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A great-grandparent or even a great-great-grandparent of Italy was everything it took to guarantee Italian citizenship. A surprise decree has now changed all this, which makes much more difficult for those who suffer from Italian ancestry to use the blood line as a way to become Italian.
On March 28, the Italian government tightened the regulations to demand citizenship by blood juiceor descending blood line, in force immediately. The law will go to Parliament to be ratified in 60 days, and certain changes could be submitted, but for the moment, new citizenship requests must meet new requirements.
The sudden change affects thousands of people all over the world hoping or preparing an Italian passport, which ranks third in the world for travel without visa or visa on arrival, according to the Henley Passport index, which makes it one of the most coveted and, so far, the easiest to acquire.
Under the new regulation, candidates must have at least one parent or an Italian grandparent to apply under blood juice. They must also demonstrate control of the Italian language, which was previously necessary only for naturalization by residence or marriage. The competence test is a state examination in five parts held several times a year, or an equivalence test of higher level for those who do not live in Italy.
Currently, candidates must not currently live in Italy, but must have already lived in the country for three years to be eligible.
Previously, anyone with an Italian ancestor who was alive after March 17, 1861, when the Kingdom of Italy was created, qualified for citizenship, a process that takes about two years with expenses ranging from the cost of notariation and the translation of documents in thousands of dollars to hire businesses to do all leg work.
This meant that even if his parents and grandparents had not obtained citizenship, people could always apply on the basis of a great-grandparent or a generation even further.
The decree, published in the official gazette of the laws of Italy on March 28, aims to repress the “attackers” who become Italian as “novelty” or to alleviate travel restrictions, according to Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
“Being an Italian citizen is a serious matter, the granting of citizenship is a serious affair,” Tajani said on Friday. “Unfortunately, over the years, there have been abuses and citizenship requests that were a little interest in our country.”
Between 2014 and 2024, the number of Italian citizens residing abroad increased by 40%, from 4.6 million to 6.4 million, mainly in Argentina and Brazil, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Italian Consulate in Argentina processed 30,000 requests in 2024, up 10,000 compared to the previous year. And in Brazil, consulate officials processed 20,000 requests in 2024, compared to 14,000 in 2023, the ministry said.
Most of these people have no direct contact with the country, do not pay taxes in Italy and do not vote, said Tajani. He added that the reform was necessary because “citizenship cannot be automatic for those who have an ancestor who emigrated centuries ago, without any cultural or linguistic link with the country.”
Italy does not allow citizenship based on solid juice Or the birth right, which means that even people born in Italy are not automatically granted by citizenship and must rather wait 18 years to apply and prove that they lived legally in the country for 10 of them.
The new regulation did not influence any of the 60,000 requests currently underway in consulates around the world, but it has an impact on the way those who qualify for citizenship apply in the future.
Consulates will no longer process requests, which will be centralized and processed online via the national government in Italy and which will require an interview in person. Consulates around the world have canceled numerous appointments of citizenship from the blood line scheduled after March 28, according to the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Samantha Wilson, CEO of Smart Move Italy, who helps facilitate citizenship requests, says that she says to her clients who pursue citizenship by descendants not to abandon – at least not yet.
“The Tajani decree has created fear, confusion and for some, a feeling of loss,” she told CNN. “This decree, in our opinion, is constitutionally weak. It was precipitated as an emergency measure, bypassing the normal democratic process, and we are fully expecting that it is disputed – by the courts, by the legal community and by us. ”
She says that one of her clients who had planned to move to Italy to apply in person on April 1 has now canceled her trip due to uncertainty. Another of her clients in her real estate division has just closed a property in Italy, she says, but now does not want to buy it because she will not be able to obtain her Italian citizenship under new rules. She has already signed contracts and is obliged by law to continue the purchase, explains Wilson.
The law also extends to Italian citizens who were not born in Italy. They can now transmit citizenship to children born outside Italy if they have lived in Italy for two consecutive years.
In addition, Italian citizens with dual nationality will lose their Italian citizenship if they “do not commit” by paying taxes, voting and renewing their passports and identity cards. This means that people who have obtained citizenship but who never come to Italy cannot keep it, according to the decree as it is currently written.
Those who marry an Italian must live in Italy for at least two years to qualify for citizenship by marriage. And the cost to be applied has doubled, from 300 to 600 euros (from $ 324 to $ 648).
Italians born in Italy, but who now live abroad, can still transmit their citizenship to their own children, but must record birth in Italy.
“For those who apply in court and are ready, we do everything we can to deposit their business before the decree is ratified. This short window could make a difference if the transition provisions are extended when the law is converted,” Wilson told CNN.
“For those who are not yet ready to deposit, the only option is now to wait – for the decision of the Parliament in the 60 -day window, for the hearing of the Constitutional Court in June, and beyond, for the results of what will probably be years of judicial dispute. We will deposit a lot.”
CNN interviewed a person, who did not want to be named in case it has trouble, who has just moved to Rome in March in the hope of obtaining citizenship from a great-grandmother, who moved to South America during the Second World War.
Under the new regulation, they are not eligible even if their father, born in South America, has Italian citizenship. They hope to find a lawyer who can act as a guide through the complicated process. “I have all the documents, everything translated, notarial and ready for my appointment in mid-April,” they told CNN. “If they do not cancel it, I will have a chance, but I have the impression of having made the worst mistake of my life.”
CNN has also reached an American family of seven people on the way to Italy aboard a cruise ship to continue citizenship based on a great-grandparent who emigrated to the United States but has never become an American citizen.
The family, which includes adolescents and young adults, has signed a long -term lease to establish the residence and reserved appointments with the local community in Italy to request permits to remain according to their quest for citizenship – the demands for requesting citizenship before March 28.
They also say that they have spent tens of thousands of dollars to translate and notorize all documents relating to the great-grandfather. Now, under the new regulation, they are no longer eligible and have no idea of the obstacles they will face once they arrive, because all that they plan to do is based on the requirements that are no longer recognized.
“We followed Italian law and we followed the Italian government’s procedures and have uprooted our whole life to move to Italy under the laws when we set up on the ship on March 23,” they told CNN. “Make this change without notice blocked a bunch of families in Italy who no longer have legal status and essentially made us homeless in the middle of the Atlantic on a cruise ship.”
Salvatore Book, an Italian who works as an orthodontist in South Carolina, told CNN that he thought that the new law was not carefully thought.
“This crushes not only the dreams of children of the Italian diaspora who seek to recognize citizenship in order to return to their country of ancestral origin, but who also exceeds the rights of citizens like me who have children abroad to transmit my Italian citizenship to them,” he told CNN after having published his thoughts on an online community for Italian citizens inside.
“This creates a system of caste on two levels by which certain citizens can transmit their citizenship to their children, but second -class citizens as I cannot do. For generations, Italian culture has endured due to the strength of family ties. These links are in blood. The Italians have always known it. ”