Italy Citizenship by Descent
Italy recognises citizenship through an unbroken paternal or (post-1948) maternal bloodline — but the 2025 reform now limits most new applications to an Italian-born parent or grandparent. This is the single most contested and fast-changing citizenship-by-descent programme, so treat every claim here as time-sensitive.
Parent or grandparent for applications filed after the 2025 reform (Decree-Law 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025). Appointments booked before 28 March 2025 are largely grandfathered under the old no-limit rules, and court cases (1948 path) may still proceed under pre-reform rules. Under active legal challenge — treat as unsettled.
Recognition of citizenship from birth
1–4 years (consulate); 1–2 years (court)
$1,000–$5,000 vs. $5,000–$15,000
Everything above tells you whether you qualify. This tells you exactly how to file.
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Eligibility overview
Italian citizenship by descent (jus sanguinis) is based on the principle that an Italian citizen's child is Italian from birth, regardless of where they were born. Under the 2025 reform (Decree-Law 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025 on May 24, 2025), recognition is now limited to applicants with an Italian-born parent or grandparent who maintained Italian citizenship. Previously, there was no generational limit.
The process involves proving an unbroken chain of Italian citizenship from your ancestor to you, through birth, marriage, and death certificates for every person in the line, plus proof that your ancestor did not naturalise in another country before the next child's birth.
The 2025 changes are being actively challenged in Italian courts, and the legal landscape is evolving. We track updates as they develop.
You may qualify if you can trace an unbroken line back to an ancestor who was still an Italian citizen at the time your next ancestor in the line was born — and that ancestor never naturalised in another country before that birth.
Since the 2025 reform, most new applicants are limited to claiming through an Italian-born parent or grandparent — citizenship "stops" transmitting automatically at the great-grandparent level for new filings. This is the single biggest change to plan around before you invest months of research.
If you booked a consulate appointment before 28 March 2025, you may still be processed under the old no-limit rules — proof of your booking date matters.
If your only Italian-citizen ancestor is a woman and the next child in the line was born before 1 January 1948, you cannot use the standard consular/comune process — you need the judicial "1948 case" route instead, which is a specialist legal process, not a document-collection exercise.
Descent (jus sanguinis) — administrative route
Filed at an Italian consulate abroad or directly at a comune in Italy. Available where the line was never broken by naturalisation and, since the 2025 reform, generally limited to applicants with an Italian-born parent or grandparent.
1948 case — judicial route
Filed in the Italian courts (typically Rome). The only route available when the sole Italian-citizen ancestor in the line is a woman whose child was born before 1 January 1948, because the administrative process cannot transmit citizenship through the maternal line before that date. Requires an Italian avvocato; not a DIY process.
Key pitfalls & disqualifiers
Naturalisation before the next child was born
If any ancestor in your line naturalised in another country (e.g. the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil) before the birth of their next child in the line, Italian citizenship stopped transmitting at that point. This is the single most common disqualifier — and it is often discovered only after months of gathering the wrong documents.
Check naturalisation records for every ancestor in the chain before ordering any certificates. If the naturalisation date is genuinely after the child's birth, the line stays intact — get a certified "no record of naturalisation" or exact naturalisation date from the relevant country's immigration authority (e.g. USCIS in the US) as your first document, not your last.
Pre-1948 female-line transmission
Under the administrative process, Italian citizenship could not pass through a woman before 1 January 1948. If your only qualifying ancestor is a woman whose child was born before that date, the comune/consulate route will reject you outright.
File a "1948 case" through the Italian courts instead. This requires an Italian-licensed lawyer and typically 1–2 years, but has a strong success rate for genuinely unbroken lines — and is often faster than consular queues. This is exactly the kind of case where paying for specialist help is not optional.
Great-grandparent (or further) line under the 2025 reform
For applications filed after 28 March 2025, recognition is generally limited to a parent or grandparent who held Italian citizenship — great-grandparent lines that would previously have qualified may now be blocked administratively, even if the line was never broken. The reform is being challenged in court.
If you were already mid-process (had a consular appointment booked, or AIRE registration filed) before the cutoff, you may be grandfathered — check your specific timeline against the current guidance, which we track and date-stamp on this page.
