Guide
UK Italian consulates
Italy has three consulates in the UK — London, Manchester, and Edinburgh — plus the Embassy in London. Your citizenship application goes to whichever consulate has jurisdiction over your area of residence. You cannot choose. Jurisdiction is determined by your registered address, and the consulate will verify it.
Jurisdiction
Which consulate covers your area
Consulates
Consulate General of Italy — London
Covers: Greater London, South East, South West, East of England, parts of the Midlands (Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Bristol), Channel Islands, Gibraltar
Address: Harp House, 83-86 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4BL
Phone: +44 (0)20 7936 5900
Citizenship email: cittadinanza.londra@esteri.it
Public hours: Mon–Fri 9:00–12:00. Citizenship Prenotami slots released Mon and Wed at 17:00 GMT, bookable up to 12 months ahead.
Passport fee: £101.70. Payment by British debit card only (morning appointments) or bank transfer (afternoon/postal). No cash, no credit cards, no contactless, no Apple/Google Pay.
Consulate of Italy — Manchester
Covers: North West, North East, Yorkshire, East Midlands, West Midlands (Cheshire, County Durham, Cumbria, Derbyshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, West Yorkshire), Isle of Man
Address: The Chancery, 2nd Floor, 58 Spring Gardens, Manchester M2 1EW
Phone: +44 (0)161 243 5956
Citizenship email: manchester.cittadinanza@esteri.it
Appointment only — email confirmation must be shown at entrance. Phone hours: Mon and Fri 14:30–15:30 only. Passport Prenotami slots released daily Mon–Fri at 18:00 GMT.
Passport fee: £101.20 (Q2 2026). Current processing time: up to 25 weeks. Payment by British debit card at counter. No cash (eliminated 1 Jan 2025), no credit cards, no postal orders.
Consulate General of Italy — Edinburgh
Covers: Scotland, Northern Ireland
Address: Italy House, 20-22 East London Street, Edinburgh EH7 4BQ
Phone: +44 (0)131 226 3631
Citizenship email: cittadinanza.edimburgo@esteri.it
Public hours: Mon–Fri 9:30–12:30. Phone hours: Mon–Fri 10:00–12:00. Honorary consuls in Belfast, Aberdeen, and Glasgow can collect fingerprints for passport applications.
Passport fee: £101.70 (cash) / £103.01 (card). Edinburgh accepts cash and British debit cards at counter, or postal orders by post. No credit cards, no contactless, no digital wallets.
Citizenship and notary services are handled by email rather than Prenotami. Translations can be certified here, but only for certificates issued in Italy, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
The Embassy
The Embassy of Italy (14 Three Kings Yard, London W1K 4EH) handles diplomatic and political matters. It does not process citizenship applications, passport renewals, or consular services for individuals. If you need citizenship recognition, you deal with your consulate, not the embassy.
Fees and payment
London
Manchester
Edinburgh
Prenotami appointments
All three consulates use the Prenotami system for booking. Create an account well in advance — verification can take time, and you cannot book without a verified account.
When Prenotami slots are released
Citizenship slots are scarce. London releases them on Mondays and Wednesdays at 17:00 GMT, bookable up to 12 months ahead. Manchester releases passport slots daily at 18:00 GMT. Edinburgh handles citizenship enquiries by email rather than through Prenotami. Slots fill within minutes of release. Checking repeatedly or using a monitoring tool is common practice.
Payment methods
All three consulates have eliminated or restricted cash payments. Credit cards are not accepted at any of them. The standard payment method is a British debit card (physical card, not contactless or digital wallet). Manchester and London also accept bank transfers for some services. Edinburgh accepts cash and postal orders in addition to debit cards.
International cards, AMEX, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and contactless are rejected everywhere. Bring a British debit card to your appointment.
Translation policies
London does not provide or certify translations. It publishes a reference list of translators on its website, updated every six months, but using someone from the list is not mandatory. Any professional translator producing a complete, faithful, typewritten translation is accepted.
Edinburgh can certify translations, but only for certificates issued in Italy, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. The original must already have an FCDO apostille before the translation is submitted for certification. Apostilles themselves do not need translation.
Manchester's translation policy is not published in detail on its website. Contact them directly at manchester.cittadinanza@esteri.it for current requirements.
Processing times
The statutory maximum for processing a citizenship application is 730 days (2 years) from submission. There is no tracking system and no status updates during processing. The consulate verifies documents with the relevant Italian comune. If everything matches, you hear nothing until the oath invitation.
One polite status enquiry after six months is reasonable. Frequent follow-ups do not speed the process. Passport processing at Manchester currently takes up to 25 weeks — significantly longer than London or Edinburgh.
Source and last verified
Addresses, fees, and operational details sourced from conslondra.esteri.it, consmanchester.esteri.it, and consedimburgo.esteri.it. Last verified March 2026. Confirm directly with the consulate before travelling — addresses and hours can change.