After legislation was passed on May 23, 2025, amending the guidelines for recognition of Italian citizenship by descent, the government issued instructional memos, first on May 28, 2025 and most recently on June 17, 2025, to provide functional instructions for the law. Here, we will review the details of this newest memo.
The Tajani Decree (decreto-legge 36/2025) was officially signed into law on May 23, 2025, which established a generational limit for the recognition of Italian citizenship by descent. The Ministry of the Interior released Circolare No. 26185 on May 28, 2025, to clarify how the law is to be interpreted and applied. Then on June 17, 2025, Circolare No. 59/2025 was issued, providing further clarification on specific provisions in the law. While the first circolare confirmed and reviewed all points of Law 74/2025, the June 17, 2025 circolare focuses on provisions for minor children and the process of reacquisition of Italian citizenship.
Minor Children Registration
The June 17, 2025 circolare confirms the previously stated guidelines for the recognition of Italian citizenship for minor children born abroad to Italian citizens. Specifically, the minor child can acquire Italian citizenship “by benefit of law” if the parent makes a declaration within one year of the minor’s birth (or from the date of adoption), or the parent makes a declaration and the minor legally resides in Italy for at least two consecutive years.
It’s important to understand that the minor does not acquire citizenship from birth, or jure sanguinis, but 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). This is a major shift from the previous guidelines of minor registration, where the child would be acquiring Italian citizenship retroactively from the date of their birth.
There is also a transitional provision detailed in the law and reiterated in the circolare, stating that as of May 24, 2025 (the law’s effective date), a minor who is a child of Italian citizens by birth can acquire citizenship if the parent submits a declaration of will by 11:59 PM on May 31, 2026.
The circolare also includes the forms to be provided to the consular officials when submitting the declaration of will, form no. 79, (from Ministerial Decree of April 5, 2002), adapted and reported in the memo as Annex A and B. The forms are written in Italian and will require supporting documents such as the birth certificate of the child and evidence of the parent’s Italian citizenship. More details of these required documents and the self-declaration submission are available on the websites of the Italian consulates.
At the time the self-declaration is submitted and successfully processed, the procedure in which to request an Italian passport for the minor child remains the same as it was previously.
Reacquisition of Italian Citizenship
The circolare also reaffirmed the changes to the reacquisition process of Italian citizenship. Law No. 74/2025 amended Law No. 91/1992, adding a provision for former citizens born in Italy who lost their citizenship before August 15, 1992. Before this date, the acquisition of another citizenship required the renouncement of one’s Italian citizenship. These individuals can submit a declaration between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2027 to reacquire their Italian citizenship without a period of required residence in Italy, which was previously necessary for a reacquisition.
This circolare has outlined the form to be used to file this declaration, form no. 85, (from Ministerial Decree of April 5, 2002), adapted and included in the memo as Annex C.
Lastly, the circolare specifies that the process in which to file a self-declaration must be formal and made in person in the presence of a civil office delegate. This means that it should be filed at the local Italian consulate that covers the jurisdiction where the applicant resides abroad, or can be filed directly at the comune in an Italian municipality if the applicant is residing in Italy.
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