Understanding the Recent Changes to Italian Citizenship by Descent (Jure Sanguinis)

April 1, 2025

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If you’ve been considering applying for Italian citizenship through your ancestry, you need to be aware of significant changes recently announced by the Italian government. On March 28, 2025, an emergency decree was approved that alters the rules for jure sanguinis (citizenship by right of blood).

What Are the Main Changes?
For many years, Italy allowed citizenship to be passed down through generations with few limits, as long as the line wasn’t broken. The new decree changes this significantly:

Two-Generation Limit: Generally, automatic Italian citizenship by descent is now limited to applicants who have at least one parent born in Italy OR at least one grandparent born in Italy.

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Impact on More Distant Ancestry: If your closest ancestor born in Italy is a great-grandparent or further back, you no longer qualify for automatic citizenship recognition by descent under these new rules. The previous path for up to five generations has been closed for new applicants.

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Protection for Pending Applications: There’s good news for those already in the process. Any complete citizenship application formally submitted to an Italian consulate, municipality, or court on or before March 27, 2025, will still be evaluated based on the old, more expansive rules. If your application was already successfully processed, your citizenship is not affected.​

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Minor Rule: If that ancestor became a U.S. citizen (or citizen of another foreign country) by naturalization before August 16, 1992, you will not be entitled to Italian citizenship if your ancestor’s child(ren) was a minor (minor age: 21 years old until March 09, 1975 –  18 years old from March 10, 1975 and on) on the date of obtaining foreign citizenship, even if born before your Italian ancestor’s naturalization. Under the new regulations, for applications submitted after March 27, 2025, Italian citizenship may be granted to an applicant whose parent is an Italian citizen born in Italy, or whose parent is an Italian citizen born abroad and who lived in Italy for a minimum of two consecutive years prior to the applicant’s birth, or to an applicant whose grandparent is an Italian citizen born in Italy.

Why the Change?
The Italian government indicated these changes aim to ensure individuals claiming citizenship have a more direct, recent connection to Italy and to manage the high volume of applications.

How Italy Becomes You Can Help
At Italy Becomes You, we understand these changes create uncertainty. We are closely monitoring the situation, including the parliamentary review process, and will provide updates as they become available.

The rules around citizenship can be complex, especially with these new developments. If you have questions about how this reform affects your specific situation or want to explore alternative pathways to Italian citizenship (like residency or marriage), we strongly encourage you to schedule a free consultation with our specialists.

Sources:

• Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Communiqué on Citizenship Law Changes (March 28, 2025)

• Il Sole 24 Ore – News Article on Citizenship Law Changes (March 29, 2025)

• Disclaimer: This article provides general information based on the decree issued March 28, 2025, and should not be considered legal advice. Eligibility can only be confirmed after a detailed review of individual circumstances.

We are Italian Citizenship experts. We have many years of experience helping people be recognized as an Italian Citizen. We would love to help you accomplish your dream of becoming recognized as an Italian Citizen too!