Italian Citizenship by Descent (Jure Sanguinis): 2026 Guide

The short answer

• If you were born abroad and hold another citizenship, and your application was filed after 27 March 2025, you can be recognised only through a parent or grandparent.
• That parent or grandparent must have held only Italian citizenship when you were born (or when they died, if earlier). Alternatively, an Italian-citizen parent must have lived in Italy for two continuous years before your birth.
• Applications filed, or appointments confirmed, by 27 March 2025 are still assessed under the old rules, with no generational limit.
• If none of that fits, the realistic routes are two years' residence in Italy followed by naturalisation, helped by a special work visa for descendants.

A lot of what's online still says a parent or grandparent “born in Italy” is enough. That isn't what the law says, and it's the single most common misunderstanding I see. The rest of this guide explains the actual test, with worked examples.

What changed in 2025, and what the courts have said since

On 28 March 2025 the Italian government issued Decree-Law 36/2025. Parliament converted it, with amendments, into Law 74/2025 of 23 May 2025, in force from 24 May 2025. It added a new Article 3-bis to the 1992 citizenship law (Law 91/1992). Before it, Italian citizenship passed down the generations with no limit, as long as the chain was unbroken and the emigrant ancestor was alive on or after 17 March 1861.

Article 3-bis reverses the starting point for anyone born abroad who holds another citizenship: they are treated as never having acquired Italian citizenship automatically, unless one of the exceptions below applies.

Two court rulings in 2026 matter:

• Constitutional Court, judgment 63/2026. The court rejected the Tribunal of Turin's challenge to Law 74/2025, declaring the questions partly unfounded and partly inadmissible. The judgment was filed on 30 April 2026. Its reasoning is that the legislature has broad discretion to require a genuine link with Italy. The generational limit is therefore valid law. The court left open how to treat people who had begun the process before the cutoff but had no confirmed appointment.
• Court of Cassation (Joint Sections), judgment 24045/2026, 26 July 2026. This settled the long-running “minor issue”. A child born abroad who was already a citizen of their birth country did not lose Italian citizenship when their Italian parent naturalised during the child's minority. That matters mostly for grandfathered, multi-generation claims that consulates had been rejecting on this ground.

Who qualifies now: the exceptions in Article 3-bis

If you were born abroad and hold another citizenship, you are recognised as Italian by descent only if at least one of these is true:

1. You filed before the cutoff. Your application was submitted, or an appointment was confirmed to you by the consulate or comune, by 11:59 pm Rome time on 27 March 2025. A court case filed by that date also counts. Old rules apply.
2. A parent or grandparent held only Italian citizenship at your birth, or at their death if they died before you were born (Art. 3-bis(c)).
3. An Italian-citizen parent lived in Italy for at least two continuous years after becoming Italian and before your birth or adoption (Art. 3-bis(d)).

People born in Italy, and people who hold no citizenship other than Italian, are outside the restriction altogether. In every route the chain still has to be intact.

What “only Italian citizenship” means in practice

The test looks at one person, your parent or grandparent, at one moment: the day you were born. If they had already died, it looks at the day they died. On that date, were they an Italian citizen and nothing else?

• A grandparent who emigrated and never naturalised anywhere else usually passes.
• A grandparent who became a citizen of another country before you were born usually fails, even if they were born in Italy. Before 1992, naturalising abroad generally meant losing Italian citizenship. After 1992 it usually made them a dual citizen. Either way, they were not “only Italian”.
• A parent who was a dual citizen by birth fails this test. That covers most US-born children of Italian emigrants, who were Italian by descent and American by birthplace. You then need a grandparent who passes, or the two-year-residence route.

Italian consulates state that self-declarations are not accepted as proof of holding no other citizenship. Expect to document it with official records. In the US, that means evidence from USCIS naturalisation records that no naturalisation took place, or that it happened after the relevant date.

Four worked examples

1. Grandfather never naturalised. Giuseppe was born in Calabria in 1928, moved to New Jersey in 1956 and kept only his Italian passport until he died in 2011. His granddaughter was born in Ohio in 1994. On that date Giuseppe held only Italian citizenship, so she can apply under Art. 3-bis(c), provided the chain through her parent is documented.

2. Grandfather naturalised after the parent was born. Same family, but Giuseppe became a US citizen in 1975, after his son was born in 1968. Under the 1912 law he lost Italian citizenship in 1975. His son, already American by birth, kept his Italian citizenship; that is the Cassation's 2026 ruling. But when the grandchild was born in 1994, Giuseppe held only US citizenship and the son was a dual citizen. Neither passes the “only Italian” test. A new application fails unless the son lived in Italy for two years before the birth.

3. Italian-born mother who later became a dual citizen. Lucia was born in Milan in 1970, lived there until 1996, moved to Canada and naturalised in 2005. Her son was born in Toronto in 2008. At his birth Lucia was Italian and Canadian, so 3-bis(c) does not work through her. But she was an Italian citizen who lived in Italy for well over two continuous years before his birth, which generally satisfies 3-bis(d).

