Is all the information published online and on social media about Italian Citizenship in 2026 true and accurate?
Can I apply directly to an Italian Court if I do not meet the new citizenship requirements?
Not necessarily. If you are no longer eligible under the criteria set forth by the new law, your claim will be rejected. However, individuals who can prove that:
- they repeatedly attempted to book an online appointment at the Consulate without success before March 2025;
- they were placed by the Consulate on a waiting list;
- they were informed by the Consulate that no appointments were available;
- they had an appointment that was cancelled by the Consulate;
may have grounds to bring their case before an Italian Court. The key issue is whether the applicant can document that the inability to submit the application was caused by the public administration’s failure to provide an appointment date to file the application.
Evidence may include correspondence with the Consulate, screenshots of the Consulate’s website, videos, and other documentation showing repeated unsuccessful attempts to obtain an appointment through the Prenot@mi platform.
In such circumstances, some Italian Courts have adopted a constitutionally oriented interpretation of the new rules, considering these applicants comparable to individuals who, before March 27th, 2025, had already received an appointment at a Consulate.
According to this approach, where the applicant can demonstrate that they had already manifested their intention to exercise their right to recognition of Italian citizenship before the new legislation entered into force, the previous rules may apply to their case.
What is best to do while waiting for the decision of the EU Court of Justice?
The Constitutional Court has referred a preliminary question to the EU Court of Justice to assess the compatibility of the new citizenship legislation with the principles of EU law. Should I apply now or wait for further developments?
Should I apply now or wait for further developments?
If you are not eligible under the new law and decide to file a claim now, there is a risk that your case may be rejected before the EU Court has issued its decision. The only benefit of filing now is that your case could already be pending if the EU Court ultimately reaches a favourable decision and if the judge assigned to your case decides to suspend the proceedings pending the Court’s ruling.
The Constitutional Court has referred a preliminary question to the EU Court of Justice to assess the compatibility of the new citizenship legislation with the principles of EU law.
The Italian Consulate rejected my application due to the minor issue. Can I still obtain recognition of Italian citizenship by filing a court case?
Our advice is, before taking any further action, to contact the Consulate and request a new evaluation of your application based on the latest ruling of the Court of Cassation.
If you do not receive any answer or feedback, you are entitled to file a Court action in Italy and request the Judge to adjudicate your citizenship claim. Even if the minor issue is no longer considered an obstacle, all other legal requirements must still be met, including, for example, having a parent or grandparent who was exclusively an Italian citizen at the applicant’s birth, providing a complete set of supporting documents, and establishing the full chain of transmission of Italian citizenship.
If you proceed with the Court action, you can request the Consulate to return the certificates you submitted or request legalised copies of the same documents to be used in Court.
If my citizenship claim was rejected by an Italian Court due to the minor issue, can I file a new court case?
If the court decision is final and the deadline for appealing has expired, you cannot file a new case concerning the same claim.
If the deadline for appeal has not yet expired, you may still be able to challenge the decision. However, if you filed your claim after May 2025, you should also consider the new citizenship requirements introduced by the recent legislation.
For example, if your application is based on a lineage involving a grandfather who naturalised while his son (your father) was still a minor, the minor issue may no longer constitute an obstacle. However, the new requirement that the ancestor in the line of transmission must have held exclusively Italian citizenship at the applicant’s birth still applies. If this requirement is not met, the applicant may not qualify for recognition under the current rules.
