When applying for Italian citizenship, the evidence of your family line is the most important part. Italian authorities must have no doubts of your legal right to claim it, and the key relies on the naturalization (or not) of the ancestor who migrated from Italy in the first place.
In this content we will explore an Italian citizenship loophole and what this means for your citizenship process.
What is naturalization?
This term refers to whether your family member resigned or not to their Italian citizenship in order to become a citizen of the foster country.
If your ancestor did not resign to italian citizenship, you are one step closer to claim yours. On the other hand, in case they did, do not panic! There might still be a way to achieve your italian dream and io.citizen can help you.
Take advantage of specialized assistance to secure your passport for a borderless future.
The special circumstances of Italian citizenship
There are certain special cases that might give you the opportunity to still apply for Italian citizenship even though your ancestors renounced it back in the days.
One example of it will be in case your ancestor resigned their citizenship after giving birth to the person you are filing the claim through.
Other cases might include children whose parents acquire or re-acquire their citizenship while they were still under the age of 17.
As you can see, the journey to Italian citizenship involves a lot of research, knowledge and patience. At io.citizen we count on several reliable professionals in two different countries that will assist you during the entire process.
On March 28, 2025, Italy enacted a decree imposing stricter eligibility requirements for citizenship by descent (jus sanguinis). The new law limits applications to individuals whose parents or grandparents were born in Italy, excluding more distant descendants unless they applied before the cutoff date.
1948 Rule and how it began
1948 was a meaningful year for Italian History. Prior to this moment, the only ones allowed to pass Italian citizenship through bloodline were men.
The updates on the Italian Constitution in 1948 pursued equality and gave women missing civil rights such as voting and transferring citizenship to their children.
1948 cases of dual citizenship
If you or one of your family members were born before 1948 and are attempting to claim your Italian citizenship through a female, you might file a motion to appeal to the 1948 Rule in court in Rome.
Even though the law has not been modified yet, this petition might give you the possibility to apply for dual citizenship by descendent bloodline.
2009 law changes about italian citizenship
In 2009 new law changes were made in the italian law expanding the possibility to become italian citizens.
The key areas were:
- Recognition of Jure Sanguinis, meaning the principle of claiming for italian citizenship through family line with no generational limit or gender restrictions.
- Naturalization through marriage.
- The length of permanency in Italian territory to claim citizenship through residence rights.
Take advantage of specialized assistance to secure your passport for a borderless future.
Reacquisition of italian citizenship
The expression reacquisition relates to those individuals that for different circumstances might have lost their Italian citizenship and are attempting to claim it back.
In these cases, applicants must demonstrate a link to Italy by proof of residency, official documents and/or family line with enough evidence to convince the italian authorities.
Special circumstances of Italian citizenship examples
In case you are still have questions regarding your personal case, here are some examples to help you clarify a little more:
- If you have a male ancestor who resigned his Italian citizenship when migrating to a new country before having kids, you are still eligible to claim citizenship though the female who got naturalized by marriage, as long as the child was born prior to 1948.
- If you have a female ancestor who married a non-Italian before 1922: back in the days, women were obligated to share citizenship with their husbands. Italian authorities now consider this rule obsolete and that female did not actually renounce her citizenship; therefore her descendants can request double citizenship.
- If your main italian ancestor was a female but line continues with a female born before 1948: you are still able to apply for the 1948 rule and claim your rights as italian citizen.
But most important, do not hesitate to contact our specialist for one on one consultations.
