With many changes occurring over the last few months to the Italian citizenship law, it can be difficult to understand the most up-to-date requirements and criteria. These updates have affected citizenship by descent, citizenship by residency, reacquisition, and recognition for minor children of Italian parents. This article will review all the latest changes and future outlook for related legal procedures.  

Tajani Decree (decreto-legge 36/2025) 

On March 28, 2025, the Italian Council of Ministers issued Decree-Law No. 36/2025, which outlined new eligibility rules concerning the recognition of Italian citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis). Provisions detailed in the decree stated that to be recognized as an Italian citizen, you must have an Italian-born parent or grandparent, creating a generational limit to the acquisition of Italian citizenship by descent. Previously, Italy did not have a limit, and based on the 1912 Citizenship Law, descendants could obtain Italian citizenship through a great-grandparent or even a great-great-grandparent by proving an unbroken chain of Italian citizenship throughout the lineage. 

This type of legislation was considered an emergency decree, meaning it went into immediate effect and to be converted into law, the Italian Parliament had only 60 days to review its contents and make changes, if necessary. 

Conversion into Law (Legge 74/2025) 

After amendments were proposed and approved, the Chamber of Deputies voted on May 20, 2025 to convert the revised version of the decree into law. With the President of the Republic’s signature and publication in the Official Gazette on May 23, 2025, Law 74/2025 became official as of the following day. 

According to the law, an individual born abroad before or after May 24, 2025 can be recognized as an Italian citizen if they have either:

• An exclusively Italian citizen parent or grandparent who held exclusively Italian citizenship at the time of their death.
• A parent or adoptive parent who resided in Italy for two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before their child’s date of birth or adoption.

The law also states that citizenship applications submitted to an Italian consulate, Italian municipality, filed in court, OR if the interested party received notification of an appointment to submit an application by 11:59 PM Rome Time on March 27, 2025, their application will be processed according to the rules in effect prior to March 28, 2025.

Minor Children

The law outlined details pertaining to the recognition of Italian citizenship for minor children of Italian citizens, stating that the parents need to follow either of the following procedures:

• The Italian citizen parent makes a declaration within one year of the minor’s birth (or the date of adoption).
• The Italian citizen parent makes a declaration, after which the minor legally resides in Italy for at least two consecutive years.
• The Italian citizen parent makes a declaration for their minor child by 11:59 PM Rome Time on May 31, 2026.

Reacquisition

The process to reacquire Italian citizenship for those who were born in Italy but lost their Italian citizenship when they acquired a foreign citizenship is amended to the following provision:

• Persons born in Italy who lost their citizenship under the provisions of Law No. 555 of 1912 may reacquire it by submitting a declaration between July 1, 2025, and December 31, 2027, without the need to reside in Italy to complete the process.

Citizenship by Residency

The requirements related to naturalization in Italy after a period of residence were also amended (Article 9 of Law No. 91 of 1992), in particular for those with Italian ancestry. Now, you can apply for citizenship after 2 years of residence in Italy if you have an Italian-born parent or grandparent (regardless of whether they acquired foreign citizenship). Previously, the requirement was to reside for 3 years. To apply for citizenship by residency, there is also a language requirement, certifying the knowledge of Italian at the B1 level.

Circolare No. 26185

On May 28, 2025, the Italian Ministry of the Interior issued a memo, or circolare, providing operational instructions on how the new law is to be interpreted and applied. Circolare No. 26185 reviewed all of the points outlined in the law; specifically regarding the criteria for the claiming citizenship by descent through an Italian ancestor. The circolare clarifies that you can be recognized as an Italian citizen if you have a parent or grandparent who held exclusively Italian citizenship, and this requirement must exist “at the date of the event giving rise to acquisition”, meaning the applicant’s date of birth. If the ancestor passed away before the applicant’s birth, then it’s necessary for them to have been Italian at the time of their death. For example, if your Italian-born grandparent acquired another citizenship after your birth, you would still qualify under the conditions of the circolare.

