Constitutional Court to Rule on Italy’s New Citizenship Law (March 11, 2026)
The Constitutional Court has announced that it will hold a hearing on March 11, 2026, to examine whether the new law on the transmission of Italian citizenship by descent is constitutional.
On that date, the Court will meet to evaluate if the new law respects the Constitution, but the final decision is expected only sometime between June and September 2026.
The New Citizenship Law (Law No. 74/2025)
The issue concerns the new citizenship law, which came into force in March 2025 and drastically changed the previous rules on citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis), introducing much stricter requirements.
Specifically, the new law (Law No. 74/2025) added Article 3-bis, which states that a person born abroad, who is a foreign citizen and descended from Italians, can apply for Italian citizenship by descent only if they have a parent or grandparent who was never naturalized or who became naturalized after their birth.
This means that citizenship can no longer be passed down from Italian ancestors beyond the second generation, and it cannot be claimed if the Italian ancestor became naturalized before the applicant was born.
The law also applies retroactively, meaning it affects people also born before the law existed.
The Case
The Court of Turin was the first to question the legitimacy of the new citizenship law. The case concerned a Venezuelan applicant seeking Italian citizenship through an Italian ancestor who was related beyond the second degree. Under Article 3-bis, introduced by the new law, this degree of kinship would exclude the applicant from eligibility for Italian citizenship.
Violation of the Constitution
The Court of Turin argues that the new law — especially Article 3-bis — is unconstitutional because it removes a right that people acquired at birth: Italian citizenship.
According to settled case law, citizenship is obtained at birth and, once acquired, it cannot be lost. Courts do not “grant” citizenship; they simply confirm a right that already exists as long as the applicant proves an unbroken line of descent from an Italian ancestor who never formally renounced citizenship.
For this reason, the new law amounts to an implicit revocation of a right already acquired. It therefore cannot be applied to those born before March 2025, because they already had the right to Italian citizenship and cannot lose it due to a later law.
Based on this, the Court of Turin considers the law unconstitutional if applied retroactively to those born before its entry into force in March 2025.
The Hearing of the Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court will decide on the constitutional legitimacy of the new law and, if it is declared unconstitutional, the new law will cease to apply, and foreigners descended from
Constitutional Court to Rule on Italy’s New Citizenship Law (March 11, 2026)
Italian citizens who are relatives beyond the second degree will also be able to apply for Italian citizenship.
Why You Should Prepare Now
If you are a foreign citizen with an Italian ancestor, now is the ideal moment to prepare your Italian citizenship case, because:
- Thousands of applicants are waiting for the Court’s decision.
- A ruling of unconstitutionality could trigger an immediate wave of new applications.
- Starting now ensures your case is ready before the system becomes overloaded.
- Early preparation helps you avoid delays and position yourself ahead of the backlog.
Italian citizenship is now more within your reach than ever before.
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Article written on December 11th 2025
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