The new citizenship law has many grey areas and several provisions have not been clarified by the guidelines issued by the Government.
Given the recent entry into force of the Law 74/2025, both citizenship experts and the competent authorities have not yet gained sufficient information and precedents for interpreting and applying the new eligibility criteria. As of now, a limited number of new applications have been submitted and assessed under the new legal framework. Consequently, the evaluation criteria and correct procedures remain unclear.
The most debated and confusing aspects are listed below.
New lineage Criteria: Parent or Grandparent – Who Counts?
The instructions from the Italian Ministry indicate that the previous transmission mechanisms remain unchanged. However, it is still uncertain whether applicants may choose one between the Italian parent or grandparent as the main ancestor or if they have to start the lineage from the last Italian-born ancestor (Article 3-bis, letter C).
1948 female lineage
It remains unclear whether cases involving maternal lineage prior to 1948 still require a judicial proceeding before the Court, or whether such applications can now be submitted directly at the Consulate or local City Hall (for applicants residing in Italy). See also our related article: “Italian citizenship by maternal line (pre-1948): consulate application or court action?”
Requirements for citizenship reacquisition
Clarification is needed on whether an individual who has lost their Italian citizenship can regain it by following the provisions listed in Art. 13 of Law 91/1992, despite the opportunity provided by Law 74/2025 at article 17. You can read more on this topic at the following link: “Law No. 74 opens the door to reacquisition of Italian citizenship”
Minor children of individuals who acquired citizenship through marriage or residency
There is considerable confusion – especially about the specific requirements both parents and minors must fulfill in order to obtain citizenship (see Article 3-bis, letter D and Article 14).
If Minor Children obtain Citizenship by Law, can they transmit it?
it is not clear whether minor children who acquire citizenship by law (beneficio di legge) under the new legislation will be entitled to transmit citizenship to their own descendants in the future (Art. 4, 1 bis).
If you are interested in obtaining Italian citizenship, it is important to stay up to date: we publish news and alerts as soon as new information is released by the relevant authorities. Please feel free to visit our website or LinkedIn page for more details or contact our citizenship department directly. They would be happy to help.
This article was written by Giuditta De Ricco, Valentina Giannessi and Ginevra Gaggelli.
