Edith HejbergFor more than 160 years, Italy followed the principle of ius sanguinis, citizenship passed through bloodlines. If one parent was Italian, the child was also considered Italian.
Italy’s Constitutional Court has signaled support for a controversial law that limits citizenship by descent. The decision could affect millions of people around the world who claim Italian roots.
For more than 160 years, Italy followed the principle of ius sanguinis, citizenship passed through bloodlines. If one parent was Italian, the child was also considered Italian.
Now that long-standing tradition may change, closing the door for many descendants hoping to reconnect with their ancestral homeland.
The 1865 rule that defined who was italian
When Italy unified in 1861, the new nation quickly established a clear rule for citizenship.
The civil code published in 1865 stated that any child born to an Italian citizen was automatically an Italian citizen. This became the cornerstone of Italy’s citizenship laws.
For generations, that rule allowed families who moved abroad to pass their nationality to children and grandchildren.
The controversial 2025 law
The debate intensified after the Italian government issued an emergency decree on March 28, 2025.
Under the new law, only people with a parent or grandparent born in Italy will qualify for citizenship. More distant descendants are excluded.
The rule also makes dual citizenship harder for diaspora families, because the qualifying parent or grandparent must have held only Italian citizenship when the descendant was born.
Constitutional court signals support
Four judges challenged the law and asked the Constitutional Court to review whether it violated the constitution.
After the first hearing, the court issued a statement indicating it will largely support the government’s position.
“The Constitutional Court has declared the questions of constitutional legitimacy raised by the Turin court partially unfounded and partially inadmissible,” the court announced.
A full written verdict is expected in the coming weeks.
A blow to supporters of citizenship by descent
Many lawyers and activists hoped the court would defend Italy’s long tradition of ius sanguinis.
Professor Corrado Caruso, who helped challenge the law, said the decision was disappointing.
“It was an extremely clear, harsh intervention, so I had a hope that it would be judged in breach of some constitutional points, but that wasn’t recognized by the court,” he told CNN.
For many families abroad, the ruling could end long-held hopes of gaining Italian citizenship.
Italy’s history of mass emigration
Citizenship by descent has always been tied to Italy’s migration story.
Between 1861 and 1918, about 16 million Italians left the country seeking work and better lives abroad.
Many emigrants kept their citizenship even after settling elsewhere. That allowed Italian identity, traditions, and nationality to pass through generations.
Today, descendants of those migrants live across the Americas, Europe, and Australia.
A complex and expensive process
Even before the new law, claiming Italian citizenship from abroad was not easy.
Applicants often had to collect birth, marriage, and death records from ancestral towns. Each document could cost up to 300 euros and take years to obtain.
They also needed proof that no ancestor lost Italian citizenship along the way.
Consulate waiting lists could stretch for up to 10 years, pushing some families to hire lawyers and take the case to court.
Gender rules already limited some families
Italian citizenship law also contained historical gender restrictions.
Before 1948, women could not pass citizenship to their children. As a result, descendants of Italian women who gave birth before that year were often excluded.
Since 2009, many families have successfully challenged this rule in court on the basis of gender discrimination.
But the new citizenship limits may now block those cases as well.
Pressure on courts and consulates
Italian authorities say the system has struggled under a surge of applications.
Regional courts are overwhelmed with citizenship lawsuits, while consulates face growing backlogs.
According to Italy’s foreign ministry, the number of Italian citizens living abroad rose from 4.6 million in 2014 to 6.4 million in 2024.
Political and geopolitical concerns
Caruso said the issue was not just legal but political.
“There were lots of requests, the consulates couldn’t keep up,” he explained.
“There was an idea that descendants had tenuous links to Italy over time. They were considered to not take part in civil duties, they weren’t in the country, they didn’t pay tax.”
He added that the ability of new citizens to travel globally on Italian passports also raised geopolitical questions.
A country facing population decline
Ironically, the citizenship crackdown comes as Italy struggles with a shrinking population.
In 2024 alone, a record 155,732 Italians emigrated.
More than half a million residents left the country between 2020 and 2024, worsening demographic decline.
Some towns had even tried attracting descendants back with initiatives like one-euro homes and recruitment drives for professionals.
Families now face unequal outcomes
The new law may also create divisions within families.
Some descendants who applied earlier may already have citizenship, while siblings who applied later could be denied.
“This has cut loose a vast number of descendants who had requested recognition but hadn’t been given an appointment,” Caruso said.
That means identical family lines may now receive different legal treatment.
The legal battle may not be over
Some lawyers believe the fight is far from finished.
Marco Mellone said future legal challenges could still reshape the law.
“This doesn’t mean the new law is 100% valid and forever,” he said.
“This is a very sad day for millions of people… but while the battle is lost, the war is not.”
For now, many descendants hoping to claim Italian citizenship must wait to see what happens next.
