Vatican City residence

Residence in Vatican City follows from a post, not from an application. The Holy See's general information page describes a population made up of those who live there permanently because of their dignity, office, post or employment, provided the residence is prescribed by law and authorised by the competent authorities.

The Governorate's statistics, updated to 31 December 2024, count 673 Vatican citizens, of whom 458 live inside the walls, including 120 members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, and 882 residents in total, citizens and non-citizens together. About 30% of citizens live outside the State, mostly because of diplomatic duties. Under Article 21 of the Lateran Treaty, cardinals living in Rome are Vatican citizens even when they reside outside Vatican City. The rules on acquiring and losing citizenship, on permits to reside and on access are now set by Law No. CXXXI of 22 February 2011 on citizenship, residence and access; the Holy See's general summary, last updated in 2001, still describes the earlier law of 1929.

The Swiss Guard is the clearest example of employment that brings residence inside the walls. Its command lists the entry conditions: Swiss citizenship, practising Catholic faith, male, single on entry, aged 19 to 30, a guideline height of 1.74 m, a completed Swiss vocational apprenticeship (EFZ) or the Matura, completed Swiss army recruit school, a category B driving licence, good health and a clean record, and a commitment to serve at least 27 months. A guard may marry only at 25 or older, after five years of service and with a commitment to three further years. Applications go through the Guard's recruitment office in Glarus, Switzerland, followed by an interview, a psychological test and a recruitment day with the commander and chaplain.

Law No. X of 22 August 2025 sets the Governorate's administrative fees. From 1 January 2026, an authorisation to reside or stay in Vatican City State costs EUR 5; identity cards, recognition cards and access permits cost EUR 18 to issue or renew; and a Vatican City State passport costs EUR 120 to issue and EUR 80 to renew. Acts carried out in the direct interest of cardinals and of bodies of the Holy See are exempt from these fees.

Status is lost when the conditions end, for example on leaving the office or post, giving up the residence, or revocation of the authorisation. Under the Lateran Treaty, a person who leaves the Holy See's sovereignty and has no other citizenship is considered an Italian citizen in Italy.

Each of the two entities issues its own passports. The Holy See issues diplomatic and service passports and a passport for temporary service, which is given to people who are not Vatican nationals and since 18 December 2025 is valid for at most one year; Vatican City State issues an ordinary passport.

The Holy See's summary of the 1929 law explains that a citizen's spouse, children, parents and siblings who live with them and are authorised to reside in Vatican City also held citizenship. The 2011 law now governs these cases; the Vatican's legislation pages do not publish its family provisions. Housing other people in a property assigned in Vatican City requires the authorisation of the President of the Governorate.

Areas of Vatican City that are not freely open to the public may only be entered by non-residents with a permit issued by the Governorate under the 2011 law. A decree of 19 December 2024, converted into law on 15 March 2025, sets the penalties: entering those areas without a permit, or after it was revoked, carries an administrative fine of EUR 10,000 to 25,000; using an expired permit or breaking its conditions, EUR 2,000 to 5,000; and housing other people in an assigned property without authorisation, EUR 10,000 to 25,000 or suspension or revocation of the assignment. Entry by violence, threat or deception, including evading border controls, is a crime punished by one to four years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 10,000 to 25,000, and a conviction can bring a ten-year ban on access to the State.

Vatican citizenship is never acquired by birth or descent; it rests on stable residence in Vatican City. Under Article 9 of the Lateran Treaty, everyone with a stable residence in Vatican City is subject to the sovereignty of the Holy See, and a temporary stay elsewhere does not end that residence unless the home is given up. Vatican citizenship can be held alongside the citizenship of the person's home state.

Article 19 of the Lateran Treaty lets diplomats and envoys of the Holy See, foreign diplomats accredited to the Holy See and church dignitaries travelling to Vatican City cross Italian territory without further formality when their national passports carry a visa from a papal representative abroad.