New Interpretative Guidelines on Italian Citizenship by Right of Blood (iure sanguinis)

Individuals interested in obtaining recognition of Italian citizenship by descent should be aware of significant updates stemming from recent decisions by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation (Cass. Civ. Sez. I, ord. No. 454/2024 and No. 17161/2023) and Circular No. 43347, issued on October 3, 2024, by the Italian Ministry of the Interior. These developments reflect new interpretative guidelines established by the court.

According to the court's guidelines, the circular clarifies that if an Italian citizen lost their citizenship under the 1912 law (and previously under the Italian Civil Code of 1865) due to voluntarily acquiring foreign citizenship, this action also resulted in the loss of Italian citizenship for any minor children living with that individual. This is applicable even if the child was born in a country, like the United States, that follows the principle of jus soli (right of the soil). As a result, at birth, the child would hold dual citizenship—Italian through paternal descent (jus sanguinis or right of blood) and foreign based on their birthplace (jus soli). Consequently, the line of citizenship transmission is deemed interrupted because the minor child, after the father’s naturalization, cannot pass on this citizenship right to their descendants.

Nevertheless, applicants may prove that an ancestor who lost citizenship later regained Italian citizenship upon reaching adulthood. If this can be substantiated, the reacquisition must have occurred prior to the birth of the descendant in the applicant's lineage. If not, the transmission line remains unrestored.