On March 28, 2025, the Italian government approved Decree Law No. 36 “Urgent provisions on citizenship” which came into effect the following day.
The decree law aims to “introduce limitations in the automatic transmission of Italian citizenship to persons born and residing abroad, conditioning it on clear indications of the existence of effective ties with the Republic.”
Italian citizenship by descent: new law for descendants
The new rules stipulate that descendants of Italian citizens, born abroad, are entitled to Italian citizenship jure sanguinis only if they have at least one parent or grandparent born in Italy.
Previously it was sufficient to prove they had an Italian ancestor living in 1861, thus including great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents.
The acquisition of citizenship will be automatic for children of Italians who are born in Italy or who have at least one of their parents who is a citizen and resided for two continuous years in Italy before their birth. This is the minimum period of time to meet the requirement of “qualified residence” in Italy, necessary to be able to define the link with Italy as “effective.”
Who do the restrictions apply to?
In order not to create stateless people, the new restrictions apply only to those who have another citizenship and apply regardless of whether their date of birth was before or after the decree-law came into force.
Those who have already been recognized as Italian citizens by a court, municipality or consulate will not have their citizenship revoked.
Finally, applications for citizenship recognition documented and submitted by 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on March 27, 2025 will be processed under the previous rules.