Document checklist
| Document | Issuing Authority | Cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italian ancestor's birth certificate (estratto di nascita) | Comune (municipality) of birth in Italy — Ufficio di Stato Civile | €0–€30 depending on comune | 2 weeks – 6 months; highly variable by comune |
| Birth certificates — every person in the line | Vital records office of the country where each birth occurred (e.g. county clerk in the US, GRO in the UK) | $15–$50 each | 1–8 weeks |
| Marriage certificates — every couple in the line | County clerk or vital records office where each marriage occurred | $15–$50 each | 1–8 weeks |
| Death certificates (where applicable) | Vital records office of the place of death | $15–$50 each | 1–8 weeks |
| Proof of non-naturalisation (or exact naturalisation date) | Immigration authority of the receiving country (e.g. USCIS for the US, IRCC for Canada) | $65–$130 per search/record through USCIS | 3–12 months — this is usually the longest-lead item, order it first |
| Apostille (for each foreign document) | Secretary of State (US) or the issuing country's apostille authority | $1–$25 per document (varies by state) | 1–6 weeks |
| Certified translations into Italian | Certified/sworn translator; legalised at the Italian consulate or by an Italian court (traduzione asseverata) | $25–$50 per page | 1–3 weeks |
- The deciding offices for your case — address, email, real turnaround and fees
- Ready-to-send request letters in the right language
- The precise order to work in, and which steps block which
- The known ways these cases break, and how to avoid each one
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DIY vs. agency
| Item | DIY (with Passport Heritage) | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Total cost | $1,000–$5,000 (fees, certificates, apostilles, translations) | $5,000–$15,000+ |
| Timeline (unbroken line, no 1948 case) | 1–4 years, largely bottlenecked by naturalisation record requests and consular queues | Similar — agencies rarely speed up government offices, mainly they manage the paperwork |
| Consular appointment wait | Same wait as everyone else — some consulates are booking 2+ years out | Same wait, unless the agency uses a comune-direct route in Italy instead |
Requirements by where you live
United States
Certified translation (translator's signed statement of accuracy) is sufficient for USCIS-side documents; the Italian consulate requires translations from its approved list for documents submitted to it.
United Kingdom
UK-issued documents need an apostille from the UK Legalisation Office before translation; Italian consulates in the UK generally require translations from consulate-approved translators.
Australia
Apostille via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), then certified translation — Australian consular services do not translate documents for you.
The laws behind this pathway
Law No. 91 of February 5, 1992
Legge 5 febbraio 1992, n. 91
The foundational modern Italian citizenship law. Replaced the 1912 law and established the current framework for citizenship by descent, by marriage, and by residence. Allows dual citizenship.
- Article 1: Citizenship by birth to an Italian citizen parent
- Article 3: Adult foreigners can acquire citizenship after 10 years of residence
- Article 5: Citizenship by marriage after 6 months of residence (or 3 years without)
- Repealed the prohibition on dual citizenship from the 1912 law
Decree-Law No. 36 of March 28, 2025 (Tajani Decree)
Decreto-Legge 28 marzo 2025, n. 36
Introduced a two-generation limit on citizenship by descent recognition. Applicants must now have an Italian-born parent or grandparent who was an Italian citizen by birth and maintained citizenship. Applies to appointments booked after May 24, 2025.
- Two-generation limit: only parent or grandparent Italian-born ancestors qualify
- Does not apply retroactively to appointments booked before March 28, 2025
- Applicants must demonstrate the ancestor maintained Italian citizenship
- Court cases (1948 cases) may still proceed under pre-reform rules — this is being contested
Law No. 74 of May 24, 2025 (Conversion of Decree-Law 36/2025)
Legge 24 maggio 2025, n. 74
The parliamentary conversion of Decree-Law 36/2025, making the two-generation limit permanent law. Included some amendments but maintained the core generational restriction.
- Confirmed the two-generation limit for consulate applications
- Added provisions for individuals with strong ties to Italy
- Court path (1948 cases) remains available for pre-1948 female-line claims
Law No. 555 of June 13, 1912
Legge 13 giugno 1912, n. 555
The pre-1992 citizenship law. Important for cases involving ancestors who naturalised before 1992, as it governed how Italian citizenship was transmitted and lost. Under this law, women could not transmit citizenship to children born before January 1, 1948.
