Everything that has changed regarding Italian citizenship with the new legislation.

1. New Italian citizenship law: how Law No. 74 was created

2. Changes to Italian citizenship with the new law

3. What does this mean in practice for those who are descendants?

4. Judicial process of challenging constitutionality.

5.

6. Count on Nostrali to defend your rights.

On May 23, 2025, the President of Italy enacted the new legislation concerning Italian citizenship iure sanguinis, defined from Decree-Law 36/2025, converted into law with amendments. From the day after its publication in Official GazetteLaw No. 74, of May 23, 2025, introduced new requirements for the recognition of Italian citizenship for descendants by blood.

In today's content, we explain everything that has changed regarding Italian citizenship with the new legislation. Follow along and understand how the new law unconstitutionally restricts the right of Italian descendants to citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis).

New Italian citizenship law: how Law No. 74 was created

The new law No. 74, of May 23, 2025, was enacted following the conversion into law of Decree No. 36/2025. The proposal, promoted by the Meloni government, was approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate after votes within the legal deadline, which was May 27.

During the committee debates, Italian parliamentarians introduced amendments to alter some aspects of the decree-law. The final text received 137 votes in favor and 83 against in the Chamber of Deputies.

Changes to Italian citizenship with the new law

1. Citizenship limited to children and grandchildren of Italians

Currently, the law states that citizenship can only be granted to children and grandchildren (up to the second degree of consanguinity) of Italian citizens who exclusively held Italian citizenship. In other words, if the ancestor possessed, or still possesses, another citizenship besides Italian citizenship at the time of death, the right to Italian citizenship will be automatically blocked.

This requirement prevents the transmission of Italian citizenship by Brazilians with dual citizenship, for example.

2. Deadline for those who were already in the process.

Only administrative or judicial requests submitted by 23:59 p.m. on March 27, 2025 (Rome time) will be processed according to the previous rules. This directive especially affects those who were in consular queues but had not yet submitted their documentation.

3. Deadlines and requirements for minors

The possibility of transmission to minors has specific definitions for those born before and after the new law came into effect.

Those born before the approval of the new law, with parents who are citizens (who have filed their application by March 27, 2025, or have already been recognized), will have until May 31, 2026, to declare their intention to transmit citizenship to the minor. In these cases, the dual citizenship of the parents does not prevent the transmission of citizenship to their children.

For minors born to Italian citizens by birth, after the new legislation comes into effect, citizenship will only be recognized if:

• The parents' declaration of intent to transmit citizenship must be made within 1 year of the birth/adoption; • Or, if made later, the minor must reside in Italy for 2 years after the declaration.

What does this mean in practice for those who are descendants?

For most Italian-Brazilians, the new legislation imposes strict restrictions on applications for recognition of citizenship. Therefore, the only possibility of obtaining it... Italian citizenship For those who do not meet the requirements of the new Law of May 23, 2025, No. 74, the recourse is through the courts, starting with the process of challenging constitutionality.

Previously, many Brazilians had already requested recognition through the courts, but the objective of the lawsuits was to challenge the consular waiting list. In other words, the applicant – or applicants, in the case of family groups – filed a lawsuit alleging the impossibility of having their original right recognized because the consulates did not meet the established deadline for obtaining citizenship.

Now, the process will seek to challenge the constitutionality of the new measures Tajani's decree became law. Therefore, those with ancestors who are great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents can still initiate the legal process.

Learn more: Naturalization through marriage remains unchanged with new legislation.

Judicial process of challenging constitutionality.

As we pointed out even before the decree became law, we at Nostrali, along with several other experts, Italian constitutionalists, and institutions, believe that the new legislation is unconstitutional.

Lawyers believe the new law has constitutional incompatibilities, as it violates rights guaranteed by the Italian Constitution, international treaties, and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Considering especially articles 3, 22, 29 and 35 of the Italian Constitution, as well as the violation of article 11 of the General Law Provisions (preliminary to the Civil Code), article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 6 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the new legislation has a high degree of unconstitutionality.

Therefore, in such cases, it is possible to file a lawsuit in Italy and ask the judge to send the matter to the Constitutional Court, the only body that can analyze whether the new rule is valid or not.

This is also the route that maternal routeIn a case where there was a law that went against the rights of applicants who were children of Italian mothers, the Constitutional Court nevertheless recognized the incompatibility of these measures, and since then, there has been a precedent for the recognition of Italian citizenship.

Count on Nostrali to defend your rights.

As we explained, from now on, the path to recognition of Italian citizenship will indeed be through the courts, with actions that directly challenge the unconstitutionality of this measure.

Those who have already hired Nostrali can also be assured that, with due authorization, we will continue to file lawsuits — now based on actions that question the legitimacy of the decree, which affects an original legal status, violating the principles of non-retroactivity of laws (Article 11 of the Preliminary Provisions of the Civil Code) and legitimate trust in the security of the legal system.

Those who have not yet started the process and wish to pursue this path can. count on our company In this fight, our team has the necessary legal expertise to act against the unconstitutionality of the law.

Considering precedents, territorial jurisdictions, and case law, we have defined a strategy for filing the appropriate lawsuits. We emphasize that the jurisdiction of the courts remains linked to the Italian citizen's place of birth. In this regard, we have already identified some courts whose interpretations indicate a greater propensity for the issue of unconstitutionality to eventually be raised.

Nostrali Cidadania reaffirms its commitment to remaining steadfast in its purpose: to serve with seriousness and dedication all those for whom it makes sense to fight for the fair recognition of their own citizenship.