A-Z Guide to the 2025 Changes to Italian Citizenship by Descent

2025 Citizenship Law Changes

Tajani Decree (decreto-legge 36/2025)

On March 28, 2025, the Italian Council of Ministers issued Decree-Law No. 36/2025, which outlined new eligibility rules concerning the recognition of Italian citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis). Provisions detailed in the decree stated that to be recognized as an Italian citizen, you must have an Italian-born parent or grandparent, creating a generational limit to the acquisition of Italian citizenship by descent. Previously, Italy did not have a limit, and based on the 1912 Citizenship Law, descendants could obtain Italian citizenship through a great-grandparent or even a great-great-grandparent by proving an unbroken chain of Italian citizenship throughout the lineage.

This type of legislation was considered an emergency decree, meaning it went into immediate effect and to be converted into law, the Italian Parliament had only 60 days to review its contents and make changes, if necessary.

Conversion into Law (Legge 74/2025)

After amendments were proposed and approved, the Chamber of Deputies voted on May 20, 2025 to convert the revised version of the decree into law. With the President of the Republic’s signature and publication in the Official Gazette on May 23, 2025, Law 74/2025 became official as of the following day.

According to the law, an individual born abroad before or after May 24, 2025 can be recognized as an Italian citizen if they have either:

• An Italian citizen parent or grandparent or who held exclusively Italian citizenship.
• A parent or adoptive parent who resided in Italy for two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before their child’s date of birth or adoption.

The law also states that citizenship applications submitted to an Italian consulate, Italian municipality, filed in court, OR if the interested party received notification of an appointment to submit an application by 11:59 PM Rome Time on March 27, 2025, their application will be processed according to the rules in effect prior to March 28, 2025.

Minor Children

The law outlined details pertaining to the recognition of Italian citizenship for minor children of Italian citizens, stating that the parents need to follow either of the following procedures:

• The Italian citizen parent makes a declaration within one year of the minor’s birth (or the date of adoption).
• The Italian citizen parent makes a declaration, after which the minor legally resides in Italy for at least two consecutive years.
• The Italian citizen parent makes a declaration for their minor child by 11:59 PM Rome Time on May 31, 2026.

Reacquisition

The process to reacquire Italian citizenship for those who were born in Italy but lost their Italian citizenship when they acquired a foreign citizenship before 1992 is amended to the following provision:

• Persons born in Italy who lost their citizenship under the provisions of Law No. 555 of 1912 may reacquire it by submitting a declaration between July 1, 2025, and December 31, 2027, without the need to reside in Italy to complete the process.

Citizenship by Residency

The requirements related to naturalization in Italy after a period of residence were also amended (Article 9 of Law No. 91 of 1992), in particular for those with Italian ancestry. Now, you can apply for citizenship after 2 years of residence in Italy if you have an Italian-born parent or grandparent (regardless of whether they acquired foreign citizenship). Previously, the requirement was to reside for 3 years. To apply for citizenship by residency, there is also a language requirement, certifying the knowledge of Italian at the B1 level.

Circolare No. 26185

On May 28, 2025, the Italian Ministry of the Interior issued a memo, or circolare, providing operational instructions on how the new law is to be interpreted and applied. Circolare No. 26185 reviewed all of the points outlined in the law, specifically the criteria for claiming citizenship by descent through an Italian ancestor. The circolare clarifies that you can be recognized as an Italian citizen if you have a parent or grandparent who held exclusively Italian citizenship “at the date of the event giving rise to acquisition”, meaning the applicant’s date of birth. If your ancestor passed away before your birth, then it’s necessary for them to have been Italian at the time of their death.

This circolare also outlines more specifically the process by which minor children of Italians will acquire Italian citizenship. Children born abroad to an Italian parent will no longer be recognized as an Italian citizen “at the time of their birth”, but it will be necessary for the parent to file a declaration with their Italian consulate, which will recognize the child as a citizen “by benefit of law”.

Circolare No. 59/2025

A second circolare was issued on June 17, 2025, also in reference to the new law, which mostly focused on provisions for minor children of Italian citizens and the reacquisition of Italian citizenship. This circolare reaffirms what was written in the law and the first circolare regarding recognition of Italian citizenship for minor children, specifically that the child will acquire Italian citizenship “by benefit of law” after the parents make a declaration. The three ways in which this can occur remain as follows:

• Both parents make a declaration within one year of the minor’s birth or from the date of adoption
• Both parents make a declaration, after which the minor legally and continuously resides for 2 years in Italy
• Children of Italian-born citizens who were minors as of May 24, 2025 can obtain citizenship if a declaration if both parents make a declaration by 11:59 PM on May 31, 2026. If the minor reaches the age of majority during this period, they can then submit the declaration themselves by this deadline.

With this new declaration process, Italian citizenship “by benefit of law” means that minor children will acquire Italian citizenship from the day after the conditions provided by law have been met (i.e., the declaration within one year of the birth or the two-year residence in Italy). Previously, minors would acquire Italian citizenship retroactively from the date of their birth, jure sanguinis.

