Mar 18, 2026
Italy overhauled its citizenship-by-descent law in 2025 — and for most Italian Americans, the news was not good.
Millions of people who were once eligible to claim Italian citizenship through a great-grandparent or more distant ancestor lost that eligibility overnight when the new law took effect in late March 2025.
But for Italian Americans who have a grandparent born in Italy, the pathway remains open. This guide explains exactly what changed, who still qualifies, what the new rules require, and how to move forward if you're in this situation.
Important: This article reflects Italy's citizenship law as of 2025-2026. The law changed significantly in March 2025 (Decree-Law No. 36/2025, converted into Law No. 74/2025 on May 24, 2025). Information about Italian citizenship from before 2025 may no longer be accurate. Always verify current rules before beginning an application.
What Changed in 2025?
For decades, Italy operated one of the world's most generous citizenship-by-descent programs. Under the old rules — which dated back to the 1912 Citizenship Law — there was no generational limit. If you could prove an unbroken line of Italian citizenship back to an Italian-born ancestor who was alive when Italy unified in 1861, you could claim citizenship, even if that ancestor was your great-great-grandparent.
That changed on March 28, 2025, when the Italian government issued an emergency decree — known as the Tajani Decree — that took effect immediately. Parliament converted it into permanent law (Law No. 74/2025) on May 24, 2025. Italy's Constitutional Court rejected legal challenges to the new law in March 2026, and while further proceedings are ongoing at Italy's Court of Cassation, the law currently stands.
The core change is a strict generational limit. Under the new law, Italian citizenship by descent is only available to people who have a parent or grandparent who held exclusively Italian citizenship. Claims through great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, or more distant ancestors are no longer recognized under the standard pathway.
The new law is estimated to have eliminated eligibility for 60 to 80 million people worldwide who previously qualified — including the vast majority of Italian Americans, most of whom trace their ancestry to immigration in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Who Still Qualifies Under the New Rules?
Despite the sweeping changes, meaningful eligibility remains for Italian Americans with more recent Italian family ties. You may still qualify if you meet one of the following conditions:
You Have an Italian-Born Grandparent Who Held Only Italian Citizenship
This is the primary pathway for Americans under the new law. If one of your four grandparents was born in Italy and held exclusively Italian citizenship — meaning they never naturalized as a U.S. citizen — you are potentially eligible to claim Italian citizenship by descent.
The key requirement on the "exclusively Italian" point is significant. Your grandparent must have held only Italian citizenship at the time of your parent's birth (or at the time of their death, if they died before your parent was born). If your grandparent became a naturalized U.S. citizen before your parent was born, the chain is broken and you do not qualify under this pathway.
You Have an Italian-Born Parent
If one of your parents was born in Italy, the pathway is even more straightforward, and the same "exclusively Italian" citizenship requirement applies at the relevant point in the chain. If your parent was Italian-born and held Italian citizenship, you qualify.
Your Parent Lived in Italy for Two Consecutive Years
There is an alternative route that does not require your parent or grandparent to have been born in Italy. If your parent (or adoptive parent) legally resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship, and before your birth, you may qualify through this residency-based exception. This pathway applies even if your ancestor's citizenship was acquired through naturalization rather than by birth.
You Filed Before the Deadline
If you or a family member submitted a complete citizenship application to an Italian consulate or municipality, filed a court claim, or received official notification of a consulate appointment before 11:59 PM Rome time on March 27, 2025, your case will be evaluated under the old rules — regardless of which generation your Italian ancestor belongs to. Approximately 60,000 applications were under review at the time the law changed and remain in process under the prior framework.
The "Exclusively Italian Citizenship" Requirement — What It Means
The phrase "exclusively Italian citizenship" is central to the new law and deserves careful attention. It means that at the relevant moment in your family line, your Italian ancestor must have held Italian citizenship only — not dual citizenship with any other country.
For most Italian Americans whose grandparents emigrated to the United States, this comes down to one question: did your grandparent ever naturalize as a U.S. citizen?
If your grandparent never naturalized as a U.S. citizen, they likely held exclusively Italian citizenship until their death — and you may qualify.
If your grandparent naturalized as a U.S. citizen before your parent was born, the chain is broken and you do not qualify through the grandparent pathway.
If your grandparent naturalized after your parent was born, the transmission to your parent may have already occurred — but you will need to analyze the timing carefully.
Naturalization records are publicly available through USCIS (for more recent records) and through the National Archives (for older records). Checking whether and when your grandparent naturalized is often the first and most important step in any eligibility assessment.
What If You No Longer Qualify? Other Options to Explore
If the new generational limit rules you out, your options are more limited — but not entirely closed. Here are the main alternatives:
Residency-Based Naturalization in Italy
Italy has reduced the residency requirement for people with Italian grandparents or parents from three years to two years. If you are willing to relocate to Italy and establish legal residency for two consecutive years, you can apply for citizenship through naturalization. You will also need to demonstrate B1-level Italian language proficiency and meet financial self-sufficiency requirements. This is a longer and more demanding route, but it is a genuine pathway for people with grandparent-level connections who want to pursue Italian citizenship.
