KEY POINTS: What are Italy's new rules on claiming citizenship by descent?

Local Italy

22-05-2025

If you're planning to make a claim for Italian citizenship through descent (also known as iure sanguinis, or 'blood right' citizenship) some major changes have come into force affecting a large proportion of potential applicants.
You may have already read in the news that, at the end of March, the Italian government pushed through an urgent decree immediately applying a two-generational limit to applications, meaning only those with an Italian parent or grandparent were eligible.
This marked a major change from previous rules, which had long allowed anyone with an Italian ancestor, with no generational limit, to apply as long as they could prove their unbroken chain of descent.
The Italian government said the abrupt changes were necessary partly because a rising number of complex applications and requests for copies of decades-old documents were clogging the country's courts and administrative offices.
The new restrictions came into effect immediately after the urgent decree was published at the end of March.
However, the final version of the new rules, voted through by Italy's parliament almost two months later on May 20th, contains some important amendments made by lawmakers.
While the rules are complex, here's our quick overview of the main changes and how they will affect applications, based on the information available in the final version of the decree text (you can find it here, in Italian).
Italian or Italian-born?
This has become the main point of confusion for would-be applicants, as the initial decree included a requirement for children born outside of Italy to have a parent or grandparent who was born in Italy in order to be eligible for citizenship.
The amendments approved by parliament on May 20th removed this rule and replaced it with a requirement to have a parent or grandparent who 'holds, or held at the time of death, exclusively Italian citizenship', according to the final version of the decree.
This means that those born abroad with at least one parent or grandparent who holds only Italian citizenship, or held it at the time of death, will be eligible.
Under the new rules, parents and grandparents who hold dual citizenship cannot pass Italian citizenship on to children or grandchildren born abroad, unless they renounce their other, non-Italian citizenship.
Italy's parliament has approved a new decree tightening rules on citizenship by descent. Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP)
Exceptions
There are some exceptions to the 'exclusive' Italian citizenship requirement.
A parent or adoptive parent who 'has been a resident in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before the date of the child's birth or adoption" can pass citizenship to their foreign-born child, even when holding dual nationality, the decree states.
A second exception is aimed at people who gained citizenship by descent under the old, more lenient rules (i.e., the rules requiring applicants to have an Italian ancestor who was alive on or after March 17th, 1861).
Those who acquired Italian citizenship by descent under the previous rules, including dual nationals, will be able to pass on citizenship to foreign-born children under the age of 18 by submitting a request by May 31st, 2026, the decree noted.
The decree didn't provide any further details as to how this request should be submitted, or to whom.
Are the rules retroactive?
The final text of the decree confirmed that the new rules would not be applied to applications already made before the law was changed.
The new rules do not apply to citizenship applications filed either through an Italian consulate or an Italian court by 11.59pm Italian time on March 27th, 2025, it states.
Applications filed after 11.59pm Italian time on March 27th, 2025 will be subject to the new rules.
The Local will continue to provide further information on the new rules as more details become available.