Recently, it was announced that the Italian Constitutional Court would be reviewing certain key aspects of the Tajani Decree, most likely early next year. Now, the Supreme Court too will be examining the Tajani Decree, along with the “minor issue” that has resulted in mixed decisions on Italian citizenship by descent applications for a number of recent years. In this article, we will discuss what factors are currently at play in jure sanguinis applications, what the “minor issue” is, and how the Supreme Court could affect these rulings.
The Italian Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Cassation (Corte Suprema di Cassazione), located in Rome, is the highest court of appeal, the purpose of which is to examine the application of laws in the lower courts. The Appellate Court can send it an appeal, and the Supreme Court’s decision can determine a lower court’s ruling on a particular case. It is incredibly important, therefore, that it will now be ruling on the minor issue and the Tajani Decree.
The recent changes to Italian citizenship by descent
We have written extensively on the Tajani Decree, issued in March 2025 and officially codified into law in May of the same year. It is important to understand that the “minor issue” (below) is separate from the Tajani Decree. They are both newsworthy items however, and happen to be taken under consideration by the Supreme Court in 2026.
Prior to the Tajani Decree, Italian citizenship by descent had had virtually no generational limit. The primary requirement was that the Italian ancestor had been born before March 17, 1861, when Italy became a unified nation, and had not lost citizenship before the next-in-line was born.
The Tajani Decree essentially limits Italian citizenship by descent to those with Italian parents or grandparents who were either exclusively Italian citizens, or resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years before the birth of the child and after their acquisition of citizenship.
The Supreme Court will primarily be examining the Tajani Decree to determine if it is fair for it to be applied to those born before its issuance.
Notably, the Constitutional Court will also be examining aspects of the Tajani Decree, most likely early next year. However, these courts will be looking at the decree from different angles, and will reach independent decisions regarding it.
The minor issue
The other topic of concern at the moment is the so-called “minor issue”. These are cases in which the Italian ancestor naturalized while the foreign-born next-in-line was still a minor. In the majority of past cases, citizenship has been granted to the applicant regardless, but in recent years, the question of whether or not Italian citizenship was taken from the minor when the parent(s) naturalized has concerned many courts.
In fact, the “minor issue” will be the primary concern for the Supreme Court during its considerations likely in early-mid 2026. The effect of an ancestor’s loss of Italian citizenship on minor children has been brought before the Supreme Court in past years, in individual cases. In certain cases, the court determined that the minor did, in fact, lost citizenship; however, these cases were not legally binding for the lower courts. For example, back in 2024, a memo (circolare) was issued stating that the foreign-born minor would lose Italian citizenship when the Italian-born parent acquired foreign citizenship. Given that this was issued as a memo, though, means that it was not a new law. Rather, it was a guideline to be followed at Italian consulates and municipalities, but not necessarily the Italian courts. This is an important distinction, and provides room for the Italian courts to approve those with a “minor issue” case. Also, due to the fact that the memo was not a new law, it will not necessarily affect the Supreme Court’s upcoming 2026 ruling. This ruling becomes necessary due to conflicting decisions made by the Italian courts on identical cases, and it will determine how the court will decide on minor issue applications.
As a separate issue, it has always been the case that minor children born in Italy who later relocate to another country gave up their Italian citizenship by default when the Italian-born parent naturalized. The “minor issue” described above uniquely concerns those children born abroad to Italian parents who later take on another citizenship and de facto lose Italian citizenship in the process.
The upcoming rulings
With both the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court looking at the Tajani Decree in the upcoming year, there is some hope that the new law could be overturned or at least restricted. At this point, however, it is difficult to say with reasonable certainty. Here at Italian Citizenship Assistance, we will keep our blog and podcast updated with all the latest news regarding citizenship laws and requirements.
If you would like your case for Italian citizenship evaluated, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. Our team of experts would be happy to review your case.
