On March 28, the Council of Ministers adopted the “citizenship package”, a set of legislative measures proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to reform the legislation on citizenship. The aim of the measures adopted is to enhance the effective link between Italy and the citizen abroad. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani clarified that “the principle of ius sanguinis will not be lost and many descendants of emigrants will still be able to obtain Italian citizenship, but precise limits will be set, especially to avoid abuse or phenomena of “commercialization” of Italian passports. Citizenship must be a serious thing”.
The countries with the highest levels of Italian emigration have in fact seen a strong increase in citizenship recognition in recent years. From the end of 2014 to the end of 2024, citizens residing abroad have increased from approximately 4.6 million to 6.4 million: an increase of 40% in 10 years. There are over 60,000 pending legal proceedings for citizenship verification.
The reform will free up resources to make consular services more efficient, to the extent that they can be dedicated exclusively to those who have a real need, by virtue of their concrete connection with Italy. The current system in fact has repercussions on the efficiency of Italian administrative or judicial offices, put under pressure by those who go to Italy only in an attempt to speed up the citizenship recognition process, also fueling fraud or unfair practices.
To achieve this goal, we proceed in two phases: some rules come into force immediately with a decree-law and, subsequently, we proceed with a comprehensive reform of the substantive requirements and procedures regarding citizenship.
The approved decree-law (the text is available at the following link: https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2025/03/28/25G00049/sg provides that Italian descendants born abroad will automatically be citizens for only two generations: only those who have at least one parent or grandparent born in Italy will be citizens from birth.
In the second phase, a first bill (also approved on March 28) introduces further and more in-depth substantial changes to the citizenship law. First of all, citizens born and resident abroad are required to maintain real ties with our country over time, exercising the rights and duties of citizens at least once every twenty-five years.
The reform is completed by a second bill that also revises the procedures for the recognition of citizenship. Residents abroad will no longer turn to consulates, but to a special centralized office at the Farnesina. There will be a transitional period of about a year for the organization of the office. The aim is to make the procedures more efficient, with clear economies of scale. Consulates will have to focus on providing services to those who are already citizens and no longer on “creating” new citizens.
Finally, the provision contains other measures to improve and modernize the provision of services: legalizations, registry offices, passports, identity cards valid for expatriation. Furthermore, organizational measures are planned to put the Farnesina structure increasingly at the service of citizens and businesses.
In light of the above, all appointments for the presentation of applications aimed at the recognition of citizenship “iure sanguinis”, as well as the scheduling of new appointments, have been suspended.
