How to Get Italian Citizenship by Descent (Jure Sanguinis) in 2026
Última actualización: May 13, 2026
If your parent or grandparent was an Italian citizen, you may still qualify for Italian citizenship jure sanguinis (by right of blood), but the rules changed dramatically in 2025 and again in 2026. This guide walks you through who still qualifies, what documents you need, where to file, what it costs, and how long it takes under the current law.
Last updated: May 13, 2026
What Changed in 2025 and 2026
For decades, Italian citizenship by descent was famously generous: if you could trace an unbroken Italian line back to an ancestor alive after the unification of Italy in 1861, you could usually claim citizenship, regardless of how many generations had passed. That changed on May 24, 2025, when Law No. 74 of May 23, 2025 (which converted Decree-Law No. 36 of March 28, 2025) took effect.
The new Article 3-bis of Law 91/1992 deems individuals born abroad who hold another citizenship to have never acquired Italian citizenship, with limited exceptions. In practice, this collapses the previously open-ended generational chain to roughly two generations.
Then, on February 19, 2026, Law No. 11 of January 19, 2026 entered into force. It restructures how adult applications from abroad are filed: instead of going to your local consulate, applications will eventually be sent to a centralized managerial office at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAECI). The fully centralized system takes effect January 1, 2029, with a transitional phase running until then.
If you submitted a complete application to a consulate or municipality, or filed a lawsuit, by 11:59 PM Rome time on March 27, 2025, your case is grandfathered under the prior, more generous rules. Everyone else applies under the new regime.
Who Qualifies Under the New Rules
Under Law 74/2025, an applicant residing abroad qualifies for Italian citizenship jure sanguinis if at least one of the following is true:
- A parent or grandparent (a 1st or 2nd degree ascendant) held Italian citizenship at the time of death, and held it exclusively at some point.
- A parent or adoptive parent resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before the applicant's birth or adoption.
Several older rules from Law 91/1992 still constrain eligibility:
- The 1948 rule. Italian citizenship can be transmitted through the maternal line only for children born on or after January 1, 1948, when the Italian Constitution took effect. Cases involving a female ancestor passing citizenship before that date generally must go through the courts.
- The minor child rule. Per Ministry of Interior Circular No. 43347 of October 3, 2024 and Italian Court of Cassation Orders No. 454/2024 and No. 17161/2023, if your Italian ancestor naturalized as a foreign citizen while their child (your next-in-line ancestor) was still a minor, the chain is considered broken. The minor lost Italian citizenship along with the parent.
- Pre-naturalization birth. The Italian ancestor must not have naturalized in another country before the next descendant in line was born.
Applicants must also document exclusive Italian citizenship of the qualifying ancestor at the relevant time. This is shown through negative citizenship certificates, statements of renunciation, or certificates of non-enrollment in foreign electoral registers.
Document Checklist
The documentary backbone of any jure sanguinis file comes from Circular K.28.1 of April 8, 1991. Expect to gather:
- Birth certificate of the Italian-born ancestor (issued by the Italian comune).
- Birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates for every descendant in the line, including yours.
- Naturalization records (or certified proof of non-naturalization) for the Italian ancestor. In the United States, this means USCIS Genealogy or Certificate of Non-Existence records and equivalent state-level documents.
- Proof that the ancestor did not naturalize before the next descendant's birth.
- Marriage certificates of the qualifying parent or grandparent.
- Your valid passport and proof of residence in the consular jurisdiction.
- Apostilles on all non-Italian civil documents (under the 1961 Hague Convention).
- Certified Italian translations of all foreign-language civil documents.
- Documentation of exclusive Italian citizenship of the ancestor: negative certificates, renunciation records, or certificates of non-enrollment in foreign voter rolls.
Under EU Regulation No. 2016/1191, effective February 16, 2019, certain public documents issued by EU member states to their own citizens are exempt from legalization, which can simplify files involving multiple EU countries.
Civil records often contain discrepancies, like name variants between Italian and English spellings, mismatched dates, or missing middle names. Each discrepancy generally needs a court-ordered amendment in the issuing jurisdiction or a sworn affidavit accepted by the reviewing official. Plan for this. It is the single most common source of delay.
How to Apply: Step by Step
1. Confirm eligibility under Law 74/2025
Map your family tree against the two-generation rule and the residency-based exception. If your qualifying ancestor is a great-grandparent or further back, you most likely no longer qualify administratively and would need to evaluate a judicial path with an Italian attorney.
2. Decide where to file
Three main venues exist:
- Italian consulate abroad if you live outside Italy. Under Law 11/2026, adult applications from abroad will eventually be processed centrally at MAECI, but until January 1, 2029 the transitional system applies. Each consular office may accept a number of adult applications per year equal to those it completed the prior year, with a floor of 100.
- Italian municipality (comune) if you legally reside in Italy.
- Italian courts for grandfathered cases or for fact patterns the administrative route does not cover (such as 1948 cases).
