How to Apply for Italian Citizenship by Descent: 2025 Rules and Filing

To apply for Italian citizenship by descent, you confirm you meet Italy’s new two-generation rule, gather certified vital records tracing an unbroken line from your Italian-born parent or grandparent to you, get every non-Italian document apostilled and translated into Italian, and submit the complete package to an Italian consulate in your country of residence or to a comune in Italy. The March 2025 reform closed the door on most great-grandparent and earlier claims, so the eligibility check now comes before anything else.¹

Confirm You Still Qualify Under the 2025 Rules

On March 28, 2025, Italy’s Council of Ministers approved an emergency decree that capped automatic jure sanguinis recognition at two generations. You now need at least one parent or grandparent who was born in Italy. If your closest Italian-born ancestor is a great-grandparent or further back, the new law blocks the standard administrative route.¹

The reform also began routing applications from residents abroad to a new centralized office at the Italian Foreign Ministry, with a transitional period of roughly a year after the decree. Because that shift is still unfolding, check directly with your nearest consulate about where and how it wants applications filed today.¹

Meeting the generational cap is only the first hurdle. You still have to prove an unbroken chain of Italian citizenship from that Italian-born ancestor down to you, and several old rules can break the chain.

Naturalization Timing

The most common obstacle is a naturalization event. If your Italian ancestor became a citizen of another country before the next descendant in your line was born, that ancestor gave up Italian citizenship and the chain broke at that moment. If your grandfather naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1950 and your parent was born in 1952, the line is broken. If your parent was born in 1948 and your grandfather naturalized in 1950, the line held at the time of your parent’s birth.

The 1912 Law and Minor Children

Under Italy’s 1912 citizenship law, when a father voluntarily naturalized abroad, his minor children living with him lost Italian citizenship too, even if those children had been born in a country like the United States that granted citizenship by birth. The Italian consulate in Los Angeles has stated that in such cases “the citizenship line of transmission is to be considered discontinued,” and that minor child can no longer pass Italian citizenship to descendants.²

The threshold for “minor” has changed. Before March 9, 1975, the age of majority under Italian law was 21. From that date forward it was 18.² A 19-year-old whose father naturalized in 1960 was still a minor under Italian law.

The 1948 Rule for Maternal Lines

Before January 1, 1948, Italian law did not allow women to pass citizenship to their children. Italy’s Constitution established gender equality on that date, and the Constitutional Court struck down the old rule in Decision No. 87 of 1975. Descendants of Italian women can now claim citizenship through the maternal line even where the relevant birth occurred before 1948, but almost always through a lawsuit in Italian civil court rather than a consular application. Most applicants in this position hire an Italian attorney.

One boundary worth naming: the 1861 start date. Your Italian ancestor must have been born in Italy after March 17, 1861, the date of unification, or died after that date if born earlier.³

Gather the Vital Records

For every person in the direct line from your Italian-born ancestor to you, you need certified copies of:

Birth certificates for each individual in the chain.
Marriage certificates for every marriage in the direct line, which show name changes and connect generations.
Death certificates for any deceased ancestors in the chain.

These must be certified copies issued by the government authority that holds the record, not informational copies or photocopies. In the United States, order them from the vital records office of the state where each event occurred. Fees typically run $16 to $45 per certificate, and processing can take weeks. Start early.

Every name, date, and place has to match across all your documents. If your grandfather’s birth certificate says “Giuseppe” but his marriage certificate says “Joseph,” resolve that before submission. Inconsistencies are a leading reason applications stall.

Obtain U.S. Naturalization Records (or Prove Non-Existence)

If your Italian ancestor immigrated to the United States, you need either their naturalization certificate showing when they became a U.S. citizen, or a Certificate of Non-Existence showing they never did. This document establishes whether and when the citizenship chain was broken, so it is one of the most important pieces of the file.

The USCIS Genealogy Program

If you don’t already have a file number for your ancestor, start with a Genealogy Index Search using Form G-1041, which identifies USCIS records associated with that person. Once you have file numbers, submit Form G-1041A for copies of the specific files.⁴ Skipping the index and going straight to a records request without a valid file number risks a “No Records” response with no refund. Both forms cost $80 on paper or $30 online.⁵

If your ancestor naturalized in a federal court, the National Archives regional facility serving that state may hold indexes, declarations of intention, and petitions, though NARA generally does not hold the naturalization certificate itself.⁶

Certificate of Non-Existence

If your ancestor never naturalized, file Form G-1566 to ask USCIS to search its database and issue a Certificate of Non-Existence when no record is found. There is no filing fee. You will need to provide all known names and aliases, dates of birth, the country of birth, and proof of death (such as a death certificate) if the subject was born less than 100 years ago. Foreign-language documents need certified English translations. USCIS no longer accepts personal checks or money orders for paper filings, so any associated fees go through a credit or debit card (Form G-1450) or ACH bank transfer (Form G-1650).⁷

Apostille and Translate Everything

Both Italy and the United States belong to the Hague Apostille Convention, so U.S. documents can be authenticated for use in Italy with an apostille rather than full consular legalization.⁸ The Secretary of State in the state that issued each document issues the apostille. Fees typically run $10 to $26 per document, sometimes with an expedited option. Every vital record, naturalization document, and court order in your file needs its own apostille.

Then everything non-Italian has to be translated into Italian by a professional translator. Consulates reject partial or sloppy work. After translation, most consulates require a “certification of translation conformity,” which the consulate itself issues after reviewing the translator’s work against the original apostilled document, typically for a per-page fee.⁹ The apostille itself does not need to be translated. Requirements vary between consulates, so confirm procedure with yours.

