Law 74/2025: What Parliament Added When It Made the Citizenship Reform Permanent
On May 23, 2025, the Italian Parliament converted Decree-Law 36/2025 into Law 74/2025, making the two-generation citizenship limit permanent. But the conversion law was not a mere rubber stamp. It introduced new provisions for minors, a limited reacquisition window for former citizens, and raised the beneficio di legge pathway. Understanding these details is critical for anyone assessing their options.
From Emergency Decree to Permanent Law
Under Article 77 of the Italian Constitution, a decree-law must be converted into ordinary legislation within 60 days or it loses effect. Parliament’s conversion of D.L. 36/2025 into Law 74/2025, effective May 24, 2025, removed the possibility that the restrictions would simply expire. The two-generation limit, the retroactive “deemed never to have acquired” language, and the March 27, 2025 filing deadline all became permanent features of Italian law.
However, the conversion process also gave Parliament the opportunity to amend the decree’s text, and several significant additions were made.
New Provisions for Minors
Law 74/2025 introduced what is known as the beneficio di legge (benefit of law) pathway for children. Under this provision:
The Minor Provisions
Children under 1 year old: A parent or guardian can submit a declaration for the child to acquire Italian citizenship, provided the parent is an Italian citizen by birth and is registered with AIRE (the Registry of Italians Residing Abroad). The declaration must be made within one year of birth.
Children over 1 year old but under 18 (as of May 24, 2025): A declaration can be submitted by parents, but the child must then legally reside in Italy for at least two consecutive years for the declaration to take effect.
Older minors (under 18 as of the May 24 cutoff): These individuals have until May 31, 2026 to submit their application.
Renunciation option: A minor who acquires citizenship through this pathway may renounce it upon reaching the age of 18, provided they hold another nationality.
These provisions represented a partial concession to families with young children, but their practical reach is limited. The two-year Italian residency requirement for children over one year old is a significant barrier for families living abroad who may not have the means or desire to relocate a child to Italy for two years.
The Reacquisition Window (Article 17)
Law 74/2025 amended Article 17 of Law 91/1992 to reopen a limited window for certain former Italian citizens to reacquire citizenship. This applies to individuals who were born in Italy or resided in Italy for at least two continuous years and who lost their citizenship no later than August 15, 1992 under the provisions of the 1912 law (naturalization abroad, renunciation following involuntary acquisition of foreign citizenship, or loss as a minor child of a parent who lost citizenship).
Declarations for reacquisition may be submitted between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2027. This window does not apply to those who voluntarily renounced Italian citizenship on or after August 16, 1992.
While this provision offers a pathway for a specific category of former citizens, it is narrow. It requires that the individual was either born in Italy or had a two-year period of Italian residency, conditions that exclude the vast majority of diaspora descendants who lost citizenship under the 1912 law’s provisions.
What Did Not Change
The core architecture of D.L. 36/2025 survived conversion intact:
The two-generation limit remains in force. Only children or grandchildren of Italian-born citizens qualify under the new rules.
The retroactive application remains in force. The law continues to declare that persons born abroad with another citizenship “are considered never to have acquired” Italian citizenship, reaching back across all prior generations.
The March 27, 2025 filing deadline remains the cutoff for applications processed under the old rules.
The exclusive citizenship requirement for the grandparent exception remains. If the relevant ascendant held any citizenship besides Italian at the time of their death, this exception does not apply, a condition that excludes most emigrant families.
The Constitutional Question Remains Open
Parliament’s conversion of the decree into law did not resolve the constitutional challenges. The Tribunals of Turin, Campobasso, and Mantova have all referred questions about the law’s constitutionality to the Constitutional Court, and the Court of Cassation’s Sezioni Unite will address the retroactivity question on April 14, 2026.
The conversion from decree to law does not immunize the legislation from constitutional review. Indeed, several judges have noted that the conversion process itself raises additional questions: whether a matter as fundamental as citizenship should be reformed through the decree-law mechanism at all, rather than through ordinary parliamentary procedure with full committee review and public debate.
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This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Last updated: March 21, 2026.