Italian Citizenship After 2025: Who Still Qualifies

In short: since the 2025 reform, most Brazilians descended from Italian great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents have lost the right to Italian citizenship by descent. It is still possible if your father, mother, grandfather or grandmother holds, or held at death, only Italian citizenship; if your father or mother lived in Italy for two consecutive years before you were born; or if the application or court case was filed by March 27, 2025. Those who no longer qualify can still try other routes, such as living in Italy or marrying an Italian citizen.

In this article, we explain the new rule in plain language. Then we offer a five-question test and show examples of Brazilian families. At the end, you will find the documents and the most common mistakes. The full picture, including visas to live in Italy, is on our page on Italian citizenship and visas for Italy.

What changed in 2025

Citizenship by descent is also called iure sanguinis, a Latin expression meaning "by right of blood". Until March 2025, it passed from parents to children with no limit on generations. It was enough to prove the family line back to the Italian who emigrated.

This changed with Decree-Law 36 of March 28, 2025 (Decreto-Legge). A decreto-legge is an emergency measure of the Italian government that must later be approved by Parliament. It was approved, with changes, by Law 74 of May 23, 2025 (Legge). The reform created Article 3-bis of the Italian citizenship law, Law 91/1992 (Legge).

The new rule is this: anyone born outside Italy who holds another citizenship, such as Brazilian, is considered never to have been Italian. This applies even to people born before the reform. There are only five exceptions:

• a) the application, with the required documents, was submitted to the consulate or to the mayor of the Italian municipality by 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on March 27, 2025;
• a-bis) the application was submitted on the date of an appointment that the consulate or municipality had communicated by that same date and time;
• b) the case in the Italian courts was filed by 11:59 p.m. (Rome time) on March 27, 2025;
• c) the father, mother, grandfather or grandmother holds, or held at the time of death, only Italian citizenship;
• d) the father or mother (or adoptive parent) lived in Italy for at least two consecutive years after becoming Italian and before the child's birth or adoption.

Under exceptions a), a-bis) and b), the case follows the old rules in force on March 27, 2025.

Five-question test

1. Were you born outside Italy and do you hold another citizenship? If you were born in Italy, or if you hold only Italian citizenship, the new rule does not apply to you. For people born in Brazil, the answer is almost always yes. Go to the next question.
2. Was an application submitted, an appointment communicated or a court case filed by March 27, 2025? If so, the old rules apply. Note: being only on a waiting list, without a communicated appointment, does not count.
3. Does your father, mother, grandfather or grandmother hold, or did they hold at death, only Italian citizenship? If so, you may fall under exception c). The typical case is a grandfather born in Italy who came to Brazil and never naturalized as Brazilian.
4. Did your father or mother, already Italian, live in Italy for two consecutive years before you were born? If so, you may fall under exception d).
5. Did you answer no to everything? Then, as a rule, citizenship by descent is no longer available to you. See the alternatives below.

Examples of Brazilian families

Great-granddaughter of an Italian, with no application filed by 2025

Ana was born in Curitiba in 1990. Her great-grandfather arrived from Italy in 1895. Her grandfather and father were born in Brazil and were Brazilian. No one in the family had an application or court case pending. The Italian in the family is the great-grandfather, and the law only looks at parents and grandparents. Under the current rule, Ana no longer qualifies by descent.

Grandson of a grandfather born in Italy who never naturalized

Bruno was born in São Paulo in 1985. His grandfather was born in Italy in 1932, came to Brazil and died in 2010. He never naturalized as Brazilian. At his death, the grandfather held only Italian citizenship. Bruno may fall under exception c). The key document will be the Certificate of Non-Naturalization (Certidão Negativa de Naturalização, CNN), issued by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, which proves that the grandfather never became Brazilian.

Grandson of an Italian grandfather who naturalized as Brazilian

Same case, but the grandfather naturalized as Brazilian in 1960. From then on, he no longer held only Italian citizenship. Exception c) does not apply. If Bruno's father did not live in Italy either, the descent route is closed.

Daughter of an Italian father who lived in Italy

Carla was born in 2012. Her father was recognized as Italian in 2005, lived in Milan from 2007 to 2010 and returned to Brazil before she was born. Her father, already Italian, lived in Italy for more than two consecutive years before her birth. Carla may fall under exception d). She will need to prove her father's period of residence.

A family that was in the consulate queue

Diego had been on a waiting list for years. His appointment was only communicated after March 27, 2025. Since there was no submitted application or communicated appointment by that date, the old rules do not apply to him. He needs to fit exception c) or d).

Maternal-line case filed before the reform

Elisa descends from an Italian woman whose son was born before January 1, 1948. These maternal-line cases were only recognized by the courts. Since the case was filed in 2024, it follows the old rules (exception b). An identical case filed today would have to fit the new exceptions.

What "only Italian citizenship" means

This is the point that raises the most questions. The law refers to a father, mother, grandfather or grandmother who holds, or held at death, only Italian citizenship. For grandparents who came to Brazil, this requires proving that they never naturalized as Brazilian or acquired any other citizenship.

