask her to translate a legalised copy of my birth certificate. (See my post Applying for Italian citizenship – part 3 for details of how to get documents legalised, translated and certified.)
After that, I think that I should have everything ready to make my application for Italian citizenship – as long as the requirements haven’t changed by then.
What about the kids?
I have no news to share regarding our daughter’s or son’s applications. Their documents are with the Italian authorities, and we’ve been told that it could take up to two years for them to be processed.
Previously…
The previous parts of this story are here:
The one where I decide to apply for Italian citizenship
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 2
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 3
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 4
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 5
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 6
What happened next…
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 8
Over to you
Do let me know if you have any comments or queries about these posts. Many people have been contacting me about what we’re doing, and it’s really interesting to hear about your experiences. Good luck to anyone else who’s going through the process!
*Please note: I’m not a lawyer and I’ve never done this before. I’m sharing my story here in order to be helpful to others, but please don’t rely on me if you’re making your own application!
Ciao Gretta,
I am taking the Plida exam in a few weeks (last minute) and I was hoping that you could give insight to what were the questions like or what they were (I know they change every year, but just to get an idea of how detailed or what scope of topics) and did you speak using the past participle and all those other fun conjugations or were you able to get by mostly with present tense? Thank you! I am really nervous.
Ciao! I found it really helped to work through the practice papers which you can download online. I spoke in a mixture of tenses, I don’t think you’d be able to get through it by just using the present tense. I was very nervous too, but when it came to the day it was OK. Good luck!
Hi Greta
Do you know whether GCSE Italian (A*) would be accepted for the citizenship application as proof of language ability at B1 level or will only the CILS/CELI exams be permitted? I’ll happily sit the test if I have to but would rather avoid the delay to starting my application if I can…
Many Thanks
Sharon
Hi Sharon, I’m sorry but I really don’t know about that at all.
Hey,
Thanks so much for sharing your journey. I was just wondering if your children ever got their citizenship. I am in the same position as them and I have been waiting a few months now. Was curious to set expectations for myself!
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Cam
Hi Cam, not yet, we’re still waiting! I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I will write a post about it when we have any news.
Hello Gretta, thank you for this information, because it’s so hard to find this kind of experience on internet.. i will have my exam B1 Cittadinanza in two weeks, like you as well, i don’t expect to pass, as until now my level still not good, and i literally learn myself (so bad, but thanks god i have basic in French so i am a bit used to to the grammar) , but still i am so nervous and afraid.. please give me more advices to face the exam, thank you so much.
And i hope your process will be smoother and you’ll get the passport soon.
Hi Irania, good luck with the exam, all you can do is try your best. I found the examiners and the staff at the centre to be very kind and they put us all at ease. The most useful things for me was doing the practice papers and listening to Italian podcasts.
Hi Gretta, I found your blog very useful. Like a previous comment, my wife’s mother was born in Italy to Italian parents (wife’s grandparents). The mother married a British citizen in the 60’s and lived in the UK for 30 years. Then she re-acquired (or confirmed) her citizenship in Italy where she subsequently returned (and still lives). Its not clear to me whether the children (inc my wife) are, or can claim Italian citizenship by either descent or by Jus Sanguinus. It is also not clear whether the grandchildren (inc my wife’s children) have the same choices. The mother is now 86 and lives alone in Italy, so we are concerned about our ability to care for her (post brexit) as we all live in the UK. We are willing to make some commitment to establish residency etc…It looks like citizenship is a much harder prospect. Any views about which route is easiest – long term visa or citizenship?
Hi Phillip, I don’t know about visas at all, I’m sorry. But as I understand it, your wife should be able to get Italian citizenship by birth, because her mother is Italian. Your wife’s situation seems to be the same as my daughter’s – my daughter has a British mother (me) and an Italian father (my husband) and was born in the UK. When she submitted her application for Italian citizenship at the consulate they told her that she would definitely get it but that it would probably take about two years to come through. Good luck with it all!
Hi Greta
Good to hear that you passed the exam ! I haven’t had time to read all your posts yet but let me strike a word of warning before you get to the point of uploading your documents to the website! I have an Italian husband and applied in May 2017 basically as soon after Brexit as I could. I gathered up all the documents had them translated, got the apostile and had that translated. When I tried to upload them it was difficult as it said they exceeded the limit. I compressed them, uploaded them and then they went through and I received a receipt. I heard nothing for 2 years ( I sent a few emails but got the standard ‘we are very busy’. In September this year, I was basically sent a refusal of my application as the documents were incomplete. After many emails and getting the intervention of the consul we were shown what they received which was basically only 2/3 of the documents – through the support of the a Facebook group where we discovered at least another 5 people that this has happened to, we worked out that the computer programme is faulty , and randomly overrides previous documents that you upload if the limit of MB is reached. They wont let us resubmit the original docs – all of which i have – and now of course I have to do the language test….which is difficult as they cancelled the last one at the last minute and then the next one for PLIDA is on the day I am giving a paper at an Italian conference!!
