Sammarinese Citizenship by Descent
San Marino — one of the world's oldest republics and a landlocked microstate within Italy — offers a facilitated citizenship registration route for descendants of Sammarinese emigrants or citizens who lost their citizenship. The legal framework is set out in Law No. 84 of 17 June 2004 (Legge sulla cittadinanza sammarinese) and amended by Law No. 114 of 28 June 2017, which progressively relaxed restrictions on dual-nationality retention for descent-based acquisitions. Under jus sanguinis, a child born to a Sammarinese parent acquires citizenship automatically at birth. For those who cannot claim citizenship at birth — typically because an ancestor emigrated and the citizenship chain was interrupted — a separate facilitated naturalisation channel exists. Applicants must demonstrate documented Sammarinese descent through the father or mother, meet good-character criteria, and file through the Single Office for Civil Registries (Ufficio Unico per i Registri dello Stato Civile) in Dogana, San Marino. No physical relocation to San Marino is required to apply, and there is no formal generational cap specified in the law. Sammarinese citizenship does not confer EU citizenship, but San Marino citizens benefit from Italy's open-border arrangement and enjoy visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a substantial number of countries. Dual citizenship is now permitted for descent-based acquisitions following the 2017 amendments.
Program Details
- Generation Limit
- No fixed generational cap is stated in law; eligibility extends to descendants of Sammarinese citizens who lost or never acquired citizenship (typically emigrants and their offspring), provided the applicant can document an unbroken line of descent and meets good-character requirements under Law No. 84 of 17 June 2004 as amended by Law No. 114 of 28 June 2017.
- Estimated Cost
- $1,500–$8,000
- Processing Time
- 6–24 months
- Must Live in Country
- No
- Court Route Available
- No
Government filing fees are modest (roughly €50–€200 at current rates). The bulk of cost is genealogical research, notarized and apostilled documents from foreign civil registries, certified Italian translations, and optional legal assistance.
Common Barriers
- ⚠San Marino's civil-registry records are relatively well-maintained but can be incomplete for emigrants who left before the mid-20th century
- ⚠Dual-citizenship rules were historically restrictive; Law No. 114/2017 progressively liberalised retention of a foreign nationality, but applicants should confirm current dual-citizenship status before applying
- ⚠The Sammarinese passport ranks modestly relative to EU passports; San Marino is not an EU member, though it has a customs union and open-borders arrangement with Italy and the Schengen Area
- ⚠Applications must be submitted through the Single Office for Civil Registries in person or by authorised representative — no purely postal or online route exists
- ⚠Documentation requirements for descendants of 19th-century emigrants can be extensive, and San Marinese records for that era may require cross-referencing with Italian municipal archives
- ⚠Good-character requirements (no serious criminal convictions) must be evidenced by a foreign criminal records certificate
Documents Needed
- •Birth certificate of the Sammarinese ancestor (obtained from the Ufficio di Stato Civile, Dogana, San Marino)
- •Marriage certificates for each generation in the descent line
- •Birth certificates for each generation in the descent line
- •Death certificate of the Sammarinese ancestor (if deceased)
- •Evidence that the ancestor held Sammarinese citizenship and subsequently lost it or emigrated without formally transmitting citizenship
- •Applicant's own birth certificate
- •Applicant's valid passport or national ID
- •Criminal background check from each country of residence (apostilled where applicable)
- •Certified Italian translations of all non-Italian documents
- •Apostilles under the 1961 Hague Convention on all foreign public documents
Ancestry Records
Archivio di Stato della Repubblica di San Marino / Ufficio di Stato Civile
MODERATESan Marino's civil-registry records are generally well-preserved and centralised. The Archivio di Stato holds historical birth, marriage, and death registers. For 19th-century emigrants, supplementary research in Italian communal archives may be needed.
Recent Changes
Law No. 114 of 28 June 2017 amended the 2004 citizenship law to progressively allow dual nationality for descent-based citizenship acquisitions, removing the previous requirement to renounce a foreign nationality upon registration.
source →
Programme FAQs
Does Sammarinese citizenship by descent grant EU citizenship?
Can I hold dual citizenship if I register as a Sammarinese citizen by descent?
Related Guides
Citizenship by descent: who actually qualifies
A plain-English map of which countries offer jus sanguinis, how many generations back they accept, which require court proceedings, and where recent reforms (UK, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain) opened or closed doors.
Fastest paths to an EU passport in 2025
A sourced comparison of the shortest EU naturalisation timelines, from 2-year descent fast-tracks to 5-year residency routes — plus the hidden requirements that extend them in practice.
Other Descent Programs
Sources & last verified
- Official source
- Last verified 2026-06-01