Citizenship by Descent
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The Constitutional Court Upholds the New Legal Framework Introduced by Decree-Law No. 36/2025
In March 2026, the Italian Constitutional Court brought clarity to the ongoing debate on the reform of Italian citizenship by descent, confirming the legitimacy of the new legal framework introduced by Decree-Law No. 36/2025, converted into Law No. 74/2025.
In its decision published on 12 March 2026, the Court upheld the validity of the reform and rejected the constitutional legitimacy challenges raised by the Turin Tribunal, declaring them partly inadmissible and partly unfounded.
In its press release issued at the end of the deliberation (pending publication of the full judgment), the Constitutional Court reaffirmed a key principle: citizenship law falls within the broad discretion of the legislature. It is therefore for Parliament to determine the criteria for the acquisition and recognition of citizenship, provided that such choices are not manifestly unreasonable.
In this context, the Court clarified that there is no constitutional right to the unlimited transmission of citizenship iure sanguinis, nor any obligation on the State to recognise it without generational limits.
The Previous Regime: Citizenship by Descent Before the Reform
Before the 2025 reform, Italian citizenship by descent—governed by Law No. 91/1992—was based on a broad interpretation of ius sanguinis, structured around several key principles:
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Original acquisition of citizenship: Citizenship was acquired automatically by birth to an Italian citizen parent, regardless of place of birth. This status was considered an original subjective right.
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No generational limits: Citizenship could be transmitted “from father to child” without generational restrictions. Descendants in the second, third, or even fourth generation could claim Italian citizenship, provided the chain of transmission had never been interrupted.
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Permanent and imprescriptible status: Once acquired, citizenship was permanent and not subject to limitation periods. It could be established at any time, even after the death of the ancestor, based solely on proof of descent from an Italian citizen.
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Original acquisition of citizenship: Citizenship was acquired automatically by birth to an Italian citizen parent, regardless of place of birth. This status was considered an original subjective right.
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Original acquisition of citizenship: Citizenship was acquired automatically by birth to an Italian citizen parent, regardless of place of birth. This status was considered an original subjective right.
Recognition could therefore be requested even by very remote descendants, without any predefined generational limit, provided that uninterrupted lineage from an Italian ancestor could be demonstrated and no interrupting events had occurred, such as loss of citizenship by the ancestor before the descendant’s birth.
This framework led to a steadily increasing number of citizenship claims by descendants of Italian emigrants, often with only a limited or no effective connection to Italy.
Over time, this extensive application—also consolidated in administrative practice and case law—fuelled a growing debate on the balance between the principle of descent and the need for a genuine link with the State.
What Decree-Law No. 36/2025 Provides
Decree-Law No. 36/2025, as converted into law, significantly reshaped the regime for individuals born abroad, with the aim of curbing mass applications and anchoring citizenship recognition to a more substantial connection with Italy.
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From automatic to conditional acquisition: Citizenship is no longer automatically granted to those born abroad to an Italian ancestor who holds another citizenship. It becomes subject to specific conditions demonstrating a qualified link with Italy.
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Transitional safeguard clause: The previous regime continues to apply exclusively to those who, by 11:59 p.m. on 27 March 2025, had already submitted an administrative or judicial application.
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New substantive requirements: For applicants outside the transitional regime, acquisition of iure sanguinis citizenship is limited, in substance, to two generations, overcoming the traditional unlimited generational transmission model.
The legislator’s stated objective is to strengthen the requirement of an effective connection with the country, preventing an excessively broad use of ius sanguinis by individuals with no concrete ties to Italy.
The Impact of the Constitutional Court’s Decision
From a practical perspective, the Constitutional Court’s ruling has immediate effects: the new restrictions remain fully in force and must be applied by courts in pending proceedings, many of which had been suspended awaiting the decision.
A particularly relevant aspect concerns the temporal scope of the reform. The new rules apply exclusively to applications submitted after 27 March 2025, while proceedings initiated before that date remain governed by the previous, more favourable regime. According to the Court, this approach helps protect legitimate expectations and mitigates potential concerns regarding retroactivity.
Conclusion
The recent decision of the Constitutional Court consolidates the new framework governing Italian citizenship by descent, marking a shift from a broad and potentially unlimited model to a more restrictive system grounded in the requirement of a concrete and effective link with the Italian State.
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