The “Minor Issue” is no longer minor: public administrations receive instructions on how to apply the new interpretation of Articles 7 and 12 of law 555/1912
Public administrations implement the new interpretation of the “minor issue”
Following the judgment of the Italian Court of Cassation (United Sections), which ended the long-standing judicial debate surrounding the so-called “minor issue”, the Italian Ministry of the Interior issued a circular providing public administrations with guidance on how to apply the Court’s new interpretation.
Note: the Circular has been published through the Ministry of the Interior’s official channels on August 26th, 2026 .
Under the new interpretation, children born abroad as dual citizens – Italian by descent and foreign citizens by birth in a country applying the ius soli principle – retain their Italian citizenship even if their Italian parent naturalized as a foreign citizen while they were still minors.
Please note that this applies to cases in which the Italian parent naturalized as a foreign citizen between July 1st, 1912, and August 15th, 1992.
What if your citizenship application was already denied?
If you previously submitted an application for recognition of Italian citizenship and received a denial based on the former interpretation of the “minor issue,” you may now have the opportunity to request a re-examination of your original application.
In particular, applicants whose applications were denied exclusively on the basis of Articles 7 and 12 of Law No. 555/1912, (pursuant the instructions provided by Circular No. 43347 of October 3rd, 2024), may request that the competent authority reassess their case in light of the new interpretation.
It is important to note that the application will be re-examined under the legal framework applicable at the time it was originally submitted.
Therefore, if the application was filed before March 27th, 2025, the provisions and restrictions introduced by the recent citizenship reform will not be taken into account.
Please also note that the authority responsible for re-examining your application is the same authority that issued the original denial, even if you have changed your place of residence in the meantime.
Can your case be re-examined?
If you would like to know whether your case falls within those that may be re-examined by the relevant Italian authorities, please contact our team.
We would be happy to assess your situation and assist you throughout the process.
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Article written by Giuditta De Ricco and Valentina Giannessi
