Italian Citizenship by Descent in 2026: What Americans Need to Know Before They Start
If you have an Italian last name tucked somewhere in your family tree, there's a good chance you've spent an evening or two down the jure sanguinis rabbit hole. I get it. An Italian passport means EU citizenship, the ability to live and work anywhere in the bloc, and a real, permanent connection to a country most of us fall in love with the second we land there.
Here's the thing: this pathway looks very different than it did two years ago. In 2025, Italy passed the biggest overhaul of its citizenship-by-descent law in more than a century. And in March 2026, Italy's Constitutional Court confirmed those changes are here to stay.
Started this process years ago and haven't checked in on it lately? Just starting to trace your Italian roots? Either way, this is where things actually stand right now, and what your real options are.
One honest note before we get into it: figuring out whether your specific family line still qualifies is a legal and genealogical question, not a relocation-planning one. That work belongs with a qualified Italian citizenship attorney who can review your documents and your ancestor's naturalization history. What I can help with is everything that comes next, whether citizenship works out for you or not: how to actually build a life in Italy, which visa fits if descent isn't an option, what the real steps look like.
What is citizenship by descent, and why did it change?
Jure sanguinis, “right of blood,” is the legal principle behind Italy's citizenship-by-descent law. For over a hundred years, it worked like this: if you could trace an unbroken line back to an Italian-born ancestor, going all the way back to 1861, you could potentially claim citizenship, no matter how many generations separated you from them.
Millions of Italians immigrated to the U.S. between the 1880s and the 1920s, and that's what made Italy such a well-known path for Americans with an Italian great-grandparent or great-great-grandparent. A huge share of Italian-American families technically had a claim sitting in their family tree, no matter how many generations back it went.
That era is over.
On March 28, 2025, the Italian government issued Decree-Law No. 36/2025, nicknamed the “Tajani Decree” after Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Parliament converted it into permanent law on May 23, 2025, as Law No. 74/2025. It inserted a new Article 3-bis into Italy's citizenship law, and it fundamentally rewrote who qualifies.
The government's stated reason: to require a genuine, current connection to Italy rather than a purely genealogical one. Tajani was blunt about it, saying citizenship shouldn't be a shortcut to a passport that lets someone go shopping abroad. Whatever you think of the reasoning, the practical effect is the same. The rules narrowed, and narrowed fast.
Book a call and let’s figure out your best option.
The two-generation limit, explained simply
Here's what most people don't realize: the new rule isn't really about how many generations back your Italian ancestor is. It's about whether your parent or grandparent held Italian citizenship, and only Italian citizenship, at the right moment.
Under Article 3-bis, if you were born outside Italy and hold another citizenship, you generally only qualify automatically if your parent held exclusively Italian citizenship at the time of your birth, or your grandparent held exclusively Italian citizenship at the time your parent was born or at the time of their death.
If your closest Italian-born relative is a great-grandparent or further back, the automatic path is, for most people, closed.
Two exceptions matter here. First, if your recognition application was fully submitted, or you had a scheduled consulate appointment confirmed, by 11:59 PM Rome time on March 27, 2025, your case is evaluated under the old, unlimited-generation rules. Second, if your Italian or adoptive parent lived legally in Italy for at least two continuous years after becoming an Italian citizen and before you were born or adopted, the generational block doesn't apply to you.
This is why two people with nearly identical family trees can land in completely different situations. The details of exactly when your ancestor naturalized, whether they held dual citizenship, and what your parent's residency history looks like all matter more than ever. Italian consulates have updated their official guidance to reflect these conditions, and that's the most reliable place to check the current requirements for your specific consulate. This is also exactly the kind of case-by-case detail a citizenship attorney reviews, not something anyone can tell you from a general breakdown like this one.
Why the Constitutional Court ruling matters
A lot of families held their breath waiting for Italy's Constitutional Court to weigh in, hoping the reform might get struck down. In March 2026, the Court ruled on a challenge brought by the Tribunal of Turin and confirmed that the new limits are constitutionally valid. The reform stays in force.
