 "Why Italy’s citizenship through great-grandparents is a thing of the past")
How do you secure citizenship in Italy? For many, it was as simple as digging through one’s family tree and finding an Italian ancestor. However, that’s not going to work anymore. That’s because the Italian government has announced that it is stripping away “jure sanguinis” laws, which allowed people with proof of an Italian ancestor to get nationality.
Why did Italy’s government make this decision? Whom will it affect? What will be the fallout of this decision?
We take a closer look at the issue and get you all the answers you are looking for.
Citizenship by descent in Italy
Jure Sanguinis (or Jus Sanguinis) is Latin for “right of blood” and is synonymous with “by descent”. Until last Friday (March 28), Italy allowed those with Italian ancestors to claim Italian citizenship by descent (Jure Sanguinis).
Through this, once a person was granted Italian citizenship, they were given all of the rights and privileges of those born in Italy and could even obtain a European Union passport — that provides full access to Italy and all other 27 European Union member states.
The law stated that anyone who could prove they had an Italian ancestor who was alive after the country was formed in 1861 would be granted citizenship.
However, on Friday, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that wouldn’t be the case anymore and issued a decree, which now has introduced stringent limits on those who are applicable for such citizenship.
This decree now awaits approval from the lawmakers, which has to be passed within 60 days. If parliament were to vote against the decree, citizenship rules would revert to the previous system. However, this is very unlikely, as the ruling coalition relies on a comfortable majority in parliament.
New citizenship rules to come into effect in Italy
As per the decree issued, only people with an Italian parent or grandparent born in Italy, or with an Italian parent who lived in Italy for a minimum of two continuous years, will now qualify for citizenship by descent.
Moreover, as per a CNN report, one will also have to prove their Italian language proficiency, which was previously only required for naturalisation through residency or marriage. The proficiency is adjudged through a five-part exam.
Also, as per Tajani, Italian citizens with dual nationality will lose their Italian citizenship if they don’t pay taxes, vote and renew their passports. What this means is that those whose citizenship was approved in the past but who don’t live in Italy may be able to retain it.
Reasons behind Italy’s crackdown
But what led the Italian government to change the rules? As Tajani noted it stemmed from the fact that the system was being abused.
In a press conference, Tajani said, “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.”
“Unfortunately over the years there have been abuses and requests for citizenship that went a bit beyond the true interest in our country.”
But what does he mean by this? According to government data, in recent times, Italy has seen a surge in people abroad being granted citizenship. The number of Italians residing abroad has increased 40 per cent between 2014 and 2024 — from 4.6 million to 6.4 million. The Italian consulate in Argentina alone has processed 30,000 applications in 2024 — up by 10,000 from 2023. Similarly, in Brazil, 20,000 requests were processed, an increase from 14,000 in the previous year.
Tajani notes that this surge in applications has also led to some companies minting a fortune by helping people track down their long-forgotten ancestors. Also, it’s clogging municipal offices with requests for old birth, death and marriage records, — time, that Tajani claims could be spent on other important work. The crackdown also comes amid a rising number of complaints about consular appointments being scarce.
As Alberto Teso, the mayor of San Donà di Piave, a city near Venice, told the public broadcaster RAI in February that half of his staff worked full-time on citizenship applications for people — most of them from Brazil — who “will never set foot in our city.”
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that such concerns have been raised. Earlier this year, MPs from Italy’s ruling coalition (Brothers of Italy, Forza Italia and the League) filed a citizenship reform proposal in which they said that citizenship by descent laws created “mechanisms that do not consider the existence of a genuine emotional bond with Italy”, resulting in “an exponential increase” in citizens who lack “a tangible connection” to the country.
Impact of this decision
So, what are the consequences of Italy changing its citizenship rules? For many, it’s the end of a dream. As one family, who had set sail to Italy, told CNN, “We were following Italian law, and we were following the procedures at the Italian government and uprooted our whole lives to move to Italy under the laws at the time when we got on the ship March 23.
“Making this change with no notice at all has stranded a bunch of families in Italy who now don’t have a legal standing and has essentially made us homeless in the middle of the Atlantic on a cruise ship.”
However, it’s important to note here that the decree isn’t retroactive. This means if you submitted your citizenship by descent application with an Italian consulate or municipality prior to March 28, previous rules will continue to apply in your case.
The decree also has sparked a debate on the identity and future demographics of Italy. Currently, Italy’s population is an estimated 59 million. However, it has been shrinking for the past decade. But with this move, Italy is believed to have stripped millions of people of the right to apply for Italian citizenship through descent.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
