Italy Jure Sanguinis Citizenship 2026: What the 2025 Reform Changed

Italian citizenship by descent used to be one of the most generous ancestry routes in the EU — no generational limit, no language test. A major 2025 reform changed that. Read this before you spend a dollar on genealogy research.

Read this first: who still qualifies (checked October 2026)

Decree-Law 36/2025 (in force 28 March 2025, converted by Law 74/2025) added article 3-bis to Italy's citizenship law. If you were born abroad and also hold another citizenship (a US passport, for example), Italy now treats you as never having acquired citizenship by descent unless one of these is true:

1. A parent or grandparent has, or had when they died, only Italian citizenship.
2. A parent lived in Italy for at least two continuous years after becoming Italian and before you were born (or adopted).
3. Your application was filed at a consulate or comune, your appointment was booked, or your court case was filed by 23:59 Rome time on 27 March 2025. Those cases are judged under the old rules.

The test is citizenship, not birthplace. A grandparent who was born in Italy but later became a US citizen does not meet condition 1. Great-grandparent lines are closed unless condition 3 applies.

On 11 March 2026 Italy's Constitutional Court rejected the main challenges to the law (ruling 63/2026, filed 30 April 2026), so these limits are in force. Further challenges, including on EU law grounds, have been reported, so check the status with the consulate that covers you or a specialist lawyer before paying for document research.

What jure sanguinis is

Jure sanguinis ("by right of blood") lets a person with Italian ancestry be recognized as Italian without ever living in Italy, provided they can document an unbroken citizenship chain back to an Italian ancestor. Before 2025 that chain had no generational limit. Today, for anyone born abroad with another citizenship, it also has to pass one of the three conditions above.

Costs, timeline, and outcome

The 1948 rule

Before January 1, 1948, Italian women could not pass citizenship to their children the way men could. Anyone whose claim runs through a female ancestor who had children before that date typically cannot apply through the normal consular process at all — that case has to go through Italian courts (a judicial route), not a consulate appointment. If your ancestral line runs through a woman born before 1948, plan for a lawsuit, a specialized attorney, and a materially longer timeline than the consular process.

Pros and cons

Pros

• EU passport without ever relocating
• Historically no language test required
• Children who were minors on 24 May 2025, whose parent qualifies under the old rules (condition 3), can be registered by declaration until 31 May 2029

Cons

• Since 2025 you need a parent or grandparent who held only Italian citizenship (or a parent who lived in Italy 2+ years before your birth). Most great-grandchild claims no longer qualify
• Consulate backlogs commonly run years, not months
• 1948-rule maternal-line cases require a lawsuit, not a standard application

Related guides

• Irish vs Italian citizenship by descent
• Italy Elective Residency Visa 2026: Complete Guide
• Foreign Births Register 2026: Claim Irish Citizenship Through a Grandparent
• Poland Citizenship Confirmation 2026: Complete Guide
• Canada Citizenship by Descent 2026: Bill C-3 Explained

This article is informational and reflects publicly available understanding of Italian citizenship law as of publication in 2026. Jure sanguinis eligibility has changed significantly and remains subject to ongoing litigation and legislative developments this article cannot track in real time — verify current generational limits and consulate-specific procedures directly at esteri.it, and consult a specialized Italian citizenship attorney before relying on any figure or rule stated here.