Italian citizenship by descent for Americans

For decades, millions of Italian-Americans could claim Italian citizenship through a great-grandparent or even further back; since March 2025, most people born abroad with another citizenship can't, unless they fit one of a few narrow exceptions.

The short version

The rules changed overnight. Decree-Law 36 of March 28, 2025, converted into Law 74 of May 23, 2025, added Article 3-bis to Italy's citizenship law. It treats people born abroad who hold another citizenship as never having acquired Italian citizenship, with exceptions [1][2].
Who still qualifies: mainly people with a parent or grandparent who holds (or held at death) only Italian citizenship, or a parent who lived in Italy for two straight years after becoming Italian and before you were born [1][2].
Applications filed by 11:59 p.m. Rome time on March 27, 2025 are handled under the old rules if complete. So are court cases filed by then [1].
The Constitutional Court upheld the new law in Ruling 63 of April 30, 2026, but in July 2026 it sent EU-law questions to the EU Court of Justice, so the story isn't over [3][4].
This is general information. Italian citizenship law is technical; an Italian lawyer can check your family's case.

What changed in 2025

Italian citizenship has always passed by blood: Article 1 of Law 91/1992 still says the child of an Italian father or mother is Italian by birth [2]. Before 2025, there was no generation limit. If your great-great-grandfather left Naples in 1905 and hadn't naturalized as an American before your line's next child was born, you could often claim citizenship with a stack of birth, marriage and naturalization records.

The 2025 decree closed that door for most applicants. New Article 3-bis says that a person born abroad who also holds another citizenship "is considered never to have acquired Italian citizenship" unless an exception applies [1][2]. Because it works backward, Italy's government and courts treat it as a bar to ever acquiring citizenship, not as taking away something you already had [3].

Who still qualifies

Your situation	Status under the 2025 law
You were born in Italy	Recognized as Italian, whatever your birth date [1]
You applied at a consulate, or had a confirmed appointment, by 11:59 p.m. Rome time on March 27, 2025, with full documents	Your case follows the old rules [1][2]
You filed a court case by that same deadline	Your case follows the old rules [1]
A parent or grandparent holds, or held at death, only Italian citizenship	You still qualify [1][2]
A parent (or adoptive parent) lived in Italy for at least two consecutive years after becoming Italian and before your birth or adoption	You still qualify [1][2]
Your Italian link is a great-grandparent or further back, and none of the above applies	You no longer qualify by descent

The grandparent exception tends to help people whose Italian-born parent or grandparent never became an American or took any other nationality. The fine print, such as what counts as holding "only" Italian citizenship and how the timing of a grandparent's naturalization plays in, is exactly where a lawyer earns their fee. The Chicago consulate also reminds applicants that the exceptions don't remove the usual requirement: the chain of citizenship must not have been broken along the way [2].

Minor children of Italian citizens follow a separate procedure. Consulates handle it on its own "citizenship for minors" page, so check yours for the current deadlines and forms [2].

If your application was already in the pipeline

If you beat the March 27, 2025 deadline, your case is judged under the old rules, as long as the file was complete. The Boston consulate explains what counted as on time [1]:

Delivered in person before the deadline
Mailed with tracking dated before the deadline, or received before it without tracking
Submitted through the Fast It portal before the deadline
An appointment date confirmed by email (through Prenot@mi or the consulate's official address) before the deadline

Everything else falls under the new law [1][2]. If you had a pending file with missing documents, ask the consulate in writing where you stand.

Consulates vs court cases

There are two ways to be recognized.

Through a consulate

This is the administrative route for people living in the US. You apply to the Italian consulate covering your state. Some details from the pages we read:

Book through Prenot@mi. Chicago requires adults to book there, and since July 1, 2026 it has you mail your application so it arrives between the 1st and the 20th of your appointment month [2].
Send originals or certified copies of every vital record, with apostilles and Italian translations. Chicago says it doesn't translate [2].
Pay the fee. It's EUR 600 per application (about USD 670 at our rate). Consulates charge it in dollars and adjust it every quarter; Boston lists USD 691 through December 31, 2026 [1]. It's non-refundable even if you're turned down [1].
Expect strictness. Chicago says files missing essential requirements are declared inadmissible without review [2].

Through an Italian court

Court cases were the main route for two groups: people whose line passed through a woman before 1948 (which consulates couldn't recognize), and people who sued over years-long consulate wait times. Under the new law, a court case filed by the March 27, 2025 deadline keeps the old rules [1]. A new case filed today faces Article 3-bis like everyone else, which is why the constitutional challenges below matter so much.

What Italy's courts have said since

This is the part that's still moving, so check for news before you act:

Ruling 63 of April 30, 2026. A Turin court asked the Constitutional Court to strike down Article 3-bis. The Court rejected the main arguments: it found the law a reasonable balance between requiring genuine ties to Italy and protecting people's expectations, and it noted that the law doesn't touch settled status or people who had already applied. It also rejected an EU-law argument and called two other challenges inadmissible [3].
Order 147 of July 2026. On referrals from courts in Mantova and Campobasso, the Constitutional Court didn't decide the merits. Instead it asked the Court of Justice of the European Union whether Article 3-bis is compatible with EU citizenship rules in Article 9 of the EU Treaty and Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, and it suspended those cases until Luxembourg answers [4].
More referrals keep coming. Italian legal commentators reported in September 2026 that a court in Avellino had sent fresh questions to the Constitutional Court.

The EU Court of Justice usually takes many months to rule. Until then, the 2025 law applies.

The American side of a second passport

US law allows dual citizenship. Becoming Italian doesn't cost you your US citizenship.
You still enter and leave the US on your US passport.
Taxes don't change. Uncle Sam taxes citizens on worldwide income wherever they live. Moving to Rome as an Italian citizen means you skip the visa and permesso, but not your US return or the FBAR.
Your kids may still have options. If you're recognized, your minor children may qualify through the separate procedure for minors; for a child born abroad, register them with the US too through a Consular Report of Birth Abroad.

Swapping stories about apostilles, archives in tiny comuni and consulate waits is half the fun of this process. Join our community group for Americans in Italy to compare notes.

Italian citizenship by descent after 2025: who still qualifies, and how