Italy has passed major reforms to its citizenship laws, aiming to counter what many see as abuses of the “ius sanguinis” (right of blood) principle. The Council of Ministers has adopted a comprehensive “citizenship package” with the aim of ensuring that Italian citizenship truly reflects an authentic connection with the country.
For decades, generous Italian citizenship laws have allowed descendants of Italian emigrants to apply for citizenship regardless of how far back their Italian ancestry was or how minimal their connection to Italian culture. This created a thriving industry of genealogy agencies charging thousands of dollars to help distant descendants obtain Italian passports, often without any knowledge of the Italian language or culture.
The reforms will limit automatic citizenship to just two generations. Only those who have at least one parent or grandparent born in Italy will obtain citizenship at birth. This addresses the dramatic increase in citizenship applications, which has seen the number of Italians living abroad grow by 40% in just ten years, from 4.6 million in 2014 to 6.4 million in 2024.
Countries with large Italian diaspora communities, such as Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, have seen substantial increases in citizenship recognition. Argentina alone went from 20,000 awards in 2023 to 30,000 the following year. With an estimated 60-80 million people potentially eligible worldwide under the previous law, the system had become unsustainable.
A welcome administrative change will centralize the application process. Residents abroad will no longer apply through consulates, but through a specialized central office at the Farnesina (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). This will free up consular resources to focus on providing services to existing citizens rather than processing new citizenship applications.
The reform also introduces the obligation for citizens born and resident abroad to maintain real ties with Italy by exercising their rights and duties as citizens at least once every 25 years.
These changes are expected to significantly reduce the backlog of more than 60,000 pending legal proceedings for citizenship recognition and limit the “marketing” of Italian passports. The centralization effort will allow for more efficient procedures through economies of scale, with a transitional period of approximately one year for the organization of the new office.
The reform package also includes measures to improve and modernize the provision of services relating to legalisation, registry, passports and identity cards valid for travel abroad, placing the Farnesina structure increasingly at the service of citizens and businesses.
AIRESOS welcomes these new and long-awaited reforms.
6 Comments
Italy has a low birth rate, entire towns have been depopulated. The Italian government seemed to encourage people, especially retirees, to move there and help rebuild the economy and revitalize dying towns. Many of us Italian-Americans who are strongly culturally Italian applied for recognition of Italian citizenship, spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours collecting documents, reliving our ancestors immigration journey, and eagerly waiting the two years for that much anticipated e-mail…Only to have our hopes and dreams destroyed. I applied two years ago, I met all the qualifications listed, they cashed my $300 application check, and now I cannot even have my documents returned after all the money I spent having them apostiled and translated. My husband and I have traveled to Italy EIGHT times, but now we will not be moving there. This feels like a grave injustice. Those of us who applied under the prior rules should be allowed to proceed. Many of us are disappointed and ANGRY. This is not right!
We can’t comment on personal circumstances and the new law isn’t retrospective so you may not be directly affected. Unfortunately, the system has been abused for decades by spurious citizenship applications claiming ancestry going back to the 19th century, with evidence at best flimsy at worst fabricated and intermediaries providing lucrative consultancy services. No country allows indefinite claims under jus sanguinis, Ireland for example goes back three generations, others even less. Furthermore, there were countless instances of passports been given following lengthy and costly judicial appeals, eventually granted to persons who couldn’t even speak a word of italian or didn’t know the most basic things about Italy, like naming its President or its major cities. It simply had to stop.
Are there new forms to apply for JS for 2 generations or we can still use the 3 generation form? If so ( new forms) where can I download them
The law comes into force at midnight tonight, the ink isn’t even dry! Do give it a few days to clarify the new procedures
I was hoping for this reform to include other important changes regarding the testing of spouses of Italian citizens. Currently spouses of Italian citizens have to pass a B2 level Italian test for them to gain Italian citizenship. A lower testing level of B1 would guarantee more people to pass the exam and for these couple to not be split when entering Italy. Hopefully this change will come in the near future !
Yes this is a concern, you are right
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