How to get Italian citizenship in 2026 after Law 74/2025: descent now caps at two generations, plus residency, marriage and the 2-year ancestry route.
The rules changed materially in 2025, and most online guides have not caught up. If you are researching how to get Italian citizenship in 2026, the single most important fact is that
the law officially ends the right to claim Italian citizenship through great-grandparents and now limits automatic recognition to two generations: only those with an Italian parent or grandparent born in Italy can apply.
This guide sets out what still works, what closed, and how we structure a realistic strategy.
An Italian passport is not a souvenir of ancestry — it is a 27-country right of establishment you either qualify for or you don't.
Share this ↗
The reform is the most significant in three decades.
On 28 March 2025 the Italian Council of Ministers issued Decree-Law No. 36/2025, which outlined new eligibility rules concerning recognition of Italian citizenship by descent, and stated that to be recognised you must have an Italian-born parent or grandparent, creating a generational limit.
That decree was then converted into permanent law:
the Chamber of Deputies voted on 20 May 2025 to convert the revised decree into law, and with publication in the Official Gazette on 23 May 2025, Law 74/2025 became official the following day.
There is ongoing litigation, but for now the restriction holds.
In a communiqué published on 12 March 2026 the Constitutional Court declared the challenges to Decree-Law 36/2025 "partly unfounded and partly inadmissible," and the restrictions of Law 74/2025 remain in force.
Muzaffar Saydiganiev, Managing Director at VisaTier and a licensed citizenship and residency adviser, notes that the practical effect is a shift in who qualifies, not the end of Italian citizenship: many families who relied on a great-grandparent must now pivot to a residency-based pathway rather than a recognition claim.
This remains the fastest route — if you qualify under the new ceiling.
Under the 2025 law change, you are eligible for Italian citizenship by descent only if you have a parent or grandparent born in Italy and who held only Italian citizenship at the time.
The "exclusively Italian" condition on the ancestor is the sharpest trap:
recognition is limited to those with an Italian parent or grandparent born in Italy, and even then, that ancestor must have exclusively held Italian citizenship at the time of death.
Documentation discipline matters more than ever.
All foreign documents must be submitted as long-form or certified copies, include a Hague Apostille, and be translated into Italian by a sworn translator to be accepted by Italian authorities.
Procedurally,
recognition applications must be submitted in person at the competent consulate or Italian municipality, by appointment via Prenot@Mi, and the non-refundable consular fee is €600 per adult applicant.
If you booked early, you may be grandfathered.
Applications submitted to the appropriate consular office, Italian municipality, or court — or appointments officially confirmed before 11:59pm Rome time on 27 March 2025 — will continue to be evaluated under the old regulations.
This is the most under-reported part of the reform, and often the answer for families who lost the descent claim. The law shortened the naturalisation clock for those with close Italian ancestry.
Law 74/2025 amended citizenship-by-residency criteria (Article 9 of Law 91/1992) for those with Italian ancestry to the second degree: now, if you have a parent or grandparent who is or was an Italian citizen by birth, regardless of whether they acquired foreign citizenship, you can apply for Italian citizenship after 2 years of residence in Italy.
Crucially,
those with an Italian parent or grandparent who no longer qualify under jure sanguinis may access the concessory naturalisation route after two years of residence, rather than the standard ten.
There is also a relocation enabler:
a foreigner residing abroad who is a descendant of an Italian citizen may enter and reside in Italy for subordinate work, outside the maximum quotas typically issued for work visas.
For HNW families weighing whether to relocate or hold optionality elsewhere, this connects directly to the wider question of securing EU rights without uprooting.
For those without a qualifying ancestor, naturalisation is the standard path.
For non-EU citizens, legal residency in Italy for at least 10 years is required; for EU citizens, the period is 4 years.
A June 2025 attempt to shorten this failed:
a national referendum to reduce the naturalisation period from ten to five years for non-EU nationals failed to meet the required quorum, so the existing timeframes remain unchanged.
The eligibility bar is concrete, not vague.
In addition to residency, the applicant must demonstrate sufficient income (a minimum of €8,263.31 annually for a single applicant), the absence of criminal records, and knowledge of Italian at B1 level on the CEFR.
Expect a wait after filing:
current regulations provide a maximum limit of 24 months from submission, extendable up to 36 months in more complex cases.
The fourth route.
If married to or in a civil partnership with an Italian citizen, you may be granted citizenship after two years of residence in Italy, or three years if you reside abroad.
These timeframes are halved if the couple has children, the couple must remain married throughout the process, and the applicant must meet the B1 Italian standard.
| Route | Time requirement | B1 Italian? | Govt/consular fee | Total estimated cost (single applicant) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descent (jure sanguinis) | 9 months–4 years processing; parent/grandparent born in Italy | No | €600 consular fee | €5,000–€15,000 incl. document sourcing, apostilles, translations |
| 2-year ancestry naturalisation | 2 years' residence; parent/grandparent Italian by birth | Yes | €250 contribution + stamp | €8,000–€20,000 incl. relocation, language, advisory |
| Standard residency | 10 years non-EU; 4 years EU | Yes | €250 contribution + stamp | €15,000+ over the residence period excl. living costs |
| Marriage | 2 years in Italy; 3 years abroad | Yes | €250 contribution + stamp | €6,000–€15,000 incl. translations and advisory |
Source: Italian Ministry of the Interior (Law 91/1992 as amended by Law 74/2025); consular fee schedules 2025–2026. Cost ranges are VisaTier estimates; verify current figures on official sources.
Yes — the asset is genuinely top-tier.
EU passports including Italy provide access to roughly 185–195 destinations and combine extensive visa-free access with EU free-movement rights — the right to live and work in all 27 member states.
That single-market right, per the Henley Passport Index 2026 analysis, is the real prize:
access to the EU single market comes as a built-in right of citizenship, not merely a visa-waiver arrangement that can be revoked.
Note one structural point for HNW clients exploring shortcuts: there is no longer an EU "buy-a-passport" option.
The European Court of Justice ruled Malta's direct citizenship-by-investment scheme contrary to EU law on 29 April 2025, and there is currently no EU member-state direct-CBI programme.
Italian residency routes that lead to citizenship over time are therefore the legitimate path — a contrast we unpack in our comparison of Italy's investor residency against Portugal's.
The reform closed some doors and opened others. We map your family line and residency options against the current law, then build the strategy that actually qualifies.
Open the portal →This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Eligibility, fees, timelines and rules vary by individual circumstances and change frequently. Figures reflect publicly available information as at June 2026; verify on official sources. Victory Meets Trust.
