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Italian Citizenship by Descent

Italian Citizenship by Descent: Who Qualifies and How Long It Takes

By Avv. Michele Capecchi, LL.M. Last reviewed:

Italian citizenship by descent is the term given to individuals who have significant Italian heritage in their family tree that enables them to request Italian citizenship. Since 2025, a person born abroad who holds another nationality qualifies only if a parent or grandparent held Italian citizenship alone, or if a parent lived in Italy for two continuous years before the applicant's birth.

This rule is covered in Article 3-bis of Law 91/1992, introduced in 2025. Applications for Italian citizenship by descent that are filed or booked by March 27, 2025 follow the old rules, with no generational limit.

What are the essentials?

  • Applicants born abroad with another nationality qualify if a parent or grandparent held only Italian citizenship at the applicant's birth, or if a parent lived in Italy for two continuous years after becoming Italian and before the child was born.
  • The consular fee is €600 per adult applicant. A court case carries a contributo unificato (court filing fee) of €600 for each applicant, even when relatives file together (Law 207/2024, art. 1, para. 814). Certified records, apostilles and sworn translations represent additional fees.
  • Collecting the records takes six months in the best case. A comune usually processes a request in three to six months; a tribunal typically within a year of filing, while consular appointments through Prenot@mi are scarce and vary by consulate. Transcription of a court judgment by the comune adds additional time and varies by comune.
  • Residents abroad apply at the Italian consulate through the Prenot@mi booking system, and residents of Italy apply at their comune of record. Court cases are filed to the specialized immigration section of the relevant tribunal for the comune where the Italian ancestor was born.
  • Constitutional Court judgment no. 63/2026 upheld Article 3-bis. Order no. 147/2026 of July 23, 2026 referred its compatibility with EU citizenship to the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the rule stays in force in the meantime. This rule enforces generational limits for eligible descendants, restricting them to children or grandchildren of the Italian-born ancestor who emigrated.

Who qualifies for Italian citizenship by descent after the 2025 reform?

Recognition jure sanguinis (by right of blood) hinges now on when your claim was filed and on the citizenship your parent or grandparent held when you were born. Three profiles cover most of the families we see.

Profile 1

The grandchild of an Italian who never naturalized

A grandfather born in Lucca who moved to New Jersey and was still only an Italian citizen when his grandchild was born meets Article 3-bis(c). The grandchild can apply at the consulate or in court, and the line stops there: the grandparent is the furthest ancestor the new rule allows.

Profile 2

Families who filed before March 27, 2025

An application lodged with a consulate or comune, or a court case filed, by 11:59 p.m. Rome time on March 27, 2025 is decided under the old law, as is one based on an appointment the office had communicated by then. Applications that were denied over the so-called minor issue belong to this group.

Profile 3

Longer lines and dual-national ancestors

Descendants whose Italian ancestor is a great-grandparent or earlier, or whose parent and grandparent both held a second nationality, fall outside Article 3-bis. Their only route is a court action arguing that the reform breaches EU citizenship law, the question now before the Court of Justice.

What are the steps, and how long does each one take?

From the first document request to approval, the timeline depends on the records and on where the application is filed. Collecting, apostilling and translating the records takes six months in the best case, and longer when an Italian comune is slow to reply, a foreign archive has to search for naturalization records or a record needs correcting.

Once the file is complete, the three venues move at different speeds. A comune, open only to applicants who legally reside in Italy, usually decides within three to six months. A court case is typically decided within a year of filing. The consulate is the hardest route to start: Prenot@mi appointments are scarce, availability differs from one consulate to the next, and a convenient slot at short notice is rare.

  1. Generational review

    1 to 2 weeks

    We map each generation from the Italian-born ancestor to you, and check every naturalization date to test the line against Article 3-bis.

  2. Record collection

    6 to 12 months or more

    Italian records that our firm collects come from the ancestor's comune. All foreign records must be apostilled and eventually accompanied by a sworn Italian translation. Naturalization records come from the country to which the ancestor emigrated.

  3. Strategizing the route

    1 week

    A line that complies with Article 3-bis can be filed in the Italian consulate through Prenot@mi, or in the comune if you legally reside in Italy. Claims through an Italian woman for children born abroad before 1948, and claims that challenge the reform, can only be filed in the relevant Italian court.

  4. Filing

    2 to 4 weeks

    You sign a power of attorney before a notary where you live, with an apostille. We file the ricorso (petition) with the competent tribunal. The €600 contributo unificato must be paid for each applicant.

  5. Hearing and decision

    Typically within a year of filing

    The Ministry of the Interior is the respondent. Some tribunals are now suspending cases that fall outside Article 3-bis until the Court of Justice rules.

