Italy’s Constitutional Court has moved to uphold a controversial 2025 law that limits citizenship for those born abroad, potentially ending the long-standing practice of passing nationality through ancestry, or ius sanguinis.
Since Italy’s unification in 1861, a child born to an Italian parent automatically gained citizenship. That principle has allowed generations of Italians who emigrated, particularly between 1861 and 1918, to retain ties with their homeland while settling across the globe. Millions of descendants today trace their legal and cultural connection to Italy through this system.
The new law, issued last March via emergency decree, restricts recognition of citizenship to those with a parent or grandparent born in Italy who held only Italian nationality at the time of the descendant’s birth. It also effectively bars dual citizenship for many in the diaspora and limits the ability of descendants of women to claim nationality for births before 1948, despite previous legal victories against gender discrimination.
The Constitutional Court indicated that challenges to the law were largely unfounded. “The questions of constitutional legitimacy raised by the Turin court were partially inadmissible,” the court stated, with a full verdict expected in the coming weeks. Legal experts warn that the ruling deals a severe blow to diaspora families who hoped to claim citizenship.
“This intervention is harsh,” said Professor Corrado Caruso, one of the lawyers opposing the law. “Millions of descendants who expected recognition are now at risk of losing a legal right they were born with.”
Previously, descendants seeking Italian citizenship faced a long and costly process, including sourcing birth, marriage, and death certificates from ancestral towns, paying fees for documents, and navigating consulate backlogs that can stretch to a decade. The new restrictions further compound these challenges.
The law comes as Italy struggles with population decline and emigration. Between 2020 and 2024, more than half a million residents left the country, with Sicily and other southern regions experiencing depopulation. Local initiatives to attract diaspora returnees, such as one-euro home projects and recruitment of Italian-descendant professionals from abroad, will now be hampered.
Legal experts note that while the Constitutional Court’s ruling is final, avenues remain for contesting the law in EU courts. “This is a first step in a long battle,” said Caruso. “The war is not over, but the path ahead will be far more complicated.”
Meanwhile, Marco Mellone, another citizenship lawyer, said appeals through Italy’s Court of Cassation, the nation’s highest judicial authority, could still challenge aspects of the law. “Cases already in progress should seek postponements,” he advised, “while new applicants may need to wait and prepare for a longer legal fight.”
The ruling signals a dramatic shift in Italy’s approach to its diaspora, potentially affecting millions of descendants around the world who once counted on a clear path to Italian nationality.
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