# Italian Citizenship for Brazilian Descendants: Comune vs Consulate > Comune vs consulate routes for Brazilians claiming Italian citizenship in 2026: eligibility under Law 74/2025, fees, documents, and timelines. **URL:** https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/italian-citizenship-for-brazilian-descendants-comune-vs-consulate **Last Updated:** 2026-05-15 **Tags:** culture, resources, deepdive --- Brazilians of Italian descent can still claim Italian citizenship in 2026, but the rules tightened significantly after Law No. 74 of 23 May 2025. Most applicants now choose between two routes: filing at an Italian comune (municipality) after relocating to Italy, or applying through the competent Italian consulate in Brazil. *Last updated: May 15, 2026* ## Who Still Qualifies After the 2025 Reform The legal landscape changed on 24 May 2025, when Law 74/2025 entered into force. Under the new Article 3-bis of Law 91/1992, a person born abroad who already holds another citizenship (such as Brazilian) is treated as never having automatically acquired Italian citizenship, unless a narrow statutory exception applies. Italy's Constitutional Court rejected the constitutional challenges to this reform on 12 March 2026, and Judgment No. 63/2026 was issued on 30 April 2026, leaving the new rules fully in force. In practice, this means: - Automatic recognition by descent (*jure sanguinis*) is now limited to applicants with a parent or grandparent (first or second degree ascendant) who held Italian citizenship. - Claims based solely on a great-grandparent or earlier ancestor are no longer accepted administratively. - The qualifying parent or grandparent must have held exclusively Italian citizenship at the time of the applicant's birth, or at that ancestor's death. - Applications filed administratively or judicially before 11:59 p.m. Rome time on 27 March 2025 are grandfathered under the prior, more generous rules. This is a significant shift for Brazil, which historically has been the world's largest source of *jure sanguinis* applicants. In 2023, Brazilians accounted for 68.5% of the more than 61,000 people who gained Italian citizenship through ancestry, over 42,000 individuals. Many Brazilian families trace their Italian roots to immigrants who arrived between 1875 and 1920, meaning the link is frequently through a great-grandparent or great-great-grandparent. Those applicants are now generally outside the administrative route. For a deeper background on the descent framework, see this overview of [Italian citizenship by descent jure sanguinis](https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/how-to-get-italian-citizenship-by-descent-jure-sanguinis-in-2026), and for the specific question of distant ancestors, [Italian citizenship via great grandparent](https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/italian-citizenship-via-great-grandparent-rules-for-americans). ## The Two Main Routes: Comune vs Consulate If you qualify under the post-reform rules (parent or grandparent born Italian), you have two administrative paths: ### Route 1: Apply at the Italian Consulate in Brazil You submit your application in the country where you legally reside. The relevant consulates and their jurisdictions include São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, and Recife. The São Paulo Consulate covers São Paulo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondônia, and Acre. Under Law No. 11 of 19 January 2026, adult applications from abroad are now filed by postal mail with original documents, with eventual centralization at a MAECI (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) managerial office. Full centralization is scheduled for 1 January 2029. The law also sets a statutory maximum processing time of 36 months for adult applications from abroad. ### Route 2: Apply at an Italian Comune You establish legal residence in an Italian municipality and file directly at the local *anagrafe* (registry office). The comune verifies your documents and forwards them through the prefecture. This route was historically attractive because consulate appointment backlogs in Brazil could stretch for years, and processing at a small comune was sometimes faster. After the reform, fewer applicants qualify, but for those who do, the comune route remains an option. Municipalities may charge up to €600 per adult applicant for citizenship applications filed locally. ### Quick Comparison | Factor | Consulate (Brazil) | Comune (Italy) | |---|---|---| | Where you file | Italian consulate with jurisdiction over your Brazilian address | Anagrafe of the Italian municipality where you take residence | | Cost (adult applicant) | €600 consular fee | Up to €600 municipal fee | | Residency requirement | Must legally reside in the consulate's jurisdiction | Must establish actual residence in Italy | | Statutory max processing | 36 months (Law 11/2026) | Varies by comune | | Practical timing | Mail-in system; appointment backlogs reduced but still exist | Depends on the comune's workload | | Best for | Applicants who cannot move to Italy | Applicants ready to relocate | ## Document Checklist for Brazilian Applicants Whether you file at the consulate or a comune, the core documentary chain is the same. You must prove an unbroken line of Italian citizenship from your qualifying ancestor down to you. From Italy (for the ancestor): - Italian birth certificate (*estratto dell'atto di nascita*) of the ancestor, issued by the comune of birth. These can cost up to €300 per document. - Marriage certificate (if applicable). - Death certificate (if applicable). From Brazil (for every link in the chain): - Long-form birth certificates (*certidão de nascimento em inteiro teor*) for the ancestor's descendants down to you. - Marriage certificates for each generation. - Death certificates where applicable. - The Certificado de Não Naturalização (CNE) issued by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, proving that the Italian ancestor in Brazil did not naturalize as Brazilian (or naturalized only after the next generation in line was born). Format requirements: - Foreign documents must be long-form or certified copies. - All Brazilian documents must carry the Hague Apostille (Brazil has been a party since 2016). - All non-Italian documents must be translated into Italian by a sworn translator (*tradutor juramentado* in Brazil, whose translation is then typically apostilled as well). - Errors and discrepancies (different spellings of names, mismatched dates) must be corrected through the issuing civil registry before submission. ## Application Steps ### Consulate Route 1. Confirm jurisdiction. Check which consulate covers your Brazilian state of residence on the MAECI Prenot@mi portal. 