Italian Citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis)

Italian Citizenship – Legislative Update and Application Procedure

Law Decree No. 36 of March 28, 2025, was converted, with amendments, into Law No. 74 of May 23, 2025, and came into effect on May 24, 2025.
This conversion law modifies Law No. 91 of February 5, 1992, the full updated version of which is available at the following link.

Special attention is drawn to the newly introduced Article 3-bis:

By way of derogation from Articles 1, 2, 3, 14, and 20 of the present law; Article 5 of Law No. 123 of April 21, 1983; Articles 1, 2, 7, 10, 12, and 19 of Law No. 555 of June 13, 1912; and Articles 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 of the Civil Code approved by Royal Decree No. 2358 of June 25, 1865, any individual born abroad — including before this article entered into force — and who holds another citizenship shall be deemed never to have acquired Italian citizenship, except in the following cases:

• (a) The applicant’s Italian citizenship status is recognized, in accordance with the regulations in effect as of March 27, 2025, following submission of a complete application (with supporting documents) to the competent consular office or municipal authority by 11:59 PM (Rome time) on March 27, 2025;

• (a-bis) The applicant’s citizenship status is recognized, in accordance with the same regulations, based on an application submitted on the date of an appointment communicated by the competent office no later than 11:59 PM (Rome time) on March 27, 2025;

• (b) The applicant’s citizenship status is confirmed by a judicial ruling, based on a lawsuit filed no later than 11:59 PM (Rome time) on March 27, 2025;

• (c) A parent or grandparent (first or second degree ascendant) held or exclusively held Italian citizenship at the time of their death;

• (d) A parent or adoptive parent resided in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before the birth or adoption of the child.

As such, under the new Law No. 91/1992, Italian citizenship jure sanguinis (by descent, from birth) is recognized for:

• Applicants born in Italy, at any time;

• Applicants who hold exclusively Italian citizenship, i.e., who do not and cannot hold any other citizenship;

• Applicants who fall under one of the categories listed in points a), a-bis), b), c), or d) of Article 3-bis.

Clarifications under the new law:

1. Only applications submitted before 11:59 PM (Rome time) on March 27, 2025, with all required documentation, will be processed under the previous legal framework.

   Applications are considered “submitted” if:

   • Sent by mail with a verifiable timestamp before the deadline;

   • Sent without timestamp but received by the Consular Office before the deadline.

2. Applications submitted on the appointment date confirmed by the competent office before 11:59 PM (Rome time) on March 27, 2025, and accompanied by complete documentation, will also follow the previous rules.

   An “appointment confirmed by the competent office” refers to email confirmation sent through the Prenot@mi portal or the official email address of the consular section handling the application.

3. All other applications will follow the new regulations.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Applications may be submitted to the Consulate General of Italy in Miami only if the applicant legally and permanently resides in one of the following territories: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dutch islands of St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba, Turks and Caicos, or the Bahamas.

Applicants seeking recognition of Italian citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis) must schedule an appointment through the online Prenot@mi system.

Approximately one month prior to the appointment date, applicants will receive instructions regarding documentation submission.

CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION FEE

As of January 1, 2025, all applications for the recognition of Italian citizenship jure sanguinis are subject to a non-refundable consular fee of €600, payable in U.S. dollars.

The amount in dollars is subject to exchange rate fluctuations and can be checked on the Consular Fees Table – Article 7-bis, updated quarterly on the Consulate General’s website.

Payment method: Money Order (not from Bank of America) made payable to the Consulate General of Italy in Miami.
Cash is not accepted.
Please note: The fee is non-refundable, regardless of the outcome.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

Applicants must provide:

1. Documentation required under Circular K.28.1 of April 8, 1991 from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, specifically:

1. Application forms (Forms  1, 2, 3 and 4), must be signed in front of a Notary Public and apostilled;

2. Birth certificate (estratto dell’atto di nascita) of the Italian ancestor issued by the Italian municipality of birth;

3. Birth certificates of all direct descendants, including the applicant, with official Italian translations;

4. Marriage certificate of the Italian ancestor, with official Italian translation if issued abroad;

5. Marriage certificates of all direct descendants, including the applicant’s parents;

6. Certificate issued by the competent authorities of the foreign country of emigration (with Italian translation), confirming that the Italian ancestor did not acquire foreign citizenship during the minor age of their descendant;

7. Proof of residence within the consular jurisdiction.

2. Additional documents under the new legal framework:

To prove exclusive possession of Italian citizenship (examples may include):

• Negative citizenship certificates;

• Statements of citizenship renunciation;

• Certificates of non-enrollment in electoral registers.

To prove residency in Italy for at least two continuous years:

• Historical certificate of residency in Italy.

IMPORTANT NOTES

• The entire required documentation must be submitted at once. Incomplete submissions will not be processed, and no clarifications will be provided.

• All documents must be originals and duly legalized (i.e., apostilled or authenticated) if issued outside of this consular district or outside the U.S..

• If your family members have submitted documents regarding common ancestors at another Consulate or Italian municipality, you must still submit all documentation listed above.
  Only in cases where the entire family unit has submitted a jure sanguinis application to this same Consulate, the documents for shared ancestors may be omitted.

The Citizenship Office does not perform pre-screening of documents.
Unsolicited documentation (not tied to a scheduled appointment) will not be reviewed, and no responses will be provided.

NEW INTERPRETIVE GUIDELINES ON JURE SANGUINIS

We draw applicants’ attention to significant updates introduced by recent rulings of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation (Civil Section I, Orders No. 454/2024 and No. 17161/2023), and Circular No. 43347 of October 3, 2024, issued by the Ministry of the Interior in application of these new guidelines.

The circular confirms the Court’s position that an Italian citizen who voluntarily acquired foreign nationality under the 1912 law (or earlier Civil Code of 1865) simultaneously caused the loss of Italian citizenship for their minor child living with them.
This applies even when the child was born in a country like the United States, where citizenship is granted by jus soli — meaning the child was both Italian by jus sanguinis and a U.S. citizen by birth.

In such cases, the transmission of citizenship is considered interrupted, as the child no longer had the capacity to pass on citizenship to future descendants after the parent’s naturalization.

However, the applicant may still prove that the ancestor who lost Italian citizenship regained it after reaching adulthood. If this is demonstrable, the line of transmission can be considered re-established, provided that the reacquisition occurred before the birth of the descendant.