This circolare also outlines more specifically the process by which minor children of Italians will acquire Italian citizenship. Children born abroad to an Italian parent will no longer be recognized as an Italian citizen “at the time of their birth”, but it will be necessary for the parent to file a declaration with their Italian consulate which will recognize the child as a citizen “by benefit of law”.

Circolare No. 59/2025

A second circolare was issued on June 17, 2025, also in reference to the new law, which mostly focused on provisions for minor children of Italian citizens and the reacquisition of Italian citizenship. This circolare reaffirms what was written in the law and the first circolare regarding recognition of Italian citizenship for minor children, specifically that the child will acquire Italian citizenship “by benefit of law” after the parents make a declaration. The three ways in which this can occur remain as follows:

• Both parents make a declaration within one year of the minor’s birth or from the date of adoption
  
• Both parents make a declaration, after which the minor legally and continuously resides for 2 years in Italy

• Children of Italian-born citizens who were minors as of May 24, 2025 can obtain citizenship if a declaration if both parents make a declaration by 11:59 PM on May 31, 2026. If the minor reaches the age of majority during this period, they can then submit the declaration themselves by this deadline.

With this new declaration process, the law states that Italian citizenship “by benefit of law” means that minor children will acquire Italian citizenship from the day after the conditions provided by law have been met (i.e., the declaration within one year of the birth or the two-year residence in Italy). Previously, minors would acquire Italian citizenship retroactively from the date of their birth, jure sanguinis.

Legal Considerations and 1948 Cases

With this sudden and radical change to Italian citizenship law, many questions surround what the future holds for “1948 cases” and for individuals who now find themselves ineligible under the new legislation. Those with 1948 cases, who are applying through a female Italian ancestor who had her child before January 1, 1948 (the date the Italian constitution granted women the right to transmit Italian citizenship to their children), will still need to present their cases in Italian court. Many legal experts argue that the Tajani decree did not affect 1948 cases at all. 1948 cases were made possible by a 2009 ruling from the Italian Supreme Court, which rendered a decision allowing the principles in the Constitution, particularly gender equality and the ability for women to transmit citizenship to their children, to be applied retroactively to events that occurred prior to 1948. Therefore, a reasonable argument to be made in court is that the Tajani decree cannot affect cases that couldn't exist under regular citizenship law (cases that are processed administratively), but exist as a result of Italian jurisprudence. Another argument that can be made is regarding the fact that individuals who were born prior to March 28 should not be subject to the new rules (a law cannot operate retroactively).

In addition to 1948 cases, there are countless individuals who were previously eligible for Italian citizenship and were already collecting documents or attempting to book an appointment with their consulate, but who now find themselves ineligible under the new guidelines. Strong legal arguments can be made in support of these people, who were unable to submit their citizenship application through no fault of their own (e.g. because of the lack of appointments at the Italian consulates or due long queues to be able to submit an application).

It’s important to point out that this argument has already been successfully demonstrated in cases brought before the Italian courts because of extended wait times to secure an appointment at the Italian consulate. Cases that are normally eligible to be processed at the Italian consulate can instead be petitioned to the Italian courts because of extended wait times to secure an appointment that exceed 730 days, arguing that if you aren’t able to get service from the public administration in a timely manner, you can pursue this right in court. Judges always ruled very favorably for such cases.

Finally, it can be argued that the new law is unconstitutional as it infringes on these and many other principles outlined in the Italian Constitution. In particular, the retroactive nature of the decree has been vocally contested by many legal professionals and has also been brought before the Italian Constitutional Court for discussion. On June 25, 2025, a judge at the Court of Torino requested the Constitutional Court review the constitutional legitimacy of the Tajani decree, particularly the retroactivity of the decree. The fact that this issue has reached the Constitutional Court so soon after the law’s conversion is a promising sign for those hoping the court may intervene and prompt changes to the law. Should more judges call into question the constitutionality of the decree, it would increase those odds even more.

Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us directly, visit our website at italiancitizenshipassistance.com, and be sure to subscribe to our Podcast.