TheConstitutional Court has upheld the constitutionality of the 2025 reform, which has profoundly affected the granting of Italian citizenship by descent. Moving beyond the traditional model of ius sanguinis without restrictions, the legislature has introduced more restrictive criteria, based on an genuine connection to Italy.
Pending the filing of the ruling, the Constitutional Court’s press release already clarifies a central point: in the absence of formal recognition,there is no acquired right to citizenship, but only an expectation.
Italian Citizenship: The Traditional Model of Ius Sanguinis
Where do we start? The Italian system, governed by Law No. 91 of 1992, has always had a clear focus: citizenship is transmitted by descent.
Alongside this main channel, the more familiar avenues remain—naturalization, marriage, limited cases of birth on Italian territory—but it is ius sanguinis that has truly defined the Italian model.
All without substantial limits. Even after several generations, a connection to an Italian ancestor could be sufficient to obtain recognition of citizenship.
2025 Reform: What Changes for Italian Citizenship
Decree-Law No. 36 of 2025 (later converted into Law No. 74/2025)breaks with this approach.
The law introduces a very clear fundamental rule: anyone born abroad who already holds another citizenship is considered never to have acquired Italian citizenship, with a few well-defined exceptions.
Descent alone is therefore no longer sufficient. An additional element is required: an actual connection to Italy, which may arise from the status of the parents or grandparents (exclusive Italian citizenship) or from a concrete connection, such as residence in Italy.
This marks the shift from “hereditary” citizenship to “selective” citizenship.
The Constitutional Court’s ruling: what it decided regarding Italian citizenship
The Constitutional Court has intervened regarding this change of course, with a decision made public—for now—via a press release dated March 12, 2026.
The key point is this: the Court declared the issues partly unfounded and partly inadmissible, thereby confirming the legitimacy of the legal framework.
The ruling has not yet been filed, and therefore the reasoning is not yet available.
Italian Citizenship: What the Constitutional Court Clarified
The press release already provides some key details.
First, the Court ruled that the distinction between those who submitted their application by March 27, 2025, and those who did so afterward is not arbitrary. The timeline set by the legislature was deemed compatible with the principle of equality.
Second, the argument that the reform would affect already acquired rights was rejected. The Court of Turin had spoken of a sort of “implicit revocation” of citizenship with retroactive effects, but the Constitutional Court did not agree with this approach.
At the European level, a violation of the EU Treaties was also ruled out: Union citizenship remains a consequence of national citizenship, and not a constraint on the national legislature.
Finally, issues based on international standards, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ECHR, were declared inadmissible.
Italian Citizenship and Planning: What Changes After the 2025 Reform
This decision marks a clear turning point: Italian citizenship is no longer an automatic right tied to a potentially infinite bloodline. It returns to being a reflection of concrete belonging.
For those involved in international estate planning, this changes the rules of the game. Citizenship can no longer be considered a “long-term” outcome, but becomes something that must be built—and demonstrated—over time. In other words, less genealogy and more substance.
