Italian citizenship by descent: 2026 rules

For decades, an Italian great-great-grandparent could be your ticket to an EU passport. Not any more. Since 2025, most Australians born with another citizenship need a much closer and "purer" Italian link.

The short version

Italy's Decree-Law 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025, took effect on 24 May 2025 and sharply limits citizenship by descent (iure sanguinis) for people born abroad who hold another citizenship [1].
The line now has to start with an Italian parent or grandparent, and you must also meet at least one extra test, such as a parent or grandparent who held only Italian citizenship [1].
If you booked and confirmed a consulate appointment, or filed, by 11:59 pm Rome time on 27 March 2025, the old rules still apply to you [1].
The Italian Consulate General in Sydney has suspended new adult appointments. From 1 January 2029, applications from abroad will move to a dedicated office in Rome [2].
Italy's Constitutional Court rejected a challenge to the new law in March 2026 [3]. Don't plan around it being overturned.

Why this matters to so many Australians

At the 2021 Census, 1,108,364 people in Australia listed Italian ancestry, about 4.4% of the population, and 163,326 were born in Italy [4]. That's a huge pool of people with a possible claim, and for years many of them used the old rules to get an Italian passport and the right to live and work anywhere in the EU.

Under the old system there was no generation limit. If your ancestor was alive and Italian after Italian unification and never broke the chain, you could apply. The 2025 reform changed that, mainly to rein in claims from very distant descendants.

The new rules in plain English

The Consulate General of Italy in Brisbane sets out the post-reform position clearly [1].

The basics still apply

Your line must start from an Italian parent or grandparent.
That ancestor must have kept Italian citizenship until their child (the next link) reached adulthood. If they naturalised elsewhere while that child was still a minor, the chain usually breaks.
Women could pass on citizenship only from 1 January 1948. Before 26 April 1983, a married woman's citizenship followed her husband's [1].
Every link has to be proven with civil records, legalised and translated where required.

The new extra tests

If you were born outside Italy and hold another citizenship, as nearly every Australian applicant does, you must also meet at least one of these [1]:

You hold only Italian citizenship and can't hold any other.
A parent (including an adoptive parent) or grandparent held exclusively Italian citizenship when you were born, or when they died.
A parent who is an Italian citizen lived in Italy for at least two consecutive years after becoming a citizen and before you were born or adopted.

People born in Italy, and people who hold no other citizenship, keep their status under the unchanged rules [1].

Where do you stand? A quick guide

Every family is different, so treat this as a starting point, not a ruling.

Your situation	Likely position after May 2025
You booked and confirmed an appointment or filed by 27 March 2025	Assessed under the old rules [1]
Your Italian-born grandparent never took another citizenship	You may meet the "exclusively Italian" test, if the rest of the chain holds
Your nonna or nonno became an Australian citizen	They may not count as "exclusively Italian", and depending on timing may have lost Italian citizenship; get advice
Your Italian-citizen parent lived in Italy for two straight years before you were born	You may qualify under the residence test [1]
Your closest Italian link is a great-grandparent or earlier	Generally no longer qualifies by descent [1]
Your line passes through a woman, to a child born before 1948	Not recognised through the consulate [1]

The "exclusively Italian" test is the big one for Australians. Many post-war migrants took up Australian citizenship, which can work against their grandchildren now. Before you spend money on documents, find out when, or whether, each ancestor naturalised. The National Archives of Australia holds many naturalisation records.

Applying from Australia: the reality in 2026

Even if you qualify, getting recognised is slow.

Sydney has paused new adult appointments. Until 31 December 2028 consulates may accept only a limited number of adult applications. From 1 January 2029, adult applications from abroad will be handled by a dedicated office of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome [2].
You apply where you live. Sydney, for example, accepts only Australian citizens and permanent residents living in New South Wales, booked through the Prenot@mi portal [2]. Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth cover other states.
The fee is €600, non-refundable. It applies to every adult application since 1 January 2025 and doesn't guarantee a positive result [1][2].
Allow up to two years. Sydney's published processing time is 730 days [2].
Originals stay with the consulate. Your documents must be legalised and translated into Italian, and you won't get the originals back [2].

Children and the "minor declaration"

Some children who don't get citizenship automatically can still become Italian by declaration [1]:

General rule: if at least one parent is an Italian citizen by birth, both parents can make a formal declaration at the consulate within three years of the child's birth.
Transitional rule: for children under 18 on 24 May 2025 whose parent had applied or booked by 27 March 2025. That window closed on 31 May 2026.
A €250 contribution applies to minors aged 3 to 18, and citizenship starts the day after the declaration, not from birth [1].

If you're an Italian citizen and have a baby in Australia, don't leave this to the last minute.

Other paths if descent no longer works

Losing the descent route doesn't mean losing every route to Italy.

Check reacquisition. If you were born Italian and lost citizenship, Italian consulates in Australia are taking reacquisition applications; the Melbourne consulate, for example, offered them on its November 2026 mission to Hobart [5].
Live in Italy and naturalise. Italian law offers shorter residence periods for some descendants of Italian citizens, and commentators report the 2025 reform cut one of these to two years [6]. Confirm the current rule with the comune or Prefettura before relying on it.
Get a visa first. If you're 18 to 35, the once-in-a-lifetime working holiday visa gets you to Rome for up to a year. Remote workers and retirees have their own visas. See our guide to moving to Rome.
Marriage. Spouses of Italian citizens have a separate route with its own conditions.
Talk to a specialist. Italian citizenship lawyers can advise on court routes and edge cases, such as the 1948 rule, that consulates don't handle.

Should you move to Rome to apply?

Moving to Italy doesn't change whether you qualify. The new tests are written into the law itself [1]. What living in Rome can change is your path: two years' residence by an Italian parent counts under the third test, and legal residence is the basis for naturalisation [1][6].

If you're weighing it up, ask in Cooee Italy, our Facebook group for Australians in Italy. Plenty of members have been through the paperwork and can tell you what it actually took. Join the community.

Italian citizenship by descent: what the 2025 law changed for Australians