Good luck anyway
Hi Vicky, oh no, what a nightmare! I’m so sorry that this has happened to you, but thank you very much for letting me know. I have actually now submitted my documents, and I thought that it was just a question of waiting, but now I will try to find out whether or not my documents uploaded in full. Good luck with your application and the exam, I hope that you manage to get it all sorted out.
Thanks so much for sharing your journey, it’s so useful and clear. My husband is Italian and I’m about to embark on the long and painful process for Italian citizenship. We are expecting a baby in a couple of week who we plan to immediately get both British and Italian passports for if this is possible. On my side, I will be preparing for the exam as a next step as luckily we have our marriage already registered in Italy.
Congratulations on passing the exam, I need to prepare for this more, particularly on the speaking and writing side. It would be great to hear further updates in your passport process and when it eventually comes through!
Thanks Francesca, congratulations on your baby, and good luck with your exam. It’s a good plan to register the birth in the UK and Italy – I wish we’d done that!
Hi Gretta, could you please let me have the name of the translator you used. I have the list from the Consulate website, and I think would be reassured to be using someone you’ve had success with.
Hi Rocco, yes, it was Gabriella Barra, and I’d definitely recommend her.
Not knowing who Gretta had used, I contacted a few different translators off the Consulate’s list to get quotes and I can fully recommend Cinzia Michelis – she provided a great service and was very competitively priced.
Thanks Victoria
Thank you so, so much for documenting your quest – I am looking at doing the same as you (although fortunately I don’t have to deal with the added complication of adoption when it comes to my children) and this information is invaluable and has saved me so much time!
That’s really good to hear – thank you for letting me know, and good luck with your application.
Congratulations! I do hope they get a move on with your son and daughter’s paperwork, though….
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Thank you! Yes, so do I, it seems to take an incredible length of time to go through!
Hi Gretta,
So good to find your blog on Italian Citizenship. I am also in the process of getting dual British/Italian citizenship. I am British but my maternal grandparents were Italian, my grandfather was born in Italy and remained an Italian citizen even though he lived in the UK. I had my appointment at the Consulate in London last March. Like you it took me ages to get the documents together and as I don’t speak Italian it was quite tricky! I also find the information on the Consulate website quite ambiguous in places. I was quite flustered at the appointment – the Italian clerk was very officious, but she seemed fairly positive that my application would be successful. She said it would be a wait of up to 2 years from that point and I think she said I would receive an email. So I am obsessed with checking my emails in case I miss it or it goes into my spam folder! She said I must not contact them to check on progress.
If/when I do get the email confirming my citizenship I will need to start the process for my 2 children who are both (at the moment) under 18. Do you know what the application process is for them? I will also want to apply for passports for the 3 of us, and then start on the process for my British husband – although that seems so far off, plus the language learning and exam hurdle to overcome for him.
Thanks,
Sarah.
Well that sounds very positive – I hope that your citizenship comes through soon. For your children, I think that you’ll need to follow the process that we did for our daughter. So if you read my previous blog posts, you can see everything that we’ve done. When my daughter actually put her application in she was over 18, but up to that point we’d been following the process as if she was younger, because we didn’t realise that it was different. There are quite a few things that you could do to prepare for their applications, and your husband’s, while you’re waiting for yours to come through (which you’ll see from my previous posts). Also, as soon as yours comes through, I think you should apply to register your marriage in Italy (you can also see how to do this from my previous posts) because your husband will need that for his application. I hope that it all goes well!
Congratulations! It is all so long-winding and bureaucratic, isn’t it. Such useful posts to talk everyone through the process though, as you’d never guess what was involved until you start on the path.
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It is unbelievably complicated! I knew it would be though, and I’m not complaining 🙂
Good luck with your application and well done on passing the language exam! Reading your updates has been so helpful as I get ready to start the process myself.
Thank you! Still a way to go though. Good luck with your application, and I’m happy to know that my posts have helped.
Hi
I’m going through the same process in Italy and even though I had already made my application for citizenship I was told that it could not go ahead without the Italian language exam level B1. I had to wait over two months to do the exam but in the mean time the university of Siena (CILS ) had introduced an easier and much shorter version of the exam -B1 UNO per la cittadinanza (for residence or through marriage) at a cost of 100euro instead of 90 euro.
I am still waiting for the results and also to hear whether or not the documents I submitted in February will still be considered valid .
That exam sounds much better – thank you Jenny! I hope that your documents are still valid.
I love reading your updates! Best of luck
Thank you – hopefully i’ll get there in the end!