Italy ends centuries-old right to citizenship by descent for distant diaspora

Overview

Updated May 30

For more than 160 years, anyone who could trace an unbroken bloodline to an Italian ancestor could claim Italian citizenship, no matter how many generations had passed. On March 12, 2026, Italy's Constitutional Court upheld a law that ended that principle, capping eligibility at people with an Italian-born parent or grandparent and requiring that ancestor to have held only Italian citizenship. The ruling cuts off millions of descendants in Brazil, Argentina, the United States, and elsewhere who could previously claim an Italian passport and the right to live and work anywhere in the European Union.

This is the most significant change to Italian nationality law since 1992, and possibly since unification in 1865. At stake is the legal identity of 60 to 80 million diaspora people, a multimillion-dollar genealogy industry that facilitated citizenship claims, and Italy's relationship with communities abroad that elected parliament members for two decades. A second constitutional challenge, filed by the Tribunal of Mantova on different legal grounds, is scheduled for hearing on June 9, 2026, and legal experts say European courts may eventually weigh in.

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Key Indicators

60-80M

Estimated people of Italian descent worldwide

Concentrated in Brazil (32 million), Argentina (25 million), and the United States (18 million), most now ineligible under the new law.

6.4M

Italian citizens registered abroad (AIRE)

The official registry of Italians living abroad grew from 4.6 million in 2014 to 6.4 million in 2024, reflecting surging citizenship claims.

~60,000

Applications grandfathered under old rules

Cases filed before the March 27, 2025, cutoff continue to be processed under the unlimited-generation framework.

160+

Years of unbroken jus sanguinis tradition

Italy codified blood-based citizenship in 1865. The 2025 law is the first to impose a generational cap.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

People Involved

Antonio Tajani

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and architect of the citizenship reform decree

Serving as Foreign Minister; law upheld by Constitutional Court

Giorgia Meloni

Prime Minister of Italy

In office; signed the decree into law

Sergio Mattarella

President of the Italian Republic

In office; countersigned the decree into law

Organizations Involved

Italian Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale)

Judiciary

Issued ruling upholding Law 74/2025; Mantova referral pending

Italy's highest court for constitutional questions, composed of 15 judges serving nine-year terms.

Italian Parliament

Legislature

Converted the decree into Law 74/2025 in May 2025

Italy's bicameral legislature, which converted the emergency decree into permanent law within the constitutionally mandated 60-day window.

Timeline

January 1865 March 2026

10 events Latest: March 14th, 2026 · 6 months ago

Tap a bar to jump to that date

March 2026
Constitutional Court upholds the citizenship restriction
Latest Legal

The court declares the Turin challenge 'partially unfounded and partially inadmissible,' leaving Law 74/2025 intact. A detailed written verdict is expected in the coming weeks.
March 14th, 2026
Constitutional Court holds public hearing
Legal

The court hears arguments on the Turin referral. Government counsel argues the restrictions are needed to stop 'passport shopping' and lighten overburdened consulates. Petitioners argue the law retroactively strips a right acquired at birth.
March 11th, 2026
December 2025
Tribunal of Mantova files separate challenge
Legal

Mantova's court refers the law to the Constitutional Court on different grounds, focusing on the rights of a minor denied citizenship under the new rules.
December 1st, 2025
October 2025
Tribunal of Turin refers constitutional challenge
Legal

Turin's court questions whether Law 74/2025 violates constitutional equality (Article 3) and legitimate expectations by applying retroactively to descendants born before the law.
October 1st, 2025
May 2025
Parliament converts decree into permanent law
Legal

The Italian Parliament approves the decree as Law 74/2025, adding transition clauses that protect applications filed before the March 27 cutoff.
May 24th, 2025
March 2025
Emergency decree restricts citizenship by descent
Legal

The Meloni government issues Decree-Law 36/2025, known as the Tajani Decree, capping jus sanguinis eligibility at the grandparent generation and requiring exclusive Italian citizenship in the ancestor's line.
March 28th, 2025
August 2024
Tajani breaks coalition line on ius scholae
Political

Foreign Minister Tajani publicly supports granting citizenship to foreign children educated in Italian schools, splitting from coalition partners and signaling broader citizenship reform is coming.
August 28th, 2024
February 1992
Law 91/1992 modernizes citizenship framework
Legal

Italy adopts a new citizenship law preserving unlimited jus sanguinis while expanding gender equality provisions. The law remains the foundation until 2025.
February 5th, 1992
June 1912
Law 555 expands citizenship provisions
Legal

Italy's first targeted citizenship law confirms jus sanguinis and adds that Italians born and residing abroad retain citizenship. The law governs nationality for over 80 years.
June 13th, 1912
January 1865
Italy codifies blood-based citizenship
Legal

Following unification in 1861, Italy's 1865 Civil Code establishes jus sanguinis as the primary basis for citizenship. Any child born to an Italian father automatically acquires Italian citizenship regardless of birthplace.
January 1st, 1865

Scenarios

Mantova challenge fails, law fully consolidated

Likely

Discussed by: Italian legal analysts at ILF Law Firm and Mazzeschi Legal Counsels; International Bar Association

The Constitutional Court rejects the Mantova referral on June 9, 2026, on similar grounds to the Turin decision. With both domestic challenges exhausted, the generational cap becomes settled Italian law. The remaining 60,000 grandfathered applications are processed over the next two to three years, and thereafter the citizenship-by-descent industry shrinks dramatically. Italy's diaspora voting bloc — which elects 12 members of parliament — gradually contracts as fewer people abroad hold citizenship.

