Italy
Italian citizenship by descent after the 2025 reform
Pick your Italian-born ancestor and say whether they ever took US citizenship: the answer follows the law as it stands today.
Which Italian ancestor still counts after Law 74/2025?
Under the rules in force on October 25, 2026
Likely eligible
| Route | Recognition by descent (art. 3-bis exception) |
| Consular fee | €600 ($691 in New York) |
| Legal time limit | 730 days |
The ancestor never took another citizenship: an Italian parent holding only Italian citizenship is one of the exceptions of art. 3-bis.
Italian citizenship by descent, the jure sanguinis route that let Americans claim through a great-great-grandfather, changed on March 28, 2025. Decree-Law 36/2025, converted by Law 74/2025, added article 3-bis to the 1992 citizenship law: a person born abroad who holds another citizenship is treated as never having been Italian, unless one of a short list of exceptions applies. For an American family, three matter. A case filed by 11:59 p.m. Rome time on March 27, 2025 is still decided under the old, unlimited rules. A parent or grandparent who holds, or held at death, only Italian citizenship still passes it on. And an Italian parent who lived in Italy for two years in a row before your birth also does. Everyone else, including most great-grandchildren and the grandchildren of emigrants who naturalized in the United States, falls outside the law. The consular fee stays €600 per adult, $691 at the New York consulate until December 31, 2026.
What will the file cost?
US side of the file, fee included
$1,217
| 5 certified records (2 births, 2 marriages, 1 deaths) | $126 |
| Apostilles (5 records) | $120 |
| Naturalization proof | $280 |
| Translations (6 documents) | $0 |
| Italy fee | €600 ($691) |
Dollar fee: New York consulate rate for October 1 to December 31, 2026. Records from the old country are not counted: they are ordered there.
Rules read and verdicts built by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How verdicts are built
The four situations, side by side
| Your situation | Since March 28, 2025 | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Case filed by March 27, 2025 | Old rules apply | Letter (a) of art. 3-bis |
| Parent or grandparent held only Italian citizenship | Qualifies | Letter (c) |
| Italian parent lived 2 years in Italy before your birth | Qualifies | Letter (d) |
| Great-grandparent, or a naturalized grandparent | Does not qualify | Default rule of art. 3-bis |
The law turns on what the ancestor held, not on where they were born. "Only Italian" means the Italian parent or grandparent never acquired another citizenship. An emigrant who took the oath in an American court in 1938 held two, and the consulate will ask for that naturalization record or, if they never naturalized, for the USCIS certificate that no record exists. The document checklist lists both.
What the consulate asks for
The New York consulate wants the Italian ancestor's birth extract from the comune, then the birth, marriage and death records of every person down to you. US records are long-form certified copies, each with an apostille from the state that issued it and an Italian translation. Naturalization proof comes from the National Archives (certified copies need no apostille) or from USCIS. The application forms carry notarized signatures. The requirements page goes through each item and the cost calculator adds them up.
Expected endno end date can be estimated
1. Coming · milestone
File mailed on the appointment day
Nov 2, 2026
Complete file with the fee by money order (New York, San Francisco).
Consulate of New York2. Coming · 24 months
Decision within the legal limit
Nov 1, 2028
730 days for a consular recognition (36 months for adult files under Law 11/2026).
Consulate of Sydney, legal limit3. Coming · no published time
Records sent to the comune
no published time
The consulate asks the Italian town to transcribe your birth; no time is published.
Fee and waiting time
The fee is €600 per adult, paid in dollars at the quarterly rate: $691 at New York from October 1 to December 31, 2026 (consular fee table). The legal limit for a decision is 730 days; San Francisco states 24 months for a complete file. Law 11/2026 caps how many adult files each consulate takes until 2028 and sets a 36-month limit, and New York's waiting list is closed to new registrations.
The cases that survive on old rules
If a file went in before the deadline, two court rulings matter. The United Sections of the Court of Cassation (judgment 24045/2026) ended the "minor issue": a child born in the United States kept Italian citizenship even when the Italian father naturalized while the child was a minor. And the 1948 rule still blocks the administrative route through an Italian mother for children born before 1948, which only a court can fix.
Keeping your US passport
Italy does not ask you to give up US citizenship, and the United States does not object to a second one. The dual citizenship page covers the passport you use where, military service and taxes.