Lead: On March 12, 2026, Italy’s Constitutional Court upheld a 2025 law that narrows citizenship by descent, limiting eligibility to people with an Italian parent or grandparent under specific conditions. The decision curtails the long-standing jus sanguinis pathway that previously allowed claims through great-grandparents and earlier ancestors. The ruling affects millions worldwide who pursue Italian passports for EU travel and residency opportunities, and it sets the stage for additional legal challenges in the months ahead.
Key Takeaways
- The Constitutional Court affirmed on March 12, 2026, that the 2025 law restricting citizenship by descent stands and applies prospectively to newer claims.
- Under the new statute, citizenship is available to those with an Italian parent born in Italy, a parent born abroad who lived in Italy two consecutive years before the applicant’s birth, or a grandparent born in Italy.
- Estimates cited by Italian officials placed potential eligibility under the old rules at roughly 60–80 million people globally; nearly 17 million Americans report Italian ancestry in U.S. Census data.
- Between 2014 and 2024, Italians living abroad rose from 4.6 million to 6.4 million, a 40% increase that Italian authorities say contributed to administrative strain.
- Argentina’s recognitions rose to about 30,000 in 2024 (from 20,000 in 2023) and Brazil’s to about 20,000 (from 14,000), figures the foreign ministry highlighted when proposing tighter controls.
- Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani framed the change as a response to abuse and commercialized application services that overwhelmed consulates and municipal offices.
Background
Italy’s citizenship framework has long been shaped by jus sanguinis, the “right of blood” principle allowing descendants of Italian nationals to claim citizenship across generations. For decades this rule enabled people whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th and 20th centuries to obtain Italian nationality, a route especially popular in South America and the United States. The appeal rests on practical benefits: an Italian passport grants broad visa-free access and EU mobility rights, including the ability to live and work across EU member states.
By the early 2020s, Italian consulates and municipal registries reported surges in requests and newly recognised citizens abroad, prompting concerns in Rome about administrative capacity and alleged commercial intermediaries charging fees to locate historical records. In May 2025, Parliament approved a decree—known publicly by some as the Tajani decree—that tightened eligibility, drawing immediate criticism and legal challenges from advocacy groups and affected applicants. Those challenges have proceeded through Italy’s constitutional system, culminating in the March 12, 2026 ruling.
Main Event
On March 12, 2026, the Constitutional Court issued a judgment that effectively endorses the 2025 law’s limitations on jus sanguinis claims beyond the third generation. Lawyers and campaigners had argued the statute should not apply retroactively to descendants whose ancestors were born before the law took effect; the court rejected that challenge in its initial decision. The court’s position, as reported by legal observers, signals a narrow interpretation of constitutionally protected nationality claims.
Under the statute now upheld, claimants may qualify if a parent was an Italian citizen born in Italy, or if a parent was an Italian citizen born abroad but who resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years before the claimant’s birth. A grandparent born in Italy can also create eligibility. The change removes the prior broader pathway many used to reach back to great-grandparents and earlier generations.
Italian officials have defended the reform as necessary to stop what they describe as systemic exploitation and to restore orderly processing. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters when the measure was proposed that the system had been used for profit-making by intermediaries and that nationality should not be trivialized. Municipal registries and some consulates had struggled with documentation workloads that, officials said, threatened routine public services.
Analysis & Implications
Legally, the court’s ruling narrows the pool of claimants and reduces uncertainty for municipal offices but raises questions about existing pending applications and long-standing administrative backlogs. For applicants who began lengthy, document-driven processes under the previous interpretation, the ruling may create new barriers and prompt individual litigation on retroactivity and fairness. Italian courts lower in the system will now confront a wave of follow-on cases testing how the ruling applies to applications filed before and after the 2025 law.
Politically, the reform responds to domestic concerns about sovereignty, administrative overload, and perceived commercial exploitation of migration-era records. It may bolster public confidence among voters who view nationality as a civic status tied to proximity of descent rather than a broadly distributed heritage right. Yet the change could generate diplomatic friction with nations—particularly in South America and the U.S.—where large diasporas maintain familial ties to Italy.
Economically and demographically, restricting access to Italian nationality may modestly reduce near-term inflows of new EU residents from diaspora communities, but the impact on Italy’s shrinking population of about 59 million is likely limited in scale. For individuals, however, the consequences are material: the loss of eligibility severs a practical pathway to EU residency, work rights, and the mobility advantages of an Italian passport. Service providers who built businesses around ancestry applications may also face contraction.
Comparison & Data
| Metric | 2013/2014 | 2023/2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Italians living abroad | 4.6 million (2014) | 6.4 million (2024) |
| Argentina: citizenship recognitions | 20,000 (2023) | 30,000 (2024) |
| Brazil: citizenship recognitions | 14,000 (2023) | 20,000 (2024) |
| Italy population | — | ~59 million (2024) |
| Estimated eligible under old rules | — | ~60–80 million (global estimate) |
These figures illustrate why Rome described the earlier regime as unsustainable: a rapid rise in registrations and recognitions in key diaspora countries, paired with a domestic population that has been shrinking, created administrative strain and fueled political debate. The 60–80 million estimate reflects theoretical eligibility under broad jus sanguinis interpretations; actual applicants and successful recognitions are far smaller, concentrated in particular countries and years.
Reactions & Quotes
Italian political leaders and legal experts offered differing frames for the court’s decision. Supporters emphasized orderly administration; critics warned of abrupt disruption for families who had relied on prior interpretations. Below are representative statements and their context.
“Being an Italian citizen is a serious thing. It’s not a game to get a passport that allows you to go shopping in Miami.”
Antonio Tajani, Italian Foreign Minister (statement during 2025 proposal)
This comment, made when the 2025 decree was advanced, encapsulates the government’s justification for stricter rules—framing the reform as a defense of national dignity and administrative integrity rather than a restriction on heritage.
“Although this is not the full ruling yet, it already makes clear that the court will not accept constitutional challenges involving citizenship claims beyond the third generation.”
Renata Bueno, lawyer and former Italian parliamentarian (quoted to Courthouse News)
Renata Bueno’s observation signals practitioners’ expectations: lower courts are likely to align with the constitutional court’s narrower approach, shaping litigation strategy for affected claimants.
Unconfirmed
- Whether applications filed before May 2025 but decided after the ruling will be grandfathered remains subject to further court interpretation and individual rulings.
- The exact number of U.S. applicants who will lose eligibility under the new rule is not yet quantified and depends on case-by-case genealogical evidence.
- Details of how centralization of nationality requests in Rome will operate in practice, including timelines and resource allocation, have not been fully published by the foreign ministry.
Bottom Line
The Constitutional Court’s March 12, 2026 decision upholds a significant narrowing of Italy’s citizenship-by-descent pathway, limiting most new claims to people with a parent or, under restricted conditions, a grandparent who was an Italian citizen born in Italy. For millions of people worldwide who considered or began long genealogical hunts to qualify under the old interpretation, that pathway has become materially narrower and legally uncertain.
Expect litigation to continue in the months ahead as lower courts and administrative bodies interpret the ruling’s scope, especially on retroactivity and pending applications. Practically, anyone pursuing Italian citizenship by descent should consult specialized legal advice and verify how the new rules apply to their documentary record and family timeline; policymakers in Rome will also face pressure to clarify procedures and manage diplomatic fallout with diaspora communities.