Ornella Dual Citizenship Services

07/21/2025

Important legal update regarding the minor issue

05/21/2025

🇮🇹 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍! 𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐘'𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐋𝐀𝐖: 𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃!

Parliament has definitively approved the new citizenship law – a measure that represents one of the deepest fractures between the Italian state and its communities abroad.

This is a 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐰 whose consequences are already triggering a 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬.

✔ 𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝: It humiliates Italians abroad, descendants of those who sacrificed everything for a better future while keeping their Italian identity alive.
✔ 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐝: It breaks the chain of descent, dooming overseas communities to extinction.
✔ 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬: A decree imposed without real urgency, violating the Constitution, under false pretenses (like the 'national security threat' claim).

𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 – 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧.

𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝. 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟖 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐝-𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.

***

Below is a summary of key changes. Further analysis will be needed case by case to determine the best strategy for securing citizenship recognition.

📌𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬)s)
Automatically granted at birth only to those with:
✅ At least one parent or grandparent holding exclusively Italian citizenship OR
✅ A parent who resided in Italy for at least 2 years after obtaining Italian citizenship (even if holding other citizenships) before the child’s birth.

🔹 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨:

𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞/𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, 𝐎𝐑

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 (𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫).

👶 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬’ 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Children/grandchildren of (former) Italian citizens may obtain citizenship if they:

Declare intent within 1 year of turning 18 + 2 years of legal residency in Italy

Have an Italian parent file for them within 1 year of birth (or if the child resides in Italy for 2 years post-declaration).

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟑𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.

👉 If a parent regains citizenship, their minor children automatically acquire it if:

They have lived in Italy for 2+ years, OR

Were born in Italy and are under 2 years old.

✈ "Decreto Flussi": Priority for Italian descendants
Work visa access will be streamlined for foreigners abroad with Italian ancestors, especially from countries with historic Italian emigration.

🔄 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩
Those who lost citizenship (e.g., by acquiring another) may regain it via a simple declaration if filed:
📅 Between July 1, 2025, and December 31, 2027
🏠 After December 2027, the old rules (requiring Italian residency) will still apply.

Join the fight and share your thoughts below! ⤵️

05/16/2025

Genealogists at Geneanet, with key input from genealogists on Discord servers, have solved the mystery of Pope Leo's Italian grandfather and French grandmother. Prevost was his great-grandmother's maiden name, used by his Sicilian grandfather Giovanni Riggitano in Chicago to hide a family secret https://en.geneanet.org/genealogyblog/post/2025/05/pope-leos-european-grandparents-the-mystery-solved

05/15/2025

05/05/2025

📢𝐓𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐈 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃: 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐁𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆!!!

The 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨 just issued a landmark ruling on the Tajani Decree (Decree-Law No. 36/2025), stating that:
✅ I𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐘
✅ 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬
✅ 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑 to pay legal fees (approx. €2,000)

🔍 What happened?
The claimants filed their case in 2024, before the decree came into force, seeking recognition of citizenship iure sanguinis (by descent). The Interior Ministry argued that the new restrictions (limiting citizenship to two generations born abroad) should apply, but the court rejected this, stating:
➡ The new rules cannot revoke already acquired rights
➡ The decree does not explicitly allow retroactivity

⚖ Why is this important?
This ruling could set a crucial precedent for thousands of Italian descendants worldwide, confirming that:
🔹 Applications submitted before March 28, 2025, remain valid
🔹 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲

📢 A strong message to Parliament and other courts!
The judge also rejected the request to suspend proceedings pending the Constitutional Court’s decision, affirming that ius sanguinis (right of blood) is a reasonable and legitimate criterion.

👉 What’s next?
More rulings are expected, but this decision opens a path of hope for those seeking recognition of their Italian citizenship rights.

05/01/2025

As we wait over the next few weeks to see how the Italian citizenship by descent decree law moves through the Italian parliament, I recommend following Avv. Michele Vitale's blog for legal updates and analysis.

I am continuing to work on my current clients cases, but for the time being am only taking new clients who have a parent or grandparent born in Italy. This isn't to say anyone should give up on pursuing their recognition through a great grandparent or beyond. The decree law may evolve to include a path, and if not, there will certainly be legal challenges to pursue. However until we know more from the legal experts, to err on the side of caution I will just be taking new clients under those generation limits.

Because this decree law has thrown wrenches in many plans, I am also assisting people who can pivot to another citizenship by descent avenue through a parent or grandparent born in Ireland, Mexico, and possibly other select countries. Because much of the process remains the same (collect and legalize US/Canadian documents, etc) and often with less bureaucracy and uncertainty than Italian citizenship by descent, I am happy to help people who may have those options to explore.

Introduction Welcome back to the ItalyGet blog. As many of you following our updates know, the journey towards securing Italian citizenship jure sanguinis (by right of blood) is currently navigating some complex terrain. Recent legislative discussions, often encapsulated under the “Tajani Decree.....

03/30/2025

Yes, this is concerning. I lost a lot of sleep over this Friday night. But as new information comes to light, try not to panic. Follow the pages of Italian attorneys who will certainly be raising legal concerns over this decree.

03/04/2025

I have availability for one new client this month. If you are eligible for or curious about Italian citizenship by descent, reach out! 🇮🇹

10/24/2024

Hi everyone! As some of you have heard there have been changes announced regarding eligibility for Italian citizenship by descent. These changes come into play if your ancestor born in Italy naturalized while the next person in the line of descent, who was born in a jus soli country like the US, was still a minor. It affects applications filed in Italian consulates and Italian city halls. I have been reevaluating cases to determine the impact for my clients and if there are any other options they can pursue - such as a case through a non-naturalized female ancestor. There are also citizenship through residency options for children and grandchildren of former Italian citizens. Please reach out to me with any questions. I've also attached here an explanation by an Italian attorney

Explore the recent changes in Italian citizenship law regarding the minor issue, including new interpretations, challenges, and potential solutions for obtaining citizenship

07/10/2024

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06/13/2024

I just saw the most outrageous quote yet from a service provider to gather documents and provide general assistance to someone seeking recognition of Italian citizenship by descent -- $36,000! THIRTY-SIX THOUSAND US DOLLARS!

This wasn't to assist with court orders, a court case, or applying in Italy, it was for the client and a couple of family members all descended from the same ancestors to apply at a consulate.

Please folks, you don't EVER need to spend that kind of money to get help with document collection and preparation for an appointment at an Italian consulate. Even with translations thrown in, it won't ever need to come anywhere near that much.

Exploitative practices are out there, beware!

03/04/2024

Proposed changes to Italy's citizenship by descent program -

Italian Citizenship by Descent Might Completely Change: What's going on in Italy? 🇮🇹 Welcome to 🇮🇹🇮🇹 Are you planning to apply for ...