  6. Transcription and passport

    6 to 12 months

    The final judgment goes to the comune, which transcribes your birth record. You then register with AIRE (Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all'Estero, the registry of Italians living abroad) and apply for a passport at your consulate.

Why are claims refused or delayed?

Proving the ancestor held only Italian citizenship

Consulates and comuni follow the Ministry of the Interior's circular no. 26185 of May 28, 2025: the ancestor's citizenship is assessed at the applicant's birth, and the applicant must prove it with official records such as certificates of non-naturalization. Sworn statements by relatives and similar evidence are not enough. Tribunals are not bound by ministerial circulars, and some have applied the wording of Article 3-bis instead.

The minor issue

A typical file: the Italian great-grandfather naturalized in the United States in 1925 while his son was a child. From 2023, after Court of Cassation order no. 17161/2023, consulates and comuni refused these lines under Law 555/1912. The United Sections of the Court of Cassation reversed that reading in judgment no. 24045 of July 26, 2026. Circular no. 65050 of August 10, 2026 now allows re-examination of refused applications filed before March 27, 2025, for naturalizations between July 1, 1912 and August 15, 1992.

Claims through a woman before 1948

Studio Legale Capecchi does not treat claims through a woman for children born before 1948 as exempt from the reform. Most of the court rejections the firm has seen in 2026 concerned claims of this kind, and in none of them did the tribunal disregard Article 3-bis on that ground.

Records that do not match

An ancestor recorded as Giuseppe in Italy and Joseph in Ohio, or a birth date that moves by a year between documents, will be questioned. We reconcile every record before filing, because a discrepancy found later can cost months. This takes time.

How does Studio Legale Capecchi help?

Studio Legale Capecchi handles citizenship by descent claims from the first review of the family line to the transcription of the final decision. We test the line against Article 3-bis and the 1912 and 1992 citizenship laws before any money is spent on records, and we tell you when a line does not qualify.

We request records from Italian comuni and archives, coordinate apostilles and sworn translations, draft the ricorso, file it with the competent tribunal and attend the hearings. You sign one power of attorney where you live and do not travel to Italy for the court case. After the decision, we follow the transcription with the comune until your records are registered and you can apply for a passport.

Avv. Michele Capecchi, LL.M., is on the list of attorneys published by the U.S. Consulate General in Florence.

Frequently asked questions

How far back can I claim?

Under the old rules, there was no generational limit, and the line could start from any Italian citizen alive on or after March 17, 1861, when the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed. For claims filed after March 27, 2025 by people born abroad with another nationality, the line stops at a parent or grandparent who held only Italian citizenship, unless the two-year residence exception applies.

What is a 1948 case, and do I have to go to court?

A 1948 case is a claim through an Italian woman for a child born before January 1, 1948, when the Italian Constitution came into force. Consulates and comuni do not recognize these lines, so the tribunal is the only route, following Court of Cassation, United Sections, judgment no. 4466 of 2009. A claim of this kind filed after March 27, 2025 must also meet Article 3-bis.

What changed under Law 74/2025?

Law 74/2025 converted Decree-Law no. 36 of March 28, 2025 and added Article 3-bis to Law 91/1992. A person born abroad who holds another citizenship is now treated as never having acquired Italian citizenship, unless an exception applies: a filing or booked appointment by March 27, 2025, a parent or grandparent with Italian citizenship only, or a parent's two years of residence in Italy.

How long does Italian citizenship by descent take?

Collecting and apostilling the records takes six months at best. After that, a comune usually decides in three to six months, and a court typically within a year of filing, followed by an additional six to twelve months for transcription. The consulate is the hardest route to start, because Prenot@mi appointments are scarce and availability depends on the individual consulate.

My application was refused over the minor issue. Can it be reopened?

Yes, if the refusal rested only on the old reading of Law 555/1912 and the application was filed before March 27, 2025. Circular no. 65050 of August 10, 2026 allows a request for re-examination of the original application, decided under the rules in force when it was filed. A new application would be judged under today's law, so it is the wrong tool.

Should I wait for the Court of Justice before filing?

Documents gathered now stay valid, and a claim already filed can be decided by a judge who finds Article 3-bis in conflict with directly effective EU law, or suspended until the Court of Justice rules. We expect a decision from Luxembourg in 12 to 18 months. Filing now keeps the claim in place under either outcome, while waiting only adds that time.

Studio Legale Capecchi assists families with Italian citizenship by descent from its office at Via Cavour 39 in Florence. To have your family line reviewed under the current rules, book a consultation.

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