Italian citizenship by descent after the 2025 reform

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains that post-reform applications by people born abroad with another citizenship are subject to new conditions and exceptions.

The published examples include a parent or grandparent who held only Italian citizenship, or a qualifying parent’s period of residence in Italy before the applicant’s birth. Transitional and judicial questions require case-specific review.

Decree-Law No. 36 of 28 March 2025 was converted with amendments into Law No. 74 of 23 May 2025. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that, for applications made since the decree, a person born abroad who holds another citizenship is not treated as having automatically acquired Italian citizenship unless one of the exceptions in article 3-bis of Italy’s citizenship law (Law No. 91/1992) applies.

The Ministry lists two exceptions for new applications. A parent or grandparent holds, or held at death, only Italian citizenship. Or a parent (including an adoptive parent) lived in Italy for at least two continuous years after becoming Italian and before the child’s birth or adoption. The Los Angeles consulate also lists people already recognized as Italian citizens by 11:59 pm Rome time on 27 March 2025, and people whose application followed an appointment communicated by that time.

So the line that matters now runs to a parent or a grandparent. A claim through a great-grandparent or earlier ancestor is not one of the listed exceptions for a new application.

• Through a grandparent with only Italian citizenship: the consular application, with proof of the grandparent’s exclusive Italian citizenship.
• Through a parent with only Italian citizenship: the same application, with that proof for the parent.
• Through a parent who lived in Italy for two continuous years: the consular application, with the parent’s historical residence certificate.
• Through an Italian woman whose child in your line was born before 1 January 1948: the Ministry says that in the consular procedure citizenship passes through the mother only to children born after that date, which is why these cases are taken to an Italian court instead.

• Italian civil records for the relevant ancestor and connecting generations.
• Foreign civil records, amendments, and name reconciliation.
• Naturalization, non-naturalization, or other citizenship-status evidence.
• Residence or exclusive-citizenship evidence where the claimed exception requires it.
• Apostilles and translations prepared for the chosen authority.

Start with the Italian-born ancestor and work forward to yourself. Each record comes from the office where the event was registered, not from wherever the person later lived.

• Your Italian-born ancestor’s birth: the comune where the birth was registered issues the birth extract. Ask for the extended extract that names the parents, and request it from the comune directly; the Ministry of Culture’s Antenati portal also sends people to the comuni for certificates.
• Old registers you find online: the Ministry of Culture’s Antenati portal shows images of many civil-status registers held by the State Archives, but it says those images have no legal value and can’t be used for a citizenship application. An authentic copy of a register held in a State Archive comes from that Archivio di Stato.
• Births, marriages and deaths in the United States: the state or city vital records office where each event happened. Ask for the long form by name; it is often not the standard copy, and it shows the exact place of birth and the parents.
• Proof of naturalization or non-naturalization: US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the National Archives (NARA), or the court where the ancestor naturalized. Each consulate lists which of these it accepts, so check yours before you order.
• Proof of exclusive Italian citizenship: the Ministry gives examples such as certificates showing no other citizenship, renunciation attestations, and certificates of non-registration on electoral lists. The Los Angeles consulate says it doesn’t accept self-declarations about other citizenships.
• Proof of two years’ residence in Italy: a historical residence certificate (certificato storico di residenza).

Unlike Ireland and Canada, Italy wants an apostille and an Italian translation on US records. This is our generic consular package; your own consulate’s checklist governs and can add items.

• Italian comune extract: no apostille and no translation. Each consulate sets how recent it must be, so check yours before you request it.
• Your own US birth certificate, and the birth, marriage and any death certificates of each generation between you and the Italian-born ancestor: certified originals in long form, each with an apostille and a complete Italian translation.
• The Italian-born ancestor’s marriage and death records: the rules depend on where each was issued. An Italian record needs no apostille or translation; a US record is treated like the other US records above.
• US naturalization or non-naturalization records: each one currently needs an apostille, but no Italian translation. That covers the naturalization certificate, the no-record letters from USCIS and the National Archives, and court and county records.
• A copy of your current passport and, if you’re married, your marriage certificate. Some consulates also ask for a copy of your spouse’s birth certificate.

• No apostille or translation on Italian civil records. The comune’s extract is already an Italian document.
• No notarised copies of your vital records. Consulates ask for certified originals in long form with an apostille, not a notary’s copy.
• No Italian translation of US naturalization records.
• No Antenati printout as evidence. The Ministry of Culture says images from its portal have no legal value for citizenship.
• No consular recency limit on the Italian birth extract for the 1948 court route.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the consular office that examines your application is the one for the place where you live. A mailing address isn’t residence: the Los Angeles consulate, for example, asks for a valid document proving legal permanent residence in its district.

Appointments are booked through the Ministry’s Prenot@mi portal. The Los Angeles and New York consulates both take the application by mail on the appointment day rather than in person. The consular fee is set by Italian law and paid to the consulate; its current amount is on your consulate’s page.

You may not get your documents back. The Los Angeles consulate says it keeps the documents in your citizenship file and returns only an original US naturalization certificate.

The 1948 question: if your line passes through an Italian woman whose child was born before 1 January 1948, the case goes to an Italian court, not a consulate, and it must now also be considered alongside the 2025 reform. The court file still rests on records: the original Italian birth extract with full particulars from the comune where the birth was registered, your long-form birth certificate with an apostille and official Italian translation, the marriage and birth records connecting the generations, and naturalization or non-naturalization evidence for every country where the Italian ancestor lived. An Italian lawyer advises on the court and how each record is prepared.

Naturalization timing: since the 2025 reform, what matters is whether the Italian ancestor naturalized before the applicant was born. The old rule asked whether it happened before the next person in the line was born. The foreign authority’s record of naturalization, or of no naturalization, shows the date, and that date is often the pivot of the case. Read your consulate’s current instructions before you rely on a timeline.

Administrative, judicial, and transitional postures should be reviewed against the current law and facts. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Citizenship rules and document instructions can change; confirm the current requirements with the responsible government office before filing.