On 03/29/2025, the decree-law n. 36/2025 on the rules for the recognition of citizenship jure sanguinis was published in the Official Journal.

The decree provides that citizenship jure sanguinis, from now on, can only be recognized to the children and grandchildren of a citizen born in Italy (therefore a limit of two generations is placed, compared to the past in which there was no limit of generations);

Conversely, those who have submitted the relevant application in an administrative or judicial setting by 03/27/2025 can have citizenship recognized on the basis of the previous legislation (without limits of generations, therefore).

This is therefore an epochal change in the legislation on citizenship with a limitation of a fundamental right of the legal system, that of citizenship jure sanguinis, which is limited to two generations.

On the other hand, the introduced legislation raises more than a few doubts regarding the asserted retroactive validity of the rule, that is, the possibility of applying the aforementioned limits also to the past and to rights that should be considered acquired.

The right to citizenship is a fundamental right of the individual that is acquired with birth as the child of a citizen.

Therefore, subject to any subsequent investigation and subject to what the conversion law will provide (to be adopted within 60 days of the decree law), it appears that the approved legislation cannot in any case affect those rights acquired before the entry into force, that is, such legislation should not apply to persons born to a citizen parent until 03/29/2025 (precisely the date of entry into force of the decree law in question).