The Consulate General of Italy in São Paulo currently accepts applications from adults in three situations: children of a father or mother who is only Italian; grandchildren of a grandfather or grandmother who is only Italian; and children of Italians who lived in Italy for two consecutive years. The consulate checks whether the ancestor was "only Italian" on the applicant's date of birth. The law uses different wording ("holds, or held at death"). That is why the dates of birth, naturalization and death must be checked carefully in each case.

What else changed for Brazilians

• Harder court cases: in citizenship recognition cases, witness testimony and sworn statements are no longer accepted. The applicant must prove that nothing prevented or caused the loss of citizenship (Art. 19-bis of Legislative Decree 150/2011, amended by DL 36/2025).
• Constitutional Court: the Corte costituzionale is the court that decides whether an Italian law complies with the Constitution. On April 30, 2026, in judgment 63, it upheld Article 3-bis. The Court said the rule does not affect people already recognized as Italian, nor those who had already submitted their application or received their appointment (official statement).
• Court of Justice of the European Union: on July 23, 2026, in order (ordinanza) 147, the same Court referred a question to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The question is whether the new rule complies with European rules on EU citizenship (official statement). The answer may affect pending cases.
• Applications at the consulate: Law 11/2026 (Legge) provides that, in the future, applications from adults living outside Italy will be sent by mail to a central office of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a 36-month deadline for a decision. Until then, consulates continue to receive applications.

Alternatives for those who no longer qualify

Living in Italy and applying for citizenship

Those whose father, mother, grandfather or grandmother is Italian by birth can apply for citizenship after two years of legal residence in Italy (Art. 9, comma 1, lettera a, of Law 91/1992). Legal residence means living in the country with a valid permit. For other foreigners, the general period is ten years (Art. 9, comma 1, lettera f). In both cases, Italy decides whether or not to grant citizenship, and you must speak Italian at level B1, an intermediate level (Art. 9.1).

Marriage to an Italian citizen

A person married to an Italian citizen can apply for citizenship after two years of legal residence in Italy following the marriage. If the couple lives outside Italy, the period is three years of marriage. With children, the periods are cut in half (Art. 5). Italian at level B1 is also required. If the spouse is Italian by descent, they must already be recognized.

Work visa for descendants

Italian immigration law allows descendants of Italians from certain countries to enter to work outside the quotas, which are the annual limits on work visas. According to the Ministero del Lavoro (Italian Ministry of Labor), Brazil has been on this list since November 2025.

Minor children

A minor child of a father or mother who is Italian by birth can become Italian through a declaration by the parents. The declaration must be made within three years of the birth. Another option is for the child to live legally in Italy for two consecutive years after the declaration (Art. 4, comma 1-bis). The Consulate General in São Paulo explains the rules in force since January 1, 2026.

Documents, for those who still qualify

• Birth, marriage and death certificates for the entire family line, in full-content form (inteiro teor) (the complete copy of the record, with all annotations), according to the consulate's instructions.
• Italian birth certificate of the ancestor born in Italy, issued by the municipality.
• CNN for the ancestor, covering all spellings of the name. It is essential for exception c).
• Proof that the father or mother lived in Italy, with the dates, for exception d).
• Apostille on the Brazilian certificates and sworn translation into Italian, also apostilled. The apostille is a certification confirming that the document is genuine (see apostille and document translation).
• Correction of Brazilian certificates when names, dates or places do not match the Italian records (see correction of civil records).

Common mistakes

• Spending on documents before checking eligibility. Without one of the exceptions, certificates and translations will not help.
• Confusing a waiting list with an application. Only an application submitted or an appointment communicated by March 27, 2025 counts.
• Assuming your grandfather was "only Italian". Many immigrants naturalized as Brazilian. Only the CNN answers this.
• Getting the dates wrong for exception d). The two years in Italy must be consecutive, after the father or mother became Italian and before the child's birth.
• Filing a case counting on a change in the law. The question referred to the European court is still under review, and the outcome is uncertain.
• Hiring someone who promises results or a "sure slot". The decision lies with the Italian authorities.

• Legge 91/1992, Art. 3-bis (introduced by DL 36/2025, as amended by L. 74/2025) — Normattiva
• Legge 5 febbraio 1992, n. 91 — current text (Arts. 4, 5, 9 and 9.1) — Normattiva
• Decreto-Legge 28 marzo 2025, n. 36, converted into law by Legge 23 maggio 2025, n. 74 — Normattiva
• Legge 19 gennaio 2026, n. 11 — Normattiva
• Corte costituzionale — statement of April 30, 2026 on judgment 63/2026
• Corte costituzionale — statement of July 23, 2026 on order (ordinanza) 147/2026 (referral to the CJEU)
• Consolato Generale d'Italia a San Paolo — Cittadinanza iure sanguinis
• Consolato Generale d'Italia a San Paolo — Cittadinanza per figli minorenni (January 2026)
• Ministero del Lavoro — Discendenti di italiani: ingressi per lavoro fuori quota

Sene & Araújo Sociedade de Advogados team. Content prepared and reviewed by the firm's lawyers, admitted to the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and the Portuguese Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados), with offices in São Paulo and Albufeira. The provisions cited were checked against the official sources listed above. Meet the team.