Just approved by the Italian Parliament on May 20, 2025 – Initial assessment
The Italian Parliament on May 20, 2025 approved the final version of the law 75/2025 introducing additional Italian citizenship restrictions prompted by the Law Decree 36-2025.
The law 75/2025 became effective on 24 May 2025.
Along with some major restrictions, a new rule passed to temporarily remove the “minor rule” restriction for some cases.
Find below the major changes – as a result of the final approved wording – that apply to people who were not born in Italy and have another citizenship (both conditions must apply to be subject to the new restrictions below):
- Italian citizenship applications submitted by March 27, 2025 will be processed under the previous law.
- Italian citizenship applications filed after March 27, 2025 based on Consulate or Municipal appointments that were established (booked, confirmed with/through the Consulate or the Municipal office) by such date will be processed under the previous law as well. This applies only if all necessary supporting documents are filed at the same time, along with the application.
- A person is eligible for Italian citizenship if he/she has a parent or grandparent who is or was at the time of death an Italian citizen only.
- A person is eligible for Italian citizenship if he/she has a parent or grandparent who at the time of birth was an Italian citizen only and no interruption of the Italian citizenship bloodline occurred.
- A person is eligible for Italian citizenship if he/she has a (biological or adoptive) parent who lived in Italy for at least two years in a row after becoming an Italian citizen and prior to the applicant’s birth (or adoption).
- Non-Italian people of Italian descent who live in certain countries (TBD by the Italian government in the following months/years) will be entitled to more favorable immigration options to apply for an Italian visa to work as an employee in Italy.
In our opinion, some of the approved restrictions violate some fundamental rights and can be challenged in Court. We are assisting clients filing for Italian citizenship through the Italian Court system.
Along the restrictions above, the recent law changes established also a positive option. In particular, people who were born in Italy or lived in Italy for at least two years in a row and lost their Italian citizenship based on the “1912 minor rule” can now regain it if they express such intention between July 1st, 2025 and December 31st, 2027.
From March 28, 2025: Comments on the initial version of the Law Decree 36-2025
The Italian Government has approved a new regulation to restrict Italian citizenship applications. In particular, they approved a new regulation that significantly restricts access to Italian citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis). Starting immediately, applicants will only be considered if their ancestor born in Italy is a parent or grandparent. Great grandparents or great great grandparents will no longer be considered under the new law.
The new rules by the Law Decree 36-2025 entered into force on March 29, 2025, retroactively applicable to cases filed since March 28, 2025.
“Being an Italian citizen is a serious matter ,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs told reporters at a press conference. “The granting of citizenship cannot be automatic for those who have an ancestor who emigrated centuries ago, without any cultural or linguistic ties to the country”, he continued.
This change was introduced during a meeting of the Italian Government Cabinet on March 27, 2025 in the form of a Law Decree by urgency, without standard public debate in the Italian Parliament. The press conference by Italian Minister Tajani on March 28 was the first time the law change was publicly mentioned, completely unexpectedly. It took everyone by surprise, not only applicants, but also law firms, associations representing Italian communities worldwide and even Consular representatives, who are part of the Italian government.
Changes based on the initial 36-2025 Law Decree version
- Applicants who have at least a parent or grandparent born in Italy and applicants with at least a parent who lived in Italy for at least two years in a row will still be able to apply for Italian citizenship recognition, if all other requirements are met.
- Applicants outside of those categories, for example with more distant ancestors (such as great-grandparents) will no longer be accepted.
- Document checks will be enhanced to prevent fraud.
- Applications submitted up to March 27, 2025 will be processed under the previous law.
The Italian Parliament reviewed the law decree and approved it with some edits via the law 74/2025.
Please read our FAQs on how this could affect you, depending on where you might be in the process.
Additional Legislation Related to Citizenship
There are two bills of law that are attached to the new decree that are going to add more restrictions to acquire and maintain Italian citizenship.
The first establishes that at least once every 25 years, Italian descendants must exercise the rights and duties of citizenship. This includes voting, renewing your passport, updating your identity card (Carta d’identita) or performing a residency act like paying taxes. Also, for Italian citizens who were born abroad, it will be mandatory to register your birth certificate before turning 25. If you don’t, you will no longer be able to apply for Italian citizenship later. The minor child of Italian citizen parents, if they were not born in Italy, can acquire citizenship only if he or she resides in Italy for at least two years, after a declaration of intent by the parents.
Additionally, they plan to add a rule according to which if you want to apply for citizenship by marriage you must live in Italy. Considering that the current legislation allows spouses of Italian citizens to apply for Italian citizenship regardless where they live, the Italian residency requirement is expected to restrict further the pool of Italian citizenship applicants, which already got restricted a few years ago when they introduced the Italian language test requirement.
The second bill of law that they are going to discuss will remove consulates from the citizenship recognition process and will create a new centralized office to handle applications. As SLM shared in January 2025, costs are also rising for the applications from 300 to 600 EUR with another increase to 700 EUR on the horizon.