Legal Challenges to the 2025 Law
Advocacy organizations — including the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) — are actively challenging the 2025 reform. Italy's Court of Cassation, the country's highest legal authority, is scheduled to hear further challenges to the new rules in April 2026. While the Constitutional Court upheld the law in March 2026, the legal landscape remains in flux. It is worth monitoring developments, particularly if you believe your eligibility was affected.
Other EU Citizenship Pathways
If your family has ancestry from other EU countries — Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Greece, and others — those countries may offer their own citizenship-by-descent programs with different eligibility rules. Some, like Ireland, remain broadly accessible for Americans with the right family history.
Step-by-Step: Applying Under the New Rules (Grandparent Pathway)
Confirm your grandparent's naturalization status. This is step one. Locate your grandparent's naturalization record — or confirm they never naturalized. The National Archives catalog (archives.gov) and USCIS genealogy program are useful starting points.
Identify your grandparent's Italian comune. Italian vital records are held at the local municipal level. You will need to know the specific town (comune) your grandparent was born in. Ship manifests, Ellis Island records, and naturalization papers often contain this information.
Request your grandparent's Italian birth certificate. Contact the anagrafe (civil registry office) of the relevant comune. Requests can often be made by email or mail, though response times vary. Records from before 1866 may be held at the local Catholic church or diocesan archive.
Gather U.S. vital records for each generation. Collect official certified copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates for your grandparent, your parent, and yourself. These must be originals or certified copies — not photocopies.
Apostille your U.S. documents. All U.S.-issued documents must be apostilled through the Secretary of State office for the state that issued them. This provides international authentication recognized by Italian authorities.
Obtain certified Italian translations. All documents not already in Italian must be translated by a certified translator. The Italian consulate will specify acceptable translation standards.
Book your consulate appointment. Submit your application through the Italian consulate with jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence. Wait times remain long — typically 2 to 5 years at most consulates, though the 2025 law change has reduced the overall volume of applicants, which may gradually improve timelines.
Register with AIRE after approval. Once citizenship is recognized, you must register with Italy's registry of overseas citizens (AIRE) in order to apply for an Italian passport and access consular services.
Documents You Will Typically Need
For the grandparent pathway specifically, expect to need:
Your grandparent's Italian birth certificate (from the comune)
Evidence your grandparent did not naturalize before your parent's birth (naturalization record, or Certificate of Non-Existence of Naturalization Records from USCIS)
Your grandparent's death certificate (if deceased)
Your parent's birth certificate
Your parent's marriage certificate (if applicable)
Your own birth certificate
Your own government-issued photo ID
Marriage certificates for each generation (if applicable)
All U.S.-issued documents require apostilles. All documents in English require certified Italian translation.
The 1948 Rule — Does It Still Apply?
Under the old law, there was a rule that female ancestors could not transmit Italian citizenship to children born before January 1, 1948 — because women were not recognized as citizenship transmitters under the pre-1948 Italian legal framework. This created a class of applicants who had to pursue their claims through Italian courts rather than the consulate.
Under the new 2025 law, the 1948 rule has reduced practical significance, because the grandparent pathway focuses on the grandparent's citizenship status — not specifically on the sex of the transmitting ancestor. However, if your specific eligibility situation involves a female grandparent transmitting citizenship before 1948, the legal analysis can become complex, and consulting a specialist is advisable.
Why the Law Changed — and What It Means Going Forward
The 2025 reform was driven by a combination of administrative overload and political pressure. Italian consulates, municipalities, and courts had been overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of citizenship applications — particularly from South America and the United States — many from people with distant Italian ancestry and no meaningful connection to contemporary Italy.
The Italian government's position, articulated by Foreign Minister Tajani, was that citizenship should reflect a genuine and proximate connection to Italy — not simply the ability to trace a family tree back 150 years. The reform aligns Italy more closely with how most countries handle citizenship by descent.
For Italian Americans with grandparent-level connections, this actually means something important: the pathway that remains is one that reflects a more direct and verifiable family tie. If your grandparent was Italian-born and never naturalized, your claim is both legally strong and personally meaningful.
If your Italian-born grandparent never became a U.S. citizen, the 2025 law change may not affect you at all. The grandparent pathway remains fully intact — what changed is that more distant ancestry no longer qualifies.
What Italian Citizenship Gets You
For Americans who do qualify under the new rules, the value of Italian citizenship is unchanged. As an Italian citizen you have the right to:
Live, work, and study anywhere in the 27 EU member states without a visa or work permit
Hold an Italian passport — visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to over 190 countries
Vote in Italian and European Parliament elections
Access Italian public healthcare, education, and social services
Pass citizenship to your own children (subject to the new generational rules going forward)
Not sure if your grandparent's history qualifies you under the new rules?
The most important first step is an honest eligibility assessment — and that means looking carefully at your grandparent's naturalization history and Italian birth records. Our Eligibility + Strategy Review ($300) is designed exactly for this situation: we research your family line, check the critical naturalization question, and tell you clearly whether you qualify and what your application will require. If you don't qualify, we'll tell you that too — and point you toward alternatives that may work for your situation.