Acquiring Italian citizenship by descent- commonly termed as Jure Sanguinis- is a route available to descendants of someone born in Italy. In case of complying with the eligibility and the law, you can reclaim your Italian identity and benefit from the citizenship advantages in the European Union.
This in-depth guide talks you through the whole procedure and gives you more immigration opportunities, such as the EU blue card Italy, for skilled individuals.
Jure Sanguinis: What does it mean?
Jure Sanguinis, or right of blood, is a rule of succession that entitles an individual whose cousin was an Italian citizen to inherit Italian citizenship (despite his or her foreign birth by altering his Italian mother), provided there is a continuity of the ties of descent. There is the necessity of the discontinuous transmission of citizenship, that there was no ancestor who had renounced or become a naturalized citizen before it was handed down to the next generation.
New Restrictions in the 2025 Act Now
In 2025, there was a tightening of the Italian law of citizenship. Miscellaneous applications: Eligible applications are no longer accepted after March 27, 2025, based on descent to great-grandparent or earlier generations, unless already submitted before that date. This radically affects a high number of potential candidates from far-flung generations. It is a matter of time, since if you file it now, you will pass under the older, more liberal regulations.
Eligibility Criteria
Basic requirements are:
- Show that you have an Italian citizenship by descent
- Be sure that none of the ancestors was born naturalized to some other country before the birth of a child.
- Their birth, marriage, and death certificates should be valid, consistent, and apostilled or legalized and translated into Italian.
9419 Exception in the Maternal Line 1948
In case your Italian ancestry is via a woman who bears children before January 1,1948, you have to pursue an application at the Italian courts as a result of gender-discriminatory laws at the time pre-dating the Italian constitution of 1948.
Consequences: Pathways of Application: Consular vs. Judicial
Consular Route
- Files can be submitted to the local Italian consulate.
- WAIT times can be long, 1-3 years, and in many consulates, new submissions have been put on hold as a result of changes in legislation.
Courtary (Judicial) Process
- Necessary in 1948 cases as well as in the cases of the third-born ancestor applicants.
- The quickest and safest course of action, many times, will often be today. About 12-24 months; you do not have to live in Italy.
Document Gathering Requisites
Some of the important documents are:
- Certificates of birth, marriage, and death of each child in your family tree.
- Show that your ancestor was not naturalized before passing citizenship on to his or her child (e.g., citizen certificates of foreign naturalization or census records).
- Italian translations have to be certified; apostilles are required.
- Depending on the consulate, criminal background checks, evidence of address, and a personal statement may need to be provided as well.
Submit Your Application
- Consular Filing: Declare papers at your consulate, and pay your application fee (at present 600 euros per individual on consular applications).
- Judicial Filing: Present via the Italian courts; a fee must be paid to file the case (~EUR 600) in addition to lawyer fees in case of legal representation.
Both demand that full and fault-free documentation should be provided in order to minimize delays as much as possible.
Outcomes Processing Times
- Consular: The Process can take years, and most applications can even be packed right back because there are additional restrictions.
- Judicial: normally 12-24 months. This path is more predictable and proactive to many, and even more so in the present conditions of the legal framework.
As soon as it is approved, the date of admission is deemed to be the date of that application or the date it was filed in court, depending on which takes precedence. You must then enroll in the AIRE (Registry of Italians Residing Abroad) to take advantage of services such as the renewal of a passport, voting, and consular support.
The Importance of Legal Help
Facilitating through tricky legal regulations, paperwork, and local peculiarities, the professional assistance. Aprigliano can support users through the entire process end-to-end, which includes eligibility confirmation, genealogy research, preparing legal strategies, and court submission.
Past Jure Sanguinis: EU Blue Card Track:
The EU blue card Italy may be an attractive alternative or complement to the citizenship avenues of highly skilled professionals wishing to transfer to Italy based on employment.
In case you have a Blue card issued by a different EU country, you are allowed to transfer it into an Italian Blue Card as long as:
- Eligible 18 months after the foreign Blue Card was issued.
- You possess a degree from a university that is considered equivalent in Italy.
- Your offer of employment in Italy has a minimum salary of 25,000 per year.
2 to 4 months are required to make the conversion, and the conversion comes with the following offers:
- Right to Family Reunification.
- The privilege to enter the Italian healthcare and education system.
- A temporary residence permit of 1-2 year renewability.
- Eligibility for long-term EU residence status after 5 years (plus period under the foreign Blue Card).
- Naturalization by residence may be requested after 10 years have passed since the ordeal of the Italian Blue Card.
Aprigliano helps in all procedures, including the legalization of documents, the authorization of the Prefecture (Nulla Osta), fingerprints, and retrieving the permit.
Final Thoughts
Tracing Italian heritage and want to apply for Jure Sanguinis in 2025, time is of the essence. Know your eligibility, collect perfect paperwork, select the appropriate application route, and follow professional legal counsel, that of a consular or judicial.
Alternatively, you were born skilled labor, wending your way through the employment route. The EU blue card Italy can provide direct access to Italian residency in the short run and citizenship in the longer term.
