Summary (tl;dr)

Italy's Constitutional Court has largely upheld a new law that significantly restricts Italian citizenship by descent, ending the long-standing principle of unlimited jus sanguinis and impacting millions of individuals worldwide with distant Italian ancestry.

Essential Background

For over a century, Italy maintained a generous jus sanguinis (right of blood) principle, allowing individuals to claim Italian citizenship through their ancestry without generational limits, provided an unbroken lineage to an Italian citizen who was alive after Italy's unification in 1861. This policy enabled millions of descendants of Italian emigrants globally, particularly in countries with large Italian diasporas like Argentina, Brazil, and the United States, to obtain Italian passports and European Union citizenship.

The Full Story

In March 2025, the Italian government introduced an emergency decree, later converted into Law 74/2025 in May 2025, that drastically altered the criteria for Italian citizenship by descent. The new legislation limits eligibility to those with at least one parent or grandparent born in Italy, effectively imposing a two-generation cap where previously there was none. This law was met with constitutional challenges, notably from judges in Turin who questioned its compatibility with Italy's constitution.

On March 13, 2026, Italy's Constitutional Court announced its intention to uphold the controversial 2025 law, declaring the constitutional challenges largely unfounded or inadmissible. While a full written verdict is still pending, this preliminary decision signals a major shift in Italian citizenship policy. The new rules apply retroactively to applications filed after March 27, 2025. A separate challenge is scheduled for April 14, 2026, at the Court of Cassation, Italy's highest court, regarding aspects of the law's application.

Why It Matters

This ruling is highly significant because it curtails a pathway to Italian and EU citizenship for potentially millions of individuals of Italian descent globally. The Italian government justified these changes by citing reasons such as preventing abuses, managing overwhelming consular backlogs—with estimates of 60 to 80 million potential Italian descendants worldwide and significant increases in applications from countries like Argentina and Brazil—and preserving the integrity of Italian citizenship. However, critics argue that the new law severs deep-seated ancestral ties and alienates large diaspora communities who have long valued their Italian heritage and the benefits of EU citizenship, such as increased mobility for work and travel. The decision also raises concerns about potential disparities among descendants, as those with more distant Italian ancestors are now largely excluded.

Geographic Location

• Rome, Lazio, Italy (Constitutional Court upheld the new citizenship law, Supreme Court of Cassation will hear a separate challenge)
• Turin, Piedmont, Italy (Judges raised constitutional challenges to the law)
• Palermo, Sicily, Italy (Court ruling allowed some Italo-Argentinian applicants to proceed under pre-law rules)
• Mantua, Lombardy, Italy (Court referred a further challenge to the Constitutional Court)