European courts strike down retroactive provisions

Possible

Discussed by: Petitioners' lawyers cited in Courthouse News Service; legal analysts at IMI Daily; International Bar Association analysis

After domestic remedies are exhausted, litigants bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights or the Court of Justice of the European Union, arguing the law retroactively strips citizenship rights in violation of EU principles on legitimate expectations and non-discrimination. A ruling against Italy could force a partial rollback — potentially requiring the law to apply only prospectively to descendants born after May 2025, while preserving existing rights for those born before.

Mantova ruling carves out exception for minors or pre-existing applicants

Possible

Discussed by: Mantova tribunal's referral order; Insieme (Brazilian-Italian community organization); genealogy law firms tracking the case

The Mantova case involves a minor denied citizenship under the new rules. The Constitutional Court could uphold the generational cap in principle but carve out an exception for children born before the law took effect, or for minors specifically. This would create a narrow but meaningful pathway for some applicants while leaving the broader restriction in place — a middle ground that addresses the retroactivity concern without overturning the reform.

Political reversal under a future government

Unlikely

Discussed by: Opposition parties in the Italian Parliament; diaspora advocacy organizations

A future Italian government reverses or loosens the restrictions, particularly if the center-left returns to power or if the loss of diaspora voting power becomes a political liability for the right. Italy's overseas constituency elects 18 members of parliament, and the shrinking electorate could shift incentives. However, the bipartisan consensus that the old system was unsustainable — driven by consulate backlogs and the perception of 'passport shopping' — makes a full restoration of unlimited jus sanguinis unlikely.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1949-2000

Germany's Post-War Citizenship and the Grundgesetz Article 116 (1949)

Germany's 1949 Basic Law included Article 116, granting citizenship rights to ethnic Germans expelled from Eastern Europe and their descendants, alongside a special provision for descendants of those persecuted by the Nazi regime. For ethnic Germans, the standard jus sanguinis pathway limited transmission to about one generation. In 2000, Germany reformed its nationality law to add elements of jus soli (birthplace-based citizenship), reflecting the reality that millions of residents born in Germany to immigrant parents were legally foreign.

Then

The 2000 reform gave children born in Germany to long-term residents automatic citizenship, dramatically expanding who counted as German.

Now

Germany effectively moved from a blood-based to a hybrid system. The Article 116 exceptions for Holocaust descendants remain unlimited, creating a two-tier structure based on historical justice.

Why this matters now

Germany's experience shows that even countries with deep jus sanguinis traditions eventually restrict generational transmission as diaspora populations grow. Italy is following a similar trajectory, 25 years later.

1950-present

Israel's Law of Return Debate (1950-present)

Israel's 1950 Law of Return grants all Jews the right to immigrate and claim citizenship. A 1970 amendment extended this to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent. Since then, religious and political factions have periodically pushed to restrict the 'grandchild clause,' arguing it admits people with tenuous connections to Judaism, while diaspora communities have resisted any narrowing of the definition.

Then

The grandchild clause has survived repeated challenges, though conversion recognition disputes have generated ongoing friction between Israel and diaspora communities.

Now

The debate has become a proxy for larger questions about national identity, diaspora relationships, and who gets to define belonging. No restriction has yet passed.

Why this matters now

Italy's reform poses the same fundamental question as Israel's ongoing debate: How many generations of distance from the homeland should still confer a right to citizenship? Italy answered definitively — two. Israel's debate continues.

1956-present

Ireland's Foreign Births Register and Generational Cap

Ireland's 1956 Nationality and Citizenship Act established that children born abroad to Irish citizens could claim citizenship by registering on the Foreign Births Register. But it imposed a practical generational limit: grandchildren of Irish-born citizens could claim citizenship, but great-grandchildren could not — unless each intervening generation registered before the next was born. The system created a soft cap at approximately two generations from the Irish-born ancestor.

Then

Millions in the American and British diaspora retained access to Irish citizenship through the grandparent rule, while more distant connections were effectively cut off.

Now

Ireland's system became the European template for balancing diaspora ties with meaningful connection. The grandparent cap is now widely seen as a reasonable boundary.

Why this matters now

Italy's new law explicitly mirrors the Irish model — capping eligibility at the grandparent generation. But Italy's shift is far more disruptive because the previous system had no generational limit at all, meaning millions more people lose a right they previously held.