2. Gather Italian records. Request the ancestor's certificate from the comune of birth (often by email or PEC). 3. Gather Brazilian records in long form from the relevant *cartórios*. 4. Request the CNE from the Ministério da Justiça. 5. Apostille all Brazilian documents. 6. Translate all foreign documents into Italian via a sworn translator. 7. File the application by postal mail (per Law 11/2026), with originals, to the competent consulate. 8. Pay the €600 consular fee per adult applicant. 9. Wait. The statutory maximum is 36 months. ### Comune Route 1. Enter Italy legally. For non-EU Brazilians without another EU passport, this typically requires a visa. 2. Establish residence at a real Italian address. 3. Register at the anagrafe of that comune and request a *dichiarazione di dimora* while the residence check is pending. 4. File the citizenship application with the same documentary set described above. 5. Await the vigile's home visit (the local police verify that you actually live at the declared address). 6. Receive the trascrizione of your records into the Italian civil registry, followed by issuance of an Italian *carta d'identità* and passport. ## Fees and Processing Times - Consular adult fee: €600 per applicant (non-refundable), effective from 1 January 2025 under the 2025 Budget Law. - Comune adult fee: up to €600 per adult applicant. - **Court filing fee (*contributo unificato*):** €600 per petitioner for judicial cases, including 1948 cases. - Minor children declarations (post-reform): free of charge from 1 January 2026, after elimination of the prior €250 fee. - Italian-issued certificates from comuni: up to €300 each. - Sworn translations and apostilles in Brazil: variable; budget for each document in the chain. - Statutory processing maximum for adults abroad: 36 months under Law 11/2026. ## Critical Deadlines in 2026 - 31 May 2026, 23:59 Rome time: Final deadline for parents to file the *dichiarazione di volontà* (declaration of will) for children who were minors on 24 May 2025. After this date, the right is lost. - One year from birth or adoption: Deadline for the *dichiarazione di volontà* for children born after 24 May 2025 to Italian citizens by descent. - 31 December 2027: Transitional deadline for ex-citizens to reacquire Italian citizenship under Law 74/2025. If you are a Brazilian parent with Italian citizenship and minor children, the 31 May 2026 deadline is the single most urgent item on this list. ## The Work Visa Pathway for Brazilian Descendants For Brazilians who no longer qualify for *jure sanguinis* but still have Italian ancestry, a separate route opened at the end of 2025. A MAECI decree of 17 November 2025 (published in *Gazzetta Ufficiale* No. 273 on 24 November 2025) created an extra-quota subordinate-work visa for Italian descendants who are citizens of seven countries: Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Canada, Australia, Venezuela, and Uruguay. These countries were chosen because each had over 100,000 Italian citizens registered with AIRE as of 31 December 2024. Key features: - The visa is **outside the standard *Decreto Flussi* quota system** for subordinate work. For context, Italy's 2026-2028 *Decreto Flussi* (published 15 October 2025) allocates 497,550 work permits over three years, with 164,850 in 2026. - Self-employment entries under the new descendant scheme are capped at 40 visas per year for Brazil under the 2026-2028 triennium (Venezuela receives 10). - After two consecutive years of legal residence in Italy, descendants whose parent or grandparent was an Italian citizen by birth can apply for citizenship by residence, reduced from the standard 10 years for non-EU nationals (Article 1-bis of the decree). This is a meaningful option for Brazilians with a clear Italian ancestral line who fall outside the post-reform descent rules. It is also slower and conditional on actually living and working in Italy. ## Common Pitfalls - Assuming the great-grandparent rule still works. It does not, unless your case was filed before 27 March 2025. - Naturalization timing errors. If the Italian ancestor naturalized as Brazilian *before* the birth of the next person in line, the chain is broken. The CNE is what proves this either way. - Mismatched names and dates across Brazilian and Italian records. These must be corrected at the *cartório* before submission. - Missing the 31 May 2026 deadline for minor children. - Misjudging consulate jurisdiction. Filing at the wrong consulate gets your application rejected; verify on the MAECI Prenot@mi portal. - Filing at the comune without a real residence. Italian municipalities check addresses through the local police. A fictitious address will sink the application. - Currency exposure. Fees are in euros, and translation and travel costs accumulate. Budget realistically. ## FAQs Can I still apply if my Italian ancestor is a great-grandparent? Not through the administrative *jure sanguinis* route after Law 74/2025. Judicial routes are increasingly limited following the Constitutional Court's 2026 ruling. Some Brazilians in this situation pursue the new descendants' work visa instead. Is the comune route faster than the consulate route in 2026? It can be, but it requires you to actually live in Italy. The new 36-month statutory cap for consular cases under Law 11/2026 has narrowed the gap. Do I need to speak Italian? Not for *jure sanguinis* recognition. The naturalization route (residency-based) requires a B1 level Italian certificate. The new descendants' work visa pathway leading to citizenship after two years will also expose you to language requirements when you apply for citizenship by residence. Can I keep my Brazilian citizenship? Yes. Italy permits dual citizenship, and Brazil generally permits it as well for citizenship acquired by descent. What if my documents have errors? Errors must be corrected at the issuing civil registry (Brazilian *cartório* or Italian comune) before the application is filed. Sworn translators cannot fix substantive discrepancies. Is the Portuguese-language EU citizenship route easier? Some Brazilians compare options across EU member states. For investment-based pathways, see this overview of [Portugal Golden Visa immigration options](https://migaku.com/blog/language-fun/portugal-golden-visa-changes-in-2026-what-investors-need-to-know). If you're planning to spend serious time in Italy, whether for the comune route, the descendants' work visa, or just dealing with consulate paperwork in Italian, building real Italian comprehension early pays off. [Try Migaku](https://migaku.com/signup) to learn Italian from native shows, news, and books.