Next Steps

Required Documents

After determining your eligibility for Italian citizenship, the next step will be gathering the relevant records to complete your citizenship application. Document requirements have mainly remained the same as before the changes to Italian citizenship law, and there is an emphasis on thorough and comprehensive documentation of the lineage that shows the valid transmission of Italian citizenship from your Italian ancestor to you. These include the birth, marriage, divorce and death (if applicable) records of the individuals in your Italian line. They will need to be long-form certified copies, and some consulates will also require the records for out-of-line spouses as well. You will also need to show proof of your Italian ancestor’s naturalization status, which in some cases will be a Letter of No Record or a Certificate of Non-Existence (CONE) proving he/she never acquired a foreign citizenship. The relevant records can be obtained from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the counties where your ancestor lived.

US-based vital records can usually be retrieved from the Department of Health in the state where the event occurred. However, in some cases, the records are held only at the county or town level. The procedure and requirements to retrieve the records can vary depending on the state. For example, events that occurred in New York City (including the 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx) are located at the NYC Health Department’s Office of Vital Records, while all other towns in New York State are considered a separate jurisdiction in regards to vital records. Furthermore, a peculiarity is that if your ancestor who was born in New York State is deceased (as well as his/her parent), a court order would be necessary to have a certified copy of their birth record released. For more information on US Vital Records, check out our guide here.

Italian records, such as your Italian ancestor’s birth record (and marriage record, if they married in Italy), can be found in the specific town (municipality) or comune where the event took place. Since Italian records are only held at the municipality level, knowing this exact information is crucial in locating Italian records. Genealogical research can be done to help narrow your search, including referencing ship passenger lists or other historical documents. For more information on Italian Vital Records, check out our guide here.

Once you have procured the vital records, it’s important to verify that the names and dates are consistent throughout; otherwise, amendments or supporting documents may be needed to address any discrepancies. The records should clearly demonstrate the lineage and make it possible for the citizenship clerk to verify that Italian citizenship was passed down correctly from one generation to the next.

Legalization and Translation

Another step in the process is the legalization and translation of foreign-issued and foreign-language documents. Legalizing a document that was issued outside of Italy with an apostille certifies it to be used for an official purpose in Italy. An apostille is generally issued by the Secretary of State where the document was issued, but the process differs slightly in each state. Apostilles can only be applied to certified copies of records and generally not to records with an older issue date.

It will then be required to translate foreign-language documents into Italian. Document translation requirements, including the process to certify translations, may vary depending on how you are submitting your application. You can reference our article here for more information on translations for an Italian citizenship application.

How to Apply

Once you have assembled the required documents, with legalizations and translations, you can proceed with the submission. You will need to apply at the Italian consulate that covers the jurisdiction where you reside, and proof of residence will need to be shown on the day of the appointment, such as a driver’s license or utility bill. Appointments can be made online through the Prenot@mi portal. Since there can be long wait times to secure an appointment, it’s advised to start checking your consulate’s website while you are compiling the documentation.

There is also the option to apply directly in Italy. This would require establishing legal residence in the town where you are planning to apply and maintaining the residence throughout the application procedure. This option is generally faster than applying at a consulate abroad, but it’s important to check that the town is familiar with the jure sanguinis application process and what their estimated wait time is for an appointment. In some cases, there will only be a very short wait, or they may not require booking an appointment in advance.

Court Cases

If you are not able to submit your application at the Italian consulate because you have a female Italian ancestor who had her child before January 1, 1948, you would need to petition the Italian courts in order to successfully acquire Italian citizenship. Prior to this date (when the Italian constitution was ratified), women were not allowed to transmit citizenship to their children. In 2009, a Supreme Court ruling established a precedent that principles in the constitution (such as gender equality) should be applied retroactively, including events that occurred prior. Now, applying via the Italian courts with a so-called “1948 case” has a very high chance of success.

Please note that Italian judges make their ruling according to the current laws. After the conversion of the Tajani Decree into law on May 24, 2025, a two-generation limit was established for the recognition of Italian citizenship by descent, which will also be applied to cases filed in the Italian courts after this date.

However, many legal experts have claimed the non-compliance with the Italian constitution of the Tajani Decree and the converted law (No. 74/2025), and therefore, applicants who file their cases in the Italian courts can request a constitutional review of the new legislation.

Furthermore, for those who are unable to secure an appointment at an Italian consulate, or were unable to do so prior to the change in the law through no fault of their own (eg. lack of appointments, long wait lists), it may be possible to judicially claim the involuntary inability to present their case at an Italian consulate for objective reasons and have their cases assessed by an Italian court.

If you have any questions about Italian Citizenship or would like a free evaluation of your eligibility, please feel free to contact us and one of our Italian Citizenship experts will be in contact with you.