Italy's 2025 Citizenship Law Change:
Law 74/2025 Explained

What is Law 74/2025?

Italy's Parliament enacted Law 74/2025 (originally Decree-Law No. 36 of March 28, 2025) as an urgent measure to address what Italian authorities described as an unsustainable volume of citizenship applications from descendants of Italian emigrants, particularly from South America.

Before this law, Italian citizenship by descent (Jure Sanguinis) could theoretically be claimed through any direct Italian ancestor — with no generational limit. This meant families with Italian great-great-grandparents or even more distant ancestors could apply, provided the lineage met the standard legal requirements (no interruption in citizenship transmission, no prior renunciation, etc.).

Law 74/2025 introduced a hard generational limit for the first time in modern Italian citizenship law.

What exactly changed?

The new law sets a two-generation maximum for Italian citizenship by descent applications. To be eligible, you must have at least one of the following:

• A parent born in Italy, or
• A grandparent born in Italy, or
• A parent who lived in Italy for at least two years before the applicant's birth (even if the parent was not born in Italy)

Claims through great-grandparents or earlier generations are no longer accepted for new applications filed after the law's effective date.

Who is grandfathered?

The law includes a transitional provision to protect applications that were already in progress when the law passed. Your claim is grandfathered — and you can proceed under the old rules — if either of the following is true:

• Your application was formally submitted to an Italian consulate before March 27, 2025 at 11:59 PM Rome time, or
• A consulate appointment was formally scheduled and confirmed before that cutoff

Importantly, simply having requested an appointment does not qualify. The appointment must have been formally confirmed by the consulate before the deadline.

Who is NOT affected by Law 74/2025?

The following applicants are not affected by the new generational limit:

• Applicants with an Italian-born parent — fully eligible as before
• Applicants with an Italian-born grandparent — fully eligible as before
• Applicants whose application was grandfathered (submitted or appointment scheduled before the cutoff)

If your claim falls into any of these categories, the new law does not restrict your application. The standard Jure Sanguinis requirements still apply (citizenship transmission not interrupted, ancestor did not naturalize before transmitting citizenship, etc.), but there is no new generational barrier for you.

What about 1948 cases?

1948 cases — where Italian citizenship was transmitted through a woman in the lineage before 1948 — are subject to the same generational limit under Law 74/2025. If the female ancestor in your 1948 case is a grandparent, the new law does not affect your eligibility. If she is a great-grandparent or earlier, the generational restriction applies.

1948 cases have always required a court petition rather than a consulate application. That requirement has not changed. Our Italian attorneys continue to handle 1948 petitions for eligible applicants.

Are there legal challenges to the law?

Yes. Legal challenges to Law 74/2025 have been filed in Italian courts, arguing that the retroactive limitation is unconstitutional and violates the vested rights of applicants who had not yet submitted their applications by the cutoff. As of this writing, these challenges are proceeding through the Italian judicial system, but the law remains in full effect.

We monitor developments closely and advise clients on any new rulings that could affect their cases. We recommend against waiting and hoping the law is overturned — if you have a valid parent or grandparent claim, proceed now.

What should you do now?

If you have a parent or grandparent born in Italy, your eligibility is intact and you should move forward. The 2025 law changes nothing for you, and consulate wait times mean that delaying costs you years.

If your claim was through a great-grandparent or earlier, your options are more limited. The best step is a free consultation with our team — we can review your specific lineage, check whether any grandfathering applies, and advise on what legal options, if any, remain available in your situation.