Decree-Law No. 36 of 28 March 2025 was converted, with amendments, into Law No. 74 of 23 May 2025, which entered into force on 24 May 2025. The conversion law amends Law No. 91 of 5 February 1992, the full consolidated text of which is available at the following link.
Particular attention should be drawn to the new Article 3-bis:
By way of derogation from Articles 1, 2, 3, 14 and 20 of this Law, Article 5 of Law No. 123 of 21 April 1983, Articles 1, 2, 7, 10, 12 and 19 of Law No. 555 of 13 June 1912, as well as Articles 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 of the Civil Code approved by Royal Decree No. 2358 of 25 June 1865, a person born abroad, including before the date on which this Article entered into force, who holds another citizenship shall be deemed never to have acquired Italian citizenship, unless one of the following conditions applies:
a) the applicant’s status as an Italian citizen is recognized, in accordance with the legislation applicable on 27 March 2025, following an application, accompanied by the necessary documentation, submitted to the competent consular office or mayor no later than 11:59 p.m. Rome time on that same date;
a-bis) the applicant’s status as an Italian citizen is recognized, in accordance with the legislation applicable on 27 March 2025, following an application, accompanied by the necessary documentation, submitted to the competent consular office or mayor on the date specified in an appointment communicated to the applicant by the competent office by 11:59 p.m. Rome time on 27 March 2025;
b) the applicant’s status as an Italian citizen is judicially established, in accordance with the legislation applicable on 27 March 2025, following a judicial application filed no later than 11:59 p.m. Rome time on that same date;
c) a first- or second-degree ascendant holds, or held at the time of death, exclusively Italian citizenship;
d) a parent or adoptive parent was resident in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before the child’s date of birth or adoption.
Therefore, under the new Law No. 91 of 1992, Italian citizenship by descent (iure sanguinis), from birth, is recognized for:
- an applicant born in Italy, regardless of the date of birth;
- an applicant who holds exclusively Italian citizenship, i.e. who does not hold and cannot hold any other citizenship;
- an applicant who falls within one of the cases listed in paragraphs a), a-bis), b), c), or d) of Article 3-bis.
In light of the new legislation, please note the following:
1) Only applications submitted before 11:59 p.m. on 27 March 2025, Italian time, accompanied by the necessary documentation, are subject to the previous legislation.
For the purposes of determining when an application was “submitted,” this means:
- applications delivered at the counter of the Consular Office before the above-mentioned date and time;
- applications sent by mail with tracking showing a date and time prior to the above-mentioned deadline;
- applications sent by mail without date and time tracking, provided that they were received by the Consular Office before the above-mentioned deadline;
- applications received through Fast-It before the above-mentioned deadline.
2) Only applications, accompanied by the necessary documentation, submitted to the Consular Office on the date specified in an appointment scheduled and communicated to the applicant by the competent office by 11:59 p.m. Rome time on 27 March 2025 are subject to the previous legislation.
“Appointment communicated to the applicant by the competent office” means the confirmation sent by email and received by the applicant from the Prenot@Mi portal or from the institutional email address of the Consular Office section competent to process the application.
3) In all other circumstances, the new legislation applies to applications.
Required documentation
For the required documentation to be submitted, applicants must provide:
All documents required under Circular K.28.1 of 8 April 1991 of the Italian Ministry of the Interior, namely:
- a certified copy/extract of the birth record of the Italian ancestor who emigrated abroad, issued by the Italian municipality where the ancestor was born;
- birth certificates, accompanied by official Italian translations, including that of the person claiming Italian citizenship;
- the marriage certificate of the Italian ancestor who emigrated abroad, accompanied by an official Italian translation if the marriage took place abroad;
- marriage certificates, including those of the parents of the person claiming Italian citizenship;
- a certificate issued by the competent authorities of the foreign country of emigration, accompanied by an official Italian translation, certifying that the Italian ancestor who emigrated from Italy did not acquire the citizenship of the foreign country of emigration before the birth of the applicant’s ascendant;
- a certificate issued by the competent Italian consular authority certifying that neither the direct-line ascendants nor the person claiming Italian citizenship ever renounced such citizenship pursuant to Article 7 of Law No. 555 of 13 June 1912;
- a certificate of residence.
For the purposes of applying the new legislation, the following additional documents must also be provided:
To demonstrate exclusive possession of Italian citizenship (by way of example):
- negative citizenship certificates;
- certificates or declarations of renunciation of citizenship;
- certificates confirming non-registration on electoral rolls.
To demonstrate residence in Italy for at least two consecutive years:
- a historical citizenship certificate.
The Citizenship Office of this Consulate General accepts documentation for the reconstruction of citizenship iure sanguinis exclusively by appointment, which must be obtained through the Prenot@Mi platform.