3. Book an appointment or prepare a postal submission
At the Miami Consulate, for example, appointments are booked through the Prenot@mi online system. Under Law 11/2026, adult applications from abroad must be submitted exclusively by postal mail with original documents; shipping costs are borne by the applicant. Confirm current procedure with your specific consulate before mailing anything.
4. Submit a complete file
Applications must be complete on submission. The Citizenship Office does not pre-screen documents, and incomplete submissions are not processed. If a single certificate is missing or incorrectly translated, the file can be returned without review.
5. Pay the fees
Fees must be paid in the form your consulate specifies. Miami, for instance, requires a Money Order not drawn on Bank of America and does not accept cash.
6. Wait for the decision
Law 11/2026 sets a statutory maximum processing time of 36 months for adult applications from abroad. If your application is approved, your name and vital records are transcribed into the registers of an Italian comune, and you become eligible to apply for an Italian passport at any consulate.
Fees and Processing Time
Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Adult jure sanguinis consular fee | €600 | Increased from €300 effective January 1, 2025 under Article 1, paragraph 639 of the 2025 Budget Law |
US dollar equivalent | US$643.70 | For Q1 2025; the dollar amount is recalculated quarterly |
Refundability | Non-refundable | Regardless of outcome |
Article 9-bis fee | €250 | Applies to applications/declarations regarding election, acquisition, reacquisition, renunciation, or grant of citizenship |
Statutory maximum processing time | 36 months | Under Law 11/2026 for adult applications from abroad |
Budget separately for apostilles, certified translations, document retrieval from Italian comuni and US vital records offices, and shipping. Many applicants spend more on document gathering than on consular fees.
Common Pitfalls
- Assuming old eligibility rules still apply. Many online guides written before May 2025 are now wrong. The great-grandparent and great-great-grandparent pathway through consulates is largely closed for new applicants.
- Missing the minor-child trap. If your Italian ancestor naturalized before their child (your next ascendant) turned 21, or 18 in some periods, the line is considered broken under the 2024 Cassation rulings.
- Sloppy translations. Translations must be certified, complete, and consistent with the original. Translator errors cause rejections.
- Name and date discrepancies. A grandmother recorded as "Maria" in Italy and "Mary" on a US marriage license needs documentation linking the two identities. Resolve these before filing, not after.
- Filing a partial application to "hold a spot." Italian consulates do not pre-screen and do not accept incomplete files. Submitting early without all documents wastes the appointment.
- Confusing the post-March 27, 2025 grandfather window. Only applications already complete and submitted by that date, or lawsuits already filed by then, are processed under prior law. Applications started but not submitted do not qualify.
- Forgetting exclusive citizenship proof. The new law cares not just whether the ancestor was Italian but whether they held that citizenship exclusively at the relevant moment. Negative certificates from the country of residence are now standard evidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still claim through a great-grandparent? Generally no, not through the consular administrative process under Law 74/2025. The qualifying ancestor must usually be a parent or grandparent. A judicial path may exist in narrow circumstances; consult an Italian attorney.
My grandfather was Italian but I was born after he died. Does that matter? What matters under the new law is whether he held Italian citizenship at the time of his death, and exclusively at some point. His being deceased before your birth does not by itself disqualify you.
Does living in Italy help? Yes. If you establish legal residence in Italy, you can file at the comune, and a separate exception lets the children of an Italian parent who lived in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring citizenship qualify regardless of where the child was born. If residence in Italy is your route, the Italy Elective Residence Visa 2026 is one of the visas to consider, depending on your income and work situation.
What if my line goes through a female ancestor before 1948? Maternal transmission is recognized administratively only for descendants born on or after January 1, 1948. Pre-1948 maternal cases have historically gone through Italian courts.
How long does it really take? The statutory cap is 36 months under Law 11/2026, but real timelines vary by consulate workload, transitional caps, and document complexity. Plan in years, not months.
Do my minor children get citizenship automatically? Minor children of a recognized Italian citizen may have a path, but the rules around minors changed sharply in 2025. Specific procedures and the Article 9-bis €250 fee can apply. Confirm with the consulate handling your case.
What if I'm considering other EU options instead? If Italian descent does not work out, other long-stay routes through EU countries may fit your situation better. See the Spain Non-Lucrative Visa guide or, for skilled workers, the EU Blue Card in Germany.
Where to Verify Current Rules
Italian citizenship is governed by Law No. 91 of February 5, 1992, with implementing regulations in Presidential Decree No. 572 of October 12, 1993 and Presidential Decree No. 362 of April 18, 1994, as amended by Law 74/2025 and Law 11/2026. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (esteri.it) and the consulate with jurisdiction over your residence are the authoritative sources. Always cross-check fee amounts, document lists, and submission methods with your specific consulate before mailing originals or paying anything.
If Italian citizenship is on your horizon, picking up Italian early pays off in every interaction with the comune, the consulate, and your future neighbors. Migaku helps you learn Italian from the shows, news, and books you'd actually consume in Italy, so the language stops being a hurdle by the time your passport arrives. Try Migaku if that fits how you want to learn.