Many Americans have temporarily put off hopes to relocate to Italy to realize their Strega Nona dreams. Italy is denounced the door on the road to gain citizenship through its ancestors for its descendants, at least for now. This is also known as Blood rightsor citizenship by pedigree.
For decades, Italian descents around the world have been hoping to sift through family records and track lineages. However, on March 28, the Italian government in a surprising move not only significantly tightened the rules for obtaining Italian citizenship in blood, but also introduced new restrictions that freeze the processing of new applications.
What Italy’s new citizenship order actually says
DL 36, also known as Tajani’s imperative law, named after Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who wrote the reforms, strengthens the standard for claiming Italian citizenship. Under the new rules, only those with Italian parents or grandparents can apply. This allowed applications to be made through historic lineage: great grandparents and great grandparents who had moved before the generation.
“Citizenship in Italy is a serious issue,” Tajani said at a press conference on March 28th. “Citizenship must reflect true emotional ties with Italy.” According to the Foreign Ministry, awareness of citizenship abroad has risen sharply in South America, particularly in South America, with millions of Italians migrating in the 19th and 20th centuries. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of Italians registered overseas increased by 40%, up from 4.6 million to 6.4 million.
According to Tajani, many applicants said they had no real connection to the country. They do not live in Italy, pay taxes, do not maintain cultural or linguistic relationships. Therefore, the new measures could potentially require language proficiency, and ultimately mean that Italian citizens living abroad will return for votes and social services.
Deadline for transition from law to law
For now, the new regulations constitute an order. In other words, they are not entirely set on stones. The Italian Parliament will need to act on the statute and convert it into law until May 28th, during which time revisions and updates to Tajani reforms are expected. Meanwhile, the legal challenges are already moving, with a lawsuit scheduled for before the Supreme Court in June.
What does this mean to Italian descendants?
For now, this means that Italian descendants cannot submit citizenship applications via their estates. There will be a freeze in the jus sanguinis application process until May 28th. Meanwhile, the order seeks to promote cultural heritage and curb the opportunistic use of Italian citizenship (such as access to Great Health Care and the ability of Rohm to freedom in the EU). The March 28th order is why the consulates, embassies and city halls are not currently accepting new applications for Jus Sanguinis citizenship.
In the meantime, lawyers and civil rights consultants are still counseling people not to give up. “Even if the law changes, it will likely be fine-tuned and challenged,” said Arturo Grasso, a Rome-based lawyer specializing in Italian citizenship law. “I advise clients to continue collecting documents (i.e., birth, marriage, death certificates, translations, translations, etc.) because the process is the most work.”
What happens if I apply by March 28th?
Don’t worry. If you submit your application by March 27th, you will be queued and processed to the previous terms.
