Guide
Italian citizenship by descent: what the 2025 decree changed
Updated
For a century, Italy recognized citizenship by descent with no generational limit. In March 2025 that ended in a single decree. Here is what changed, who it affects, and what remains open.
The old rule, and why it mattered
Italian citizenship passed jure sanguinis, by blood, with no generational limit: any unbroken line from an Italian citizen (for most emigrant families, an ancestor alive after Italian unification in 1861) could qualify, provided no one in the line naturalized elsewhere before the next generation's birth and, for maternal lines, accounting for the pre-1948 rule that only men transmitted citizenship (the origin of the '1948 cases' decided by courts). Tens of millions of descendants of the Italian diaspora were, on paper, eligible.
What Decree-Law 36/2025 did
- Two-generation limit: recognition is limited to people with a parent or grandparent born in Italy, and an applicant born abroad must also meet one further condition: holding only Italian citizenship, having a parent or grandparent who held only Italian citizenship at birth, or having a citizen parent who was resident in Italy for two consecutive years after naturalising and before the applicant's birth (consular notice).
- Conversion with amendments: Decree-Law 36 of 28 March 2025 was converted by Law 74 of 23 May 2025, in force from 24 May 2025.
- Pending applications protected: applications booked and confirmed by 11:59pm Rome time on 27 March 2025 are assessed under the previous criteria, which is why booking and filing evidence has become valuable.
- Higher fees: the consular application fee is EUR 600, non-refundable, and consulates quote processing of up to 730 days.
- Litigation continues: the reform has been tested in the Italian courts since it was enacted; check the current state of the case law with an Italian citizenship lawyer before treating a claim as settled either way.
What to do depending on your line
Parent or grandparent born in Italy: your claim is live, assemble civil records and check your consulate's current instructions against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Great-grandparent or earlier: the administrative route is generally closed for new applications, but check whether anyone in the family booked and confirmed an appointment before 27 March 2025, whether a closer Italy-born ancestor exists elsewhere in the tree, and, given the continuing litigation, have a citizenship lawyer review the current case law before treating the claim as dead. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Figures and dates here were read from an Italian consulate's published notice on the new rules on this page's updated date (consular notice). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and your own consulate's published instructions are the authority at any given moment, and consular practice varies.