That doesn't mean the legal picture is fully settled. Parts of the case have been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union to examine how the reform interacts with EU citizenship rights, and litigation is still working its way through Italian courts on related questions. But for practical purposes, if you're planning your next steps today, you should plan around the two-generation rule as the current reality, not a temporary situation waiting to be undone.
Common misconceptions I keep hearing
“If my great-grandparent was Italian, I'm automatically out.” Not necessarily. The test looks at your grandparent, not your great-grandparent directly. If your grandparent (the child of that great-grandparent) held exclusively Italian citizenship at the right moment, your chain can still hold.
“I can apply through any Italian consulate, wherever I am.” Applications still go through the specific Italian consulate with jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence, or the comune in Italy if you're already living there, by appointment, with your full document set. There's no shortcut around the appointment system, and availability varies a lot by consulate.
“This closes the door on Italy completely.” It closes one specific door. It doesn't touch your ability to move to Italy through a visa, and it doesn't eliminate every path to citizenship, just the purely genealogical one for more distant descendants.
If you no longer qualify by descent, here's what's still on the table
Two of these still route through a citizenship attorney. The third is where I come in.
Naturalization through residency is one option. Law 74/2025 made this route more accessible for the people it shut out of automatic recognition. If you have an Italian parent or grandparent by birth but don't meet the two-generation test, you may qualify for naturalization after just two years of legal residence in Italy, down from three. This is a discretionary grant, not an automatic right, and an attorney is who confirms whether you qualify.
Marriage to an Italian citizen is another, and this path hasn't changed. Spouses of Italian citizens can apply after three years of legal residence in Italy, or five years if applying from abroad, with shorter timelines if you have children together.
Then there's moving to Italy without citizenship at all, the one people forget, and the part I help clients with every day. You don't need an Italian passport to build a life in Italy. Two paths I see work well for Americans:
The Elective Residence Visa, for people with steady passive income who want to relocate without working locally. Published guidance puts a single applicant at roughly €31,000–€32,000 per year in stable income (about $35,000–$36,500 USD at current exchange rates), and a couple around €38,000–€40,000 (roughly $43,000–$45,500), though the exact figure varies by consulate and it's smart to apply well above the minimum.
The Digital Nomad Visa, for remote workers with a foreign employer or foreign clients, which currently requires roughly €28,000 in annual gross income for the main applicant (about $32,000 USD).
Both of these are visa categories I walk clients through step by step, income documentation, consulate requirements, timelines, the whole process. Citizenship is one route to Italy. For most people reading this in 2026, it isn't going to be the one that gets them there, and that's exactly why the visa side matters so much right now.
Sitting still. Whether that means letting an old application gather dust because the process feels discouraging, or deciding the door is completely shut without ever confirming your specific family line against the current exceptions.
This law is detailed, and it's still being interpreted by courts. Small facts, when your ancestor naturalized, whether they held dual nationality, your parent's residency history, can change your answer entirely. That's a job for a qualified Italian citizenship attorney, not a general guide like this one. Get that answer first, from someone licensed to give it.
Mid-process, or think you might still qualify? Get your family's documentation and naturalization records organized now, and have a citizenship attorney review your specific line before you assume anything either way.
Line doesn't hold up under the new rules, or you'd rather not wait on a legal process to start living your Italy plan? That's exactly where I come in. The Elective Residence Visa and Digital Nomad Visa are real, well-documented paths into Italy that don't depend on ancestry at all.
You are not too late, and you are not out of options. There's always a path. It just might look a little different than you expected when you started tracing your family tree.
Ready to figure out your real path to Italy?
If citizenship by descent turns out not to be your path, or you just don't want to wait and see, the free “Abroad in a Year” Masterclass walks you through Italy's visa and residency options in detail, so you can stop guessing and start planning. From there, you can book a call with a relocation advisor on our team to map out your specific visa strategy.
You don't have to figure this out alone.Â
This article is general information based on Italian citizenship law as of August 2026, not legal advice. Citizenship-by-descent cases depend heavily on individual family history, and the law is still the subject of active litigation. Talk to a qualified Italian citizenship attorney about your specific situation before making any decisions.
