Citizenship by descent after Law 74/2025 and the Constitutional Court ruling of March 2026
Law 74 of 2025 ended automatic transmission for those born abroad holding another nationality. The framework now sets a two-generation limit, and requires either an ancestor who held Italian citizenship exclusively, or an Italian parent who resided legally in Italy for at least two years before the child's birth. Transmission breaks where a generation held dual citizenship.
Source: Legge 74/2025
Applicants who already received administrative recognition before 27 March 2025, and those who had filed an application or begun court proceedings by that date, remain under the previous rules.
Source: Legge 74/2025; prassi consolare
Two separate things happened, and most English-language sites report only the first. Judgment 63/2026, decided on 11 March and filed on 30 April, held the challenges unfounded: requiring an effective link with Italy is legitimate. Then, with order 147/2026 filed on 23 July 2026, the same Court suspended proceedings and referred the question to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The case was registered in Luxembourg on 26 August 2026 as C-816/26. It is open.
Source: Corte Costituzionale, sentenza 63/2026 e ordinanza 147/2026; CGUE causa C-816/26
For children born before 25 May 2025 the declaration is due by 31 May 2029. For children born after that date it must be made within three years of birth, extended from one year and not retroactive. The 250-euro contribution was abolished from 1 January 2026, with no refund for anyone who had already paid it.
Source: D.L. 200/2026 art. 1 c. 19-ter conv. L. 26/2026; legge di bilancio 2026 art. 1 c. 513
Two things, and they are not nothing. Residence routes into Italy exist and are unaffected by this law. And the records themselves do not close: the archive research, the town, the family, the return visit are all still there, and they were always the part that mattered to most people who started this.
Source: Valutazione dell'autore
This page is information, not legal advice. The law in this area has moved three times in two years and is now in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Check the date at the top before you rely on it.