4. Great-grandparent line, never filed. Your great-grandmother emigrated from Sicily in 1905 and you planned to apply in 2026. No parent or grandparent can carry the claim, so recognition by descent is closed. The options are the residence-based routes further down.

Grandfathered applications (filed by 27 March 2025)

If your application was submitted, or your appointment confirmed, by the cutoff, the pre-reform rules apply:

• There is no generational limit. A great-grandparent or earlier ancestor can carry the claim.
• The emigrant ancestor must have been alive on or after 17 March 1861, the date of Italian unification.
• No one in the line may have naturalised elsewhere before the next person in the line was born. After the Cassation's July 2026 judgment, consulates should no longer reject cases only because a parent naturalised while their foreign-born child was a minor.
• The 1948 rule still applies to women in the line (below).

Having “started” without filing or a confirmed appointment does not count. The Constitutional Court left that narrow group's position open, so take legal advice before relying on it.

The 1948 rule

Before Italy's 1948 Constitution, women could not pass citizenship to their children. So a line that goes through a woman whose child was born before 1 January 1948 cannot be recognised by a consulate. It has to go to an Italian court, usually the tribunal for the region where the ancestor was born. Italian courts have consistently granted these cases, but they cost more and take longer. The 1948 rule applies on top of the 2025 limits, not instead of them. See the full Italy 1948 rule guide.

Children of people who are already Italian

Under the 2025 rules, a minor born abroad to an Italian citizen-by-birth parent, who doesn't qualify automatically under Article 3-bis, can still become Italian through a declaration by the parents. It has to be made within one year of the child's birth, or the child must then live legally in Italy for two continuous years. A one-off transitional window for children who were already minors in May 2025 closed on 31 May 2026. If you were recognised recently and have young children, raise this at your consulate straight away; the one-year clock is easy to miss.

If you don't qualify: the realistic alternatives

• Naturalisation after two years in Italy. Foreigners whose parent or grandparent was an Italian citizen by birth can apply after two years of legal residence (Law 91/1992, Art. 9). Law 74/2025 cut this from three years; the standard period is ten. Naturalisation is discretionary and includes a B1 Italian language requirement, so it's a project, not a formality.
• Work visa for descendants, outside the quota. Law 74/2025 created a quota-exempt work visa for descendants of Italian citizens. It covers citizens of countries with large Italian communities: the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Uruguay. You need a job offer from an Italian employer, but it is the most direct way to start the two-year clock.
• Reacquisition by former citizens. People who lost Italian citizenship under the old rules, and who were born in Italy or lived there for two continuous years, can reacquire it by declaration between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2027. This helps if the person who lost citizenship is still alive, typically a parent.
• Another EU route. Many Italian-American families also have ancestry in countries with more generous rules. Compare them on our requirements by country page.

Documents you will need

1. Birth record of the Italian ancestor (estratto dell'atto di nascita) from the comune of birth. Older records are often searchable on the Antenati portal.
2. Birth and marriage certificates for every generation down to you, plus divorce decrees and death certificates where relevant. All foreign documents must be long-form, apostilled and translated into Italian.
3. Proof of naturalisation status for the Italian ancestor: the naturalisation certificate with its date, or official evidence that none exists. Under the new law, you also need this for the parent or grandparent whose “only Italian” status you rely on, at your birth date.
4. For the two-year-residence route: Italian residence records (certificato storico di residenza) showing the parent's continuous residence before your birth.

Name and date inconsistencies between records, such as “Giuseppe” on one and “Joseph” on another, are still the most common cause of delay. Fix them with amended records or a one-and-the-same-person affidavit before you file, not after. Our document chain guide covers how to order and check the set.

How applying works from the US

Adults apply at the Italian consulate covering where they live. Most consulates use the Prenot@mi booking system; appointments are personal and can't be transferred. Some consulates now take citizenship files by post. Los Angeles, for example, asks for documents to be mailed by the appointment date and doesn't require you to attend. The consular fee has been €600 per adult application since 1 January 2025. It is not refunded if the application is refused, so be sure you qualify before you pay it. If you live in Italy, you apply at the comune of residence instead.

Realistic timeline and cost

Indicative only. Waiting times vary a lot between consulates and change year to year.

Official and primary sources

• Law 74/2025 (Gazzetta Ufficiale), converting Decree-Law 36/2025 and inserting Article 3-bis into Law 91/1992
• Constitutional Court press release on judgment 63/2026
• Court of Cassation, Joint Sections, judgment 24045/2026 (summary, Altalex)
• Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles: citizenship by descent
• Directory of Italian consulates — always follow the page for your own consulate
• Antenati portal (Italian State Archives civil records)

Frequently asked questions