A surprising decree has now come to change everything
A great -grandfather or even an Italian Trisavo used to be all that was necessary to ensure Italian citizenship. A surprising decree has now changed all this, making it much more difficult for those who have Italian ancestry use the bloodline as a way to become Italians.
On March 28, the Italian government made the rules for the claim of citizenship more rigorous through Jus Sanguinis, or descending blood line, with immediate effects. The law will be ratified by Parliament within 60 days and some changes may be introduced, but for now, new requests for citizenship have to meet the new requirements.
The sudden change affects thousands of people around the world who expect or prepare to get an Italian passport that occupies third place in the world in terms of exemption from visas or visas on arrival, according to Henley Passport Index, which makes the Italian passport one of the most coveted and, until now, easier to purchase.
According to the new rules, the applicants must have at least one Italian parent or grandfather to apply to Jus Sanguinis. They should also demonstrate proficiency in the Italian language, which was previously only necessary for naturalization through residence or marriage. Proficiency test is a five -part state examination performed several times a year, or a higher level equivalence test for those who do not live in Italy.
Candidates currently do not need to live in Italy, but need to have lived in the country for three years to be eligible.
Previously, anyone with an Italian ancestor who had lived after March 17, 1861, the date of the creation of the Kingdom of Italy, could apply for citizenship, a process that takes about two years, with expenses ranging from the cost of notarial recognition and the translation of documents to thousands of euros to hire companies to do all the Brazilian work.
This means that even if parents and grandparents have not obtained citizenship, people can apply based on a great-grandfather or even more retreated generation.
The decree, published in the Official Gazette of Italy on March 28, is intended to repress the “abusers” who become Italians as “novelty” or relieve travel restrictions, according to Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
“Being an Italian citizen is a serious matter, the granting of citizenship is a serious matter,” Tajani recently said. “Unfortunately, over the years, there have been abuses and citizenship requests that have surpassed a little interest in our country.”
“A feeling of loss”
Between 2014 and 2024, the number of Italian citizens residing abroad increased by 40%from 4.6 million to 6.4 million, mostly in Argentina and Brazil, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The Italian consulate in Argentina sued 30,000 requests in 2024, more 10,000 than the previous year. And in Brazil, the consulate employees sued 20,000 requests in 2024, above 14,000 in 2023, the Italian government said.
Most of these people do not have direct contact with the country, do not pay taxes in Italy and do not vote, says Tajani. He added that the reform was necessary because “citizenship cannot be automatic for those who have an ancestor who has emigrated for centuries – they are people without any cultural or linguistic ties with the country.”
Italy does not allow citizenship based on Jus Soli or the right of exquisite, which means that even people born in Italy do not automatically obtain citizenship and have to wait 18 years to submit their request and prove that they have lived legally in the country for 10 of those years.
The new regulation has no impact on any of the 60,000 requests currently pending on consulates worldwide, but has an impact on the way that qualify for citizenship apply in the future.
The consulates will no longer process the requests, which will be centralized and processed online through the national government in Italy – and will require a face -to -face interview. According to the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, those consulates around the world canceled many markings of citizenship in line of blood scheduled after March 28.
Samantha Wilson, Executive Director of Smart Move Italy, who helps facilitate citizenship requests, says she is telling her clients that they are trying to get citizenship for offspring not to give up – at least for now.
“Decree Tajani has created fear, confusion and for some a sense of loss,” he tells CNN Samantha Wilson. “This decree, in our opinion, is constitutionally weak. It has been approved in haste as an emergency measure, bypassing the normal democratic process, and we hope it will be contested – by the courts, the legal community and us.”
One of his clients, who had planned to move to Italy to submit the order in person on April 1, canceled the trip due to uncertainty. Another of his real estate division clients has just closed the purchase of a property in Italy, but now he doesn’t want to buy it because he can’t get Italian citizenship under the new rules. But this client has already signed contracts and is obliged by law to proceed with the purchase, says Wilson.
The worst mistake of my life
The law also applies to Italian citizens who were not born in Italy. Now they can only convey nationality to children born outside Italy if they have lived in Italy for two consecutive years.
In addition, Italian citizens with double nationality will lose Italian citizenship if they “do not strive”, paying taxes, voting and renewing the passport and the identity ticket. This means that the people to whom it was granted to citizenship but who never come to Italy may not be able to maintain it, according to the current wording of the decree.
People who marry an Italian must live in Italy for at least two years to get citizenship through marriage. And the order cost doubled from 300 to 600 euros.
The Italians who were born in Italy but live abroad can convey their citizenship to their children, but should record birth in Italy.
“For those who are making the request through the court and are prepared, we are doing everything in our power to present their cases before the decree ratification. This short time can make a difference if transient provisions are widened when the law is converted,” Wilson tells CNN.
“For those who are not yet ready to present the process, the only option now is to expect – by the decision of Parliament within 60 days, by the constitutional court hearing in June and, moreover, the results of what will probably be years of judicial contests.
CNN interviewed a person who did not want to be identified not to harm his case, who has just moved to Rome in March hoping to obtain citizenship through a great -grandmother who moved to South America during World War II.
According to the new rules, he has no right to citizenship, although his father, who was born in South America, has Italian citizenship. It expects to find a lawyer who guides you in this complicated process. “I have all the paperwork, all translated, authenticated and ready for my marking in mid -April,” he says to CNN. “If they do not cancel her, I will have an opportunity, but I feel like I have made the worst mistake of my life.”
CNN also contacted an American family of seven people on its way to Italy aboard a cruise ship to seek citizenship based on a great -grandfather that has emigrated to the US but has never become an American citizen.
The family, which includes adolescents and young adults, has signed a long -term lease to establish residence and marked meetings with the local community in Italy to request permanence authorizations based on their search for citizenship – requirements to request citizenship before March 28.
They also say that tens of thousands of euros have spent to translate and authenticate all documents related to the great -grandfather. Now, according to the new rules, they no longer gather the necessary conditions and have no idea of the obstacles they will face when they arrive, since everything they plan to do is based on requirements that are no longer recognized.
“We were following the Italian law, we were following the procedures of the Italian government and we had all our lives to move to Italy as the laws in force when we embarked on the ship on 23 March,” they tell CNN. “This change, without any notice, left a group of families in Italy without any legal status and made us stay homeless in the Atlantic, on a cruise ship.”
Salvatore Livori, an Italian who works as an orthodontist in South Carolina, reveals to CNN that she feels that the new law has not been carefully thought out.
“This not only crushes the dreams of the children of the Italian diaspora who seek recognition of citizenship so that they can return to their ancestral homeland, but also remove the right to citizens like me, who have children abroad, to convey my Italian citizenship,” Livari tells CNN after publishing their ideas in an online community to Italian citizens abroad.
“Creates a two -level caste system in which some citizens can convey their citizenship to their children, but second -class citizens, like me, cannot do so. During generations, Italian culture lasted thanks to the strength of family ties. These ties are in the blood. The Italians have always learned of it.”