- Article 7: Child of Italian citizen father is Italian by birth regardless of place of birth
- Article 8: Naturalisation in a foreign country causes loss of Italian citizenship
- Article 11: Naturalised father's loss of citizenship extended to wife and minor children (pre-1948)
- Women could not independently transmit citizenship until the 1948 Constitution
Italian Constitution, Article 3 (1948)
Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana, Art. 3
Established equality before the law without distinction of sex. The Italian Supreme Court has interpreted this to mean that the pre-1948 rule preventing women from transmitting citizenship is unconstitutional, opening the '1948 case' judicial pathway.
- Equality principle applied retroactively by courts to citizenship transmission
- Forms the basis for 1948 court cases for female-line descent claims
- Does not automatically grant citizenship — requires judicial action
The 2025 reform (Decree-Law 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025) restricting recognition to two generations is being challenged in Italian courts; outcomes could restore eligibility for great-grandparent lines. We track this and update the "last verified" date whenever the guidance changes.
Update (26 July 2026): the Supreme Court's United Sections (Cassazione, Sezioni Unite, n. 24045/2026) resolved the so-called "minor issue" in applicants' favour — a minor who was already a dual national at birth (Italian by descent, foreign by jus soli) does not lose Italian citizenship simply because the Italian parent later naturalised abroad while the minor was still under 18. This closes a gap that previously left some grandparent-line cases uncertain.
Common questions
Can I still apply through a great-grandparent after the 2025 reform?
Only if you booked a consulate appointment before March 28, 2025. New applicants are limited to parent or grandparent under the reform, though court cases (the 1948 path) may still be available for certain claims — and the reform itself is under active legal challenge.
Do I need to speak Italian to qualify?
No — unlike Hungary's simplified naturalisation, Italian descent citizenship has no language requirement. Language is only required for citizenship by marriage or ordinary naturalisation.
Can I hold dual citizenship with Italy?
Yes. Since Law 91/1992, Italy fully allows dual citizenship. You do not need to renounce your current citizenship.
Can I apply directly in Italy instead of through a consulate?
Yes — applying directly at the comune your ancestor was born in (or where you establish residence) is often faster than consular queues abroad, though it requires you to be physically present in Italy for an extended period. This is one of the most common "workarounds" agencies sell, and it is realistic to do yourself with good documents in hand.
What if my ancestor's name was changed or misspelled at Ellis Island or on later records?
Name-transliteration mismatches are common and usually fixable with an affidavit or supporting documents showing the same person across records (e.g. matching birthdates and parents' names), rather than requiring you to "prove" a name change occurred.
What is a "1948 case"?
If citizenship passed through a woman before January 1, 1948, you can't use the standard consular process. Instead, you file a court case in Italy arguing that the pre-1948 restriction was unconstitutional. This requires a specialised attorney, typically costs $3,000–$5,000 in legal fees, and takes 1–2 years — often faster than the consulate route.
What applicants actually experienced
The March 2025 decree caught thousands mid-process — applicants years into document gathering became ineligible overnight, and consulates applied the new rules based on when documents actually changed hands, not when an appointment was booked. The community lesson repeated ever since: your filing date decides which law applies, so file the moment you are ready.
r/juresanguinis decree threads, 2025
Italy's Constitutional Court upheld the two-generation limit in April 2026 (Sentenza 63/2026), but lower courts in Bologna and Naples have still recognized third- and fourth-generation applicants in 2026 rulings, and lawyers are pushing an EU-law challenge. The community consensus: administrative routes are closed for most, but judicial routes are alive — follow r/juresanguinis's daily threads for the current state.
r/juresanguinis legal-tracking threads, 2026
US federal paperwork is the slow lane people underestimate: USCIS Certificates of Non-Existence took ~2.5–4.5 months in recent reports, NARA negative searches ~2.5 months, and NYC vital records by mail up to 18 weeks. Order the naturalization/no-record proofs before anything else.
r/juresanguinis timeline threads, 2025
- Real Italy timelines & costs applicants report
- Free Italy cost & timeline estimator
- Apostille Guide for Citizenship by Descent
- Certified Translations for Citizenship Applications
- Finding Naturalization Records
- Obtaining Vital Records from Abroad
- Dual Citizenship: What You Need to Know
- Benefits of an EU Passport Through Citizenship by Descent
- Real Citizenship-by-Descent Timelines vs the Official Estimates
- Consulate Appointment Strategies for Citizenship by Descent
- Agency vs DIY: What Citizenship by Descent Actually Costs
- When Citizenship Laws Change Mid-Application: 2025–2026 in Review
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