Italy citizenship law dispute and migration services shift

In July 2026 an Italian court reaffirmed the jus sanguinis principle, extending eligibility for citizenship by descent to great‑grandchildren and great‑great‑grandchildren who can prove an uninterrupted lineage to an Italian ancestor. The ruling interpreted Law 74/2025, which had introduced stricter consular procedures and a filing deadline, as preserving the historic model of transmission by blood and offering a pathway for delayed filings.

Later that month the Constitutional Court, questioning the 2025 amendment that limits citizenship by descent to children and grandchildren and adds residency and birthplace conditions for ancestors, suspended its own decision and referred the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The referral signals doubts about the amendment’s compatibility with EU fundamental rights and could affect millions of people of Italian heritage, particularly in Brazil, Argentina and other diaspora communities.

Amid the legal uncertainty, Brazilian migration firms MN Cidadania and GM Cidadania, which have helped thousands of descendants obtain Italian passports, opened a U.S. subsidiary in 2026. They have also broadened their services to include other European nationalities and visas for work, study and residence, reflecting a diversification strategy while the ECJ review proceeds.

The unfolding dispute, centered on the “Tajani decree” that imposed the dual‑generation limit, illustrates the tension between expanding citizenship rights for distant descendants and legislative restrictions that may curtail that generosity, with the final outcome pending EU judicial review.