Citizenship by descent provides an affordable, direct pathway to acquiring a top-tier passport by validating an individual’s existing ancestral lineage. However, structural policy shifts are changing long-standing access to economic citizenship. The Italian government has fundamentally overhauled its jure sanguinis framework, implementing strict eligibility ceilings that eliminate automatic nationality claims for tens of millions of individuals worldwide.
The Overhaul of Italian Jure Sanguinis
Historically, Italy operated one of the most flexible citizenship by descent frameworks in the world. As long as an applicant could demonstrate an unbroken chain of lineage—proving that no ancestor voluntarily naturalized or renounced their nationality before the birth of the next generation—citizenship could be traced back indefinitely to the founding of the Italian state. This open-ended policy enabled descendants across the United States, Canada, Australia, and Latin America to secure an EU passport without establishing physical ties or demonstrating language proficiency.
This structure has concluded. Under Decree-Law No. 36/2025 (codified permanently via Law No. 74/2025), the Italian state has sharply curtailed automatic generational transmission. In March 2026, the Italian Constitutional Court officially rejected constitutional challenges to this legislation, confirming that the new restrictions remain fully in force.
The Two-Generation Ceiling
Automatic recognition of Italian citizenship by birth is now strictly capped at two generations. A foreign-born descendant is considered an Italian citizen only if at least one parent or grandparent was born in Italy or held Italian citizenship at the time of the applicant’s birth. Long genealogical chains tracking back to great-grandparents or earlier generations are no longer viable pathways.
The Effective Bond Requirement
The updated legal framework establishes the principle of an “effective bond” between the applicant and the Italian state, aligning Italy with tighter restriction models utilized by other European Union member states. To claim citizenship outside the strict two-generation limit, applicants must satisfy narrow statutory exceptions and demonstrate tangible, physical connections, such as proving a parent resided lawfully and continuously in Italy for at least two years prior to the applicant’s birth or adoption.
Transitional Measures and Minor Registrations
While the law radically reduces the pool of future applicants, specific transitional provisions and extended windows remain available for younger generations:
- Cutoff Parameters: Applications and complete documentation submitted to an Italian consulate, municipality, or court prior to March 27, 2025, are insulated and will be evaluated under the legacy, unlimited generational rules. This protection also applies if an official appointment was scheduled and confirmed by the authority before that specific date.
- Minor Registration Deadline: For children who were minors when the law took effect, the 2026 Budget Law and Law No. 26/2026 extended the operational deadline. Parents of minor children born abroad before May 25, 2025, have until May 31, 2029, to submit a formal declaration of intent to their competent consulate or municipality. For children born after the enforcement date, the declaration must be filed within three years of birth.
- Fee Abolition: Effective January 1, 2026, the standard 250 Euro administrative fee for these minor citizenship declarations has been completely abolished, rendering the tracking procedure free of charge for qualifying minor children.
Flexible European Alternatives
For global investors and entrepreneurs reviewing their family trees for alternative backup passports, several Central and Eastern European nations continue to offer flexible citizenship by descent pathways with broader generational boundaries.
- Slovakia & Poland: Slovakia maintains an expansive ancestral framework that reopened access a few years ago, alongside Poland, which allows eligible applicants to trace lineages back through multiple generations to secure an EU passport.
- Lithuania, Latvia, & Hungary: These jurisdictions remain highly viable for individuals with ancestral roots in the region, provided the target ancestors met specific historical departure windows and baseline registration parameters.
- Ireland: The Irish framework allows straightforward citizenship claims tracking back two generations to a grandparent born on the island, providing a premium English-speaking travel document and full settlement rights across the European Union.
- Greece: While capping automatic alignment one generation closer than legacy Italian rules, Greece remains highly flexible for diaspora populations (such as large communities in Australia) who can verify direct maternal or paternal ancestral ties to the territory.
The Imperative of Immediate Action: Immigration, citizenship, and residence-by-investment rules are subject to abrupt legislative changes driven by shifting domestic political landscapes. When a low-cost, structural ancestral pathway is legally available on the table, eligible individuals should compile vital records and initiate formal filings immediately before windows close permanently.
For a deeper look into how the legal landscape is shifting for applicants under the new framework, watch this Italian Citizenship Breakdown on the Tajani Decree. This video analyzes the real-world operational effects of the recent 2026 Constitutional Court ruling and discusses Section 9.1 provisions for open court cases.
