Eligibility Quiz
Requirements
Who Qualifies Under the New Law (Post–May 24, 2025)
You qualify for Italian citizenship by descent through a grandparent if you meet one of these conditions:
1. Exclusive Italian Citizenship of Your Grandparent
Your grandparent (or parent, if claiming through a parent) held exclusively Italian citizenship at the time of your parent's birth (or at the time of your grandparent's death, whichever came first). "Exclusively" means your grandparent held only Italian citizenship—not dual citizenship. This is the primary route for grandparent-based claims.
2. Two-Year Residency in Italy
Your parent resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before you were born or adopted. This exception allows you to qualify even if your grandparent held dual citizenship, provided your parent lived in Italy for the required period.
3. Grandfathered Under Old Rules
You submitted a complete application before 11:59 PM Rome time on March 27, 2025, or received notification of a scheduled appointment before that deadline. If either condition applies, your case is processed under the previous rules, which allowed claims through great-grandparents and beyond. This deadline has passed, but if you meet it, you retain eligibility under the old, more lenient framework.
Core Eligibility Conditions (All Routes)
Regardless of which pathway above applies, you must also demonstrate:
Unbroken Chain of Citizenship
No ancestor in your direct line from your Italian grandparent to you can have renounced or lost Italian citizenship before passing it to the next generation. Critically, if an ancestor naturalized in another country, that naturalization must have occurred after the next person in line was born. For ancestors born before August 16, 1992, naturalization in another country before your parent's birth breaks the chain. After August 16, 1992, acquiring foreign citizenship does not automatically cause loss of Italian citizenship.
Ancestor Born After Italian Unification
Your Italian-born grandparent must have been alive on or after March 17, 1861 (the date of Italian unification). If your grandparent was born before this date, you do not qualify.
Age of Majority Threshold
For ancestors born before March 10, 1975, the critical date for naturalization is when the next person in line reached age 21 (the age of majority at that time). For those born after March 10, 1975, the threshold is age 18. If your ancestor naturalized before the next person reached this age, the chain is broken.
The 1948 Rule: Maternal Line Exception
A critical exception applies if your claim passes through a female ancestor (grandmother, great-grandmother, etc.) who gave birth before January 1, 1948. Before that date, Italian women could not independently pass citizenship to their children under Italian law.
If this applies to you, you cannot use the standard consular (administrative) process. Instead, you must file a judicial case in Italian court. This is not a disqualification—it is a separate legal pathway with its own process and timeline. Courts have a very high success rate (95%+) for properly documented 1948 cases. See the Court Application Route section below for details.
Disqualifying Factors
You do not qualify if:
- Your Italian ancestor renounced Italian citizenship before your parent was born
- Your Italian ancestor naturalized in another country before your parent was born (or before your parent reached age of majority if born before 1975)
- Your claim traces through a great-grandparent or more distant ancestor and you did not submit a complete application before March 27, 2025
- You hold another citizenship and do not meet one of the specific exceptions under Article 3-bis of Law 91/1992 (see "Exclusive Citizenship Requirement" below)
- Your Italian-born ancestor was born before March 17, 1861
Exclusive Citizenship Requirement
Under Article 3-bis of Law 91/1992 (introduced by the 2025 reform), an applicant born abroad who holds another citizenship is considered never to have acquired Italian citizenship unless one of these exceptions applies:
- Your application was filed before March 27, 2025 (grandfathered under old rules)
- Your parent resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before you were born
- You can prove your Italian ancestor held exclusively Italian citizenship at the critical moment
The "exclusive citizenship" requirement means your Italian ancestor must have held only Italian citizenship—not dual citizenship—at the time your parent was born (or at the ancestor's death, whichever came first). If your ancestor held dual citizenship, you do not qualify under the standard route unless one of the exceptions above applies.
Conditions & Warnings
Critical deadline: Applications submitted before March 27, 2025, 11:59 PM Rome time are processed under previous rules allowing claims through great-grandparents. Applications after this date are subject to a strict two-generation limit (parent or grandparent only).
If your claim passes through a female ancestor who gave birth before January 1, 1948, you must pursue a judicial case in Italian court instead of the standard consular route. This is not a disqualification—1948 cases have a 95%+ success rate for properly documented claims.
Your Italian ancestor must have held exclusively Italian citizenship at the time of your parent's birth. If the ancestor held dual citizenship or naturalized in another country before your parent was born, you do not qualify under the standard route.
Italy's Constitutional Court upheld the two-generation limit on March 12, 2026. However, three additional constitutional questions remain pending, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule in spring 2026 on whether naturalization abroad while a child was a minor causes loss of Italian citizenship.
Many Italian consulates worldwide have long waiting times or suspended citizenship-by-descent appointments as of March 2026. If a consulate fails to respond within 24 months, you can file a judicial appeal.
All documents must be certified copies in long form (not abstract or summary form), apostilled, and officially translated into Italian. Italian consulates are extremely strict with document requirements and will reject applications for minor discrepancies. Incomplete submissions will not be processed.
From 2029, a centralized Rome office will handle adult jure sanguinis cases instead of consulates, with processing timelines potentially extending up to 36 months. During the transition (through 2028), consulates will continue processing but may limit new applications.
Qualifications
Fees
€600 per adult applicant as of January 1, 2025 (doubled from previous €300). Non-refundable regardless of outcome. Applications filed at Italian municipalities (comuni) are exempt from this consular fee.