Jure sanguinis after the 2025 reform — what actually changed.

On March 28, 2025, the Italian government issued Decree-Law 36/2025, Disposizioni urgenti in materia di cittadinanza. The decree was converted with modifications by Law 74/2025, in force since May 24, 2025. It is the most significant rewrite of Italy's jure sanguinis framework in decades.

The headline change is a two-generation limit on administrative recognition. To be recognised as Italian by descent through the consular or municipal route, an applicant must have an Italian-born parent or grandparent in the direct line. Claims based on a great-grandparent or earlier ancestor no longer proceed through the consulate by default.

The decree also tightened other points: clearer rules on dual citizens born abroad, stricter expectations on documentary evidence, and an explicit framework for the Ministry of the Interior to issue interpretive guidance — which it has done through its Circular of May 28, 2025.

The decree draws a hard line at the date of entry into force. The Ministry's guidance confirms two regimes running in parallel:

“Properly filed” matters: an appointment booking is not a filing. What counts is a complete file accepted by a consulate or comune by the deadline, with the application stamped and protocollata. Anyone in that position should keep the proof of submission with their documents.

In practice, the reform sorts applicants into three groups:

• Clearly eligible. An Italian-born parent or grandparent in the direct line, the chain unbroken by naturalisation before the next birth, full documentation available.
• Borderline. Generally claims based on a great-grandparent, mixed-line cases, naturalisation timing close to a child's birth, or missing records. These need a specialist review — some can be restructured, others can only proceed judicially.
• No longer eligible administratively. Pure great-great-grandparent and earlier claims with no other connection to Italy. A judicial path may still exist, but expectations should be set accordingly.

When the consulate cannot recognise a claim, the alternative is a recognition action before the Italian civil court of the ancestor's last commune of residence, or — for residents abroad — the Tribunale di Roma. The judicial route existed before 2025; the reform has not closed it, but it has reshaped what gets filed there.

Expect longer timelines than the historical consular route, mandatory Italian counsel, and higher evidentiary expectations. Court costs are real but predictable. Where it makes sense, the judicial path remains a legitimate and well-trodden option — particularly for 1948 cases and for claims where documents support the line but the administrative window is closed.

1948 cases — claims passing through a female ancestor before January 1, 1948 — have always required an Italian court. The 2025 reform does not strip courts of jurisdiction over them. What changes is the legal landscape they sit in: judges now decide 1948 matters in a system that has explicitly tightened recognition elsewhere, and several pending challenges aim to clarify how the new framework interacts with the constitutional principles courts have relied on since 2009.

For most 1948 claimants the practical advice has not changed: prepare the same file, work with counsel familiar with the venue, and budget for a multi-year proceeding.

1. 1. Map your line. Identify the Italian-born ancestor, their date of emigration, and — critically — whether and when they naturalised.
2. 2. Check the cut-off. If a file was already protocollata before March 28, 2025, gather the proof now. If not, plan for the new regime.
3. 3. Get a lawyer's view, not a forum's. The decree is new, the circulars are evolving, and consulates are interpreting unevenly. A short consultation costs little and saves months.
4. 4. Decide consular vs judicial. Some claims that no longer fit the consulate work well in court. Others should be reframed entirely.