Italian citizenship by descent: Decree-Law No. 36/2025 becomes law

A few hours ago, came the final approval by the Chamber of Deputies to convert Decree-Law No. 36/2025 into law: the changes to Italian citizenship by descent have become final.

With the stated goal of strengthening a genuine link with Italy, the Italian government has amended the rules governing Italian citizenship by descent by establishing a generational limit (up to grandparents) and additional conditions for the transmission of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis that also apply to minors, including in some cases the need for the exclusive possession of Italian citizenship by the Italian ancestor.

These changes are effective for those who were born even before the new rules came into effect, with some express exceptions relating to those who have already been recognized as Italian citizens by blood or have already started the process for recognition before March 28, 2025.

But let’s see the new rules briefly:

- those who were born abroad before the entry into force of the new rules are subject to the previous rules only if they have already been recognized as Italian citizens (administratively through an Italian consulate or municipality or judicially) or have received a notice of appointment to apply by March 27, 2025, or have filed a judicial application by March 27, 2025;

- automatically acquire Italian citizenship those whose parents or grandparents (at least one of them) held Italian citizenship exclusively or in the case where one of the parents or adopters has resided legally and continuously in Italy for at least two years after the acquisition of Italian citizenship and before the birth or adoption of the child;

- the foreign or stateless minor, descendant of parents who are Italian citizens by birth, becomes an Italian citizen if the parents or guardian declare the will to purchase: subsequent to such declaration, the minor must reside legally and continuously in Italy for at least two years or the declaration of will must be submitted within one year of birth or the date of recognition/adoption by an Italian citizen. The right of a minor who becomes an Italian citizen by the will of his or her parents and who holds another citizenship to renounce Italian citizenship upon reaching the age of majority remains unaffected;

- the minor child of a parent who acquires citizenship may in turn acquire it only if he or she has been legally residing in Italy for at least two continuous years on the date of the parent's acquisition of citizenship (or from birth, if the minor is less than two years old);

- in disputes for the ascertainment of Italian citizenship, oaths and testimonial evidence are not admitted as means of proof, except in cases expressly provided for by law, and the burden of proving the non-existence of the causes of non-acquisition or loss of citizenship falls on the person requesting the ascertainment of citizenship;

- the foreigner residing abroad, descendant of an Italian citizen and citizen of a country of historical Italian emigration, may enter and reside in Italy for subordinate work outside the maximum quotas provided by the flows decree;

- the period of legal residence in Italy required for the granting of citizenship to a foreigner whose parent or grandparent is or was an Italian citizen by birth is reduced from three to two years;

- those who were born in Italy or have resided there for at least two continuous years and have lost their citizenship under specific provisions of Law No. 555 of 1912 have the option of regaining citizenship if they make, between July 1, 2025, and December 31, 2027, a declaration to that effect.

Your Way to Italy: our assistance

These changes have a significant impact on the situation of many Italian descendants around the world, which must also be carefully evaluated at the constitutional level: Your Way to Italy’s team will work on the analysis of the final text of the law when published and available for any clarification. For a free assessment of your case, please contact our team at yourwaytoitaly@lcalex.it.