Resolving Name Discrepancies

Italian names were routinely anglicized on U.S. documents. “Giovanni” became “John,” “Rossi” became “Ross,” a middle name appeared on one record and vanished on the next. Italian authorities require names to match consistently across every document in your chain.

The usual fix is a “One and the Same” order, a judicial declaration from a U.S. court confirming that different names refer to one person. Courts in some jurisdictions have questioned their authority to issue these orders, so it is not guaranteed. Where a court order isn’t available, some consulates accept sworn affidavits or amended certificates from the issuing vital records office. Start on discrepancies early, because resolving them can take months.

Submit the Application

With documents gathered, apostilled, translated, and certified, you file the complete package with an Italian authority. The two traditional paths are a consulate in your country of residence or a comune in Italy where you establish residency. Given the 2025 reform’s plan to centralize overseas applications at the Foreign Ministry, ask your consulate whether that system is operational before you file.

Applying Through a Consulate

Italian consulates schedule citizenship appointments through the Prenot@Mi portal (prenotami.esteri.it).¹⁰ Wait times shock most applicants. Two to four years is common, and some consulates release slots that fill within minutes of opening. Monitoring the portal regularly is essentially required.

At the appointment, you appear in person with all originals, apostilled certified copies, and Italian translations. The consulate reviews the file and may ask for clarifications or additional documents.

Applying at an Italian Comune

Some applicants move to Italy temporarily and apply through a local municipality. This can be faster than waiting years for a consulate slot, but it requires genuine residency: a fixed address through a rental agreement or hospitality letter, registration at the local anagrafe, and a visit from a local police officer confirming you actually live there. You also generally need a permesso di soggiorno from the local police headquarters. Staying in Italy more than 183 days in a calendar year makes you an Italian tax resident with income reporting obligations.

What It Costs

Italy’s 2025 Budget Law doubled the consular application fee from €300 to €600 per adult applicant.¹¹ The dollar equivalent adjusts quarterly; for the first quarter of 2026, the fee was approximately $697 by cashier’s check or money order.¹² The fee is non-refundable. Budget for it alongside vital records, USCIS searches, apostilles, translations, and translation certifications, which together add several hundred dollars more.

What Happens After You File

Italian regulations set a maximum processing window of 730 days (about two years) from the date a complete application is submitted, though actual timelines vary with each consulate’s backlog. You may be contacted for additional documentation during the review, and delays on your end extend the clock.

If your application is denied, you have two paths. You can challenge the decision at Italy’s administrative court (the TAR) within 60 days of the denial, which can compel reconsideration. Or you can petition an Italian civil court with no deadline, asking the court to recognize your citizenship directly, bypassing the consulate’s decision. Either route realistically calls for an Italian attorney.

After Recognition: AIRE, Passport, and Your Children

Recognition doesn’t produce a certificate that says “citizen.” Italy considers you to have been Italian all along; the remaining step is registering that status.

If you live outside Italy, you must register with AIRE (Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all’Estero), the registry of Italian citizens living abroad. AIRE registration is both a legal duty and a practical prerequisite: without it, you cannot access consular services, vote, or obtain an Italian passport.¹³ Under the 2025 reform, citizens born and living abroad must also exercise the rights or duties of Italian citizenship at least once every 25 years to keep the status active.¹

Once registered, you can apply for an Italian passport through your consulate.¹⁴ The total cost in early 2026 was approximately $135, adjusting quarterly.

Minor Children

Children who were already born when a parent’s citizenship is recognized do not automatically become Italian. Both parents must submit a declaration expressing intent for the child to acquire citizenship, a process called “beneficio di legge.”¹⁵

For children born after a parent is recognized as an Italian citizen by birth, the declaration must be submitted within three years of the child’s birth. Transitional rules cover children who were minors on May 24, 2025, and whose parent’s citizenship was recognized by March 27, 2025: the deadline for those declarations is extended to May 31, 2029.¹⁶ Under the 2026 Budget Law, these declarations are exempt from fees.¹⁵

1
Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Council of Ministers Approves Amendments to the Ius Sanguinis Citizenship Law
2
Consolato Generale d’Italia a Los Angeles. Citizenship by Descent
3
Consolato Generale d’Italia a Londra. Citizenship Iure Sanguinis – Previous Regulatory Framework
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Record Requests Frequently Asked Questions
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
6
National Archives. Naturalization Records
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1566, Request for Certificate of Non-Existence
8
Ambasciata d’Italia a Washington. Legalization of Documents Between Italy and the USA – The Apostille
9
Consolato Generale d’Italia Miami. Certification of Translation
10
Consolato Generale d’Italia Houston. Prenotami – New Portal for Booking Appointments
11
Consulate General of Italy in New York. Consular Fee Increase for Citizenship by Descent Iure Sanguinis Applications
12
Ambasciata d’Italia a Washington. Consular Fee for Applying for Recognition of Italian Citizenship Iure Sanguinis
13
Consolato Generale d’Italia Miami. Registry of Italians Residing Abroad
14
Consolato Generale d’Italia Boston. Registry of Italians Living Abroad – AIRE
15
Consulate General of Italy in New York. Acquisition of Italian Citizenship – Minor Children Born Abroad
16
Consolato Generale d’Italia San Francisco. Italian Citizenship – Extension of the Deadline Benefit of Law Beneficio di Legge