Major Shifts Coming to Italian Citizenship Law — and What They Mean for You
If you’ve been considering applying for Italian citizenship by descent (jus sanguinis), 2026 is shaping up to be a decisive year. Over the past 12 months, a series of legal developments have reshaped who qualifies — and under what conditions. The next big moment arrives on April 14, 2026, when Italy’s Supreme Court will issue a ruling that could determine the future of citizenship transmission for generations to come.
Please note that the following does not apply to those who have already been recognized as Italian citizens or who have submitted their application before March 27, 2025.
Over the past year, three key legal milestones have reshaped the landscape, and a pivotal court hearing scheduled for April 14, 2026, will determine how these changes are applied going forward. Let’s walk through what brought us here and what’s at stake this week.
The Tajani Decree: A New Limit on Citizenship by Descent
On March 28, 2025, the Italian government introduced Decree-Law No. 36/2025, better known as the Tajani Decree, named after Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. For the first time in Italian history, Italy imposed a generational limit on automatic citizenship by descent.
Under this rule, only people with an Italian-born parent or grandparent can automatically claim citizenship — effectively capping it at two generations. The law was made permanent in May 2025 (Law No. 74/2025) and quickly implemented across municipalities and consulates following updated Interior Ministry guidelines.
The change represented a clear policy shift: Italy wanted to narrow eligibility to those with closer, more immediate ties to the country.
The Constitutional Court Upholds the Reform
Unsurprisingly, the decree faced immediate legal challenges. The Tribunal of Turin argued that limiting citizenship transmission violated constitutional principles of equality and improperly revoked preexisting rights.
The case reached Italy’s Constitutional Court, which held a hearing on March 11, 2026, and issued its decision the next day. The Court upheld the law, rejecting the main constitutional complaints. In simpler terms: the two-generation cap is legitimate and remains in effect.
However, two key issues remain unresolved:
Whether the law applies retroactively (to those born before March 28, 2025).
How to handle cases where an ancestor lost citizenship while their children were minors.
These questions will now fall to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court Hearing: April 14, 2026
All eyes now turn to the Court of Cassation’s Joint Sections (Sezioni Unite), which will deliver binding guidance on both of the unresolved questions.
A. The “Minor Issue” — Did the Line Break?
The Court will decide whether Italian citizenship is lost when an ancestor naturalized abroad while their children were minors living in the same household. A restrictive decision would break the lineage; a lenient one would keep it intact.
B. Retroactivity — Does the Law Apply to the Past?
The Court will also clarify whether the two-generation cap affects:
Those born before the law came into effect, and
Applications already pending.
A non-retroactive decision would mean continuity for anyone with an unbroken lineage and a birth date before March 28, 2025. A retroactive interpretation, however, could instantly disqualify many hopeful applicants — particularly those with great-grandparents or more distant Italian ancestors.
The verdict will define whether the Tajani reform is a gradual shift or a sudden cutoff.
Why This Matters Now
The April 14 decision will determine whether Tajani’s reform is an immediate cutoff or a gradual phase-out. A non-retroactive ruling would protect the vast majority of current applicants and preserve the jus sanguinis chain for decades to come. A retroactive ruling would sharply narrow eligibility overnight, affecting thousands of pending cases and closing the door for many Italian-American families.
We will provide a detailed analysis immediately after the Court’s decision. In the meantime, some lower courts continue to rule in favor of applicants by emphasizing the original, permanent, and imprescriptible nature of the right to citizenship—an encouraging sign that legal debate and possible openings remain.