Italy Just Made Citizenship by Descent Harder — But Canada Made It Easier. Here's What You Need to Know.
If you've been following the world of citizenship by descent over the past year, you already know that 2025 was a seismic year, and not in the same direction for every country. Two ancestry-based citizenship programs went through major legislative overhauls, and they couldn't have gone in more opposite directions.
Italy, long considered the gold standard for generous jure sanguinis recognition, dramatically tightened its rules. Canada, which had imposed a rigid first-generation limit on citizenship by descent since 2009, threw the doors wide open.
If you're exploring your ancestry for a second citizenship, or if you've been caught off guard by one of these changes, here's what you need to know.
Italy and the End of "Unlimited" Jure Sanguinis
For over a century, Italy recognized citizenship by descent with no generational limit. If you could prove an unbroken line of Italian ancestry going back to a citizen of the Kingdom of Italy after March 17, 1861, you could claim Italian citizenship whether you were a child, grandchild, or great-great-great-grandchild of the original ancestor. That system made Italy's jure sanguinis program one of the most accessible in the world.
That changed on March 28, 2025, when the Italian government issued Decree-Law 36/2025, commonly known as the Tajani Decree (or, in our circles, the "Decree of Shame."). The decree was converted into Law 74/2025 in May 2025, and it fundamentally rewrote the rules.
Under the new framework, automatic citizenship recognition is now limited to applicants who have an Italian parent or grandparent and even then, only under specific conditions. In general, the qualifying parent or grandparent must have held exclusively Italian citizenship at the relevant time, or a parent or adoptive parent must have lived in Italy for at least two consecutive years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before the applicant's birth. For applicants beyond the second generation (which includes the vast majority of Americans, Argentines, Brazilians, and Australians who had been pursuing Italian citizenship) the old unlimited route is effectively closed for applications filed after March 27, 2025.
The law also applies retroactively, which is one of its most controversial features. Individuals who were born before the law took effect and who believed they had acquired Italian citizenship at birth under the old rules were suddenly reclassified under the new framework.
Applications filed before 11:59 PM Rome time on March 27, 2025 whether through a consulate, municipality, or Italian court, are still being processed under the prior rules. An estimated 60,000 cases fall into this protected category.[1]
Constitutional Challenges Against Law no. 74/2025
The retroactivity and generational restrictions prompted immediate legal challenges. The Court of Turin referred the constitutional question to Italy's Constitutional Court, raising concerns that the law violated principles of equality, legal certainty, and non-retroactivity.
On March 11, 2026, the Constitutional Court held a public hearing on the challenge. The next day, the Court released its decision: the challenges were declared partly unfounded and partly inadmissible.[2] Law 74/2025 stands.
This was a significant disappointment for many applicants and legal practitioners who had hoped the Court would strike down the retroactive provisions. The two-generation limit has survived its first major constitutional test.
However, the legal battle is not entirely over. Additional constitutional referrals from the courts of Mantova and Campobasso are still pending, with the Mantova referral scheduled for hearing on June 9, 2026.[3] The Court of Cassation's Joint Sections (Sezioni Unite) are also expected to hear arguments on April 14, 2026 regarding the so-called "minor issue," aka whether a parent's foreign naturalization while their child was a minor severed the chain of Italian citizenship transmission.[4] Depending on how these issues are decided, certain aspects of the law could still be revisited.
For now, though, the practical reality is clear: Italian citizenship by descent is a far narrower path than it was before March 2025. Anyone still hoping to qualify must treat it as a highly technical legal assessment, not a routine ancestry application.
Canada Opened the Door Wider Than Ever
While Italy was closing doors, Canada was opening them.
On December 15, 2025, Canada's Bill C-3 (An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act) came into effect.[5] The legislation abolished the first-generation limit that had been in place since 2009, which had prevented Canadian citizens born abroad from passing citizenship to their own children if those children were also born outside Canada. The people excluded by this rule became known as "Lost Canadians."
The change was precipitated by a December 2023 ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which found the first-generation limit unconstitutional.[6] The federal government chose not to appeal, and Bill C-3 was introduced in June 2025, received Royal Assent in November, and took effect the following month.
The impact is sweeping. Under the new rules, anyone born before December 15, 2025 may automatically be a Canadian citizen if they can demonstrate descent from a Canadian ancestor even several generations back. There is no longer an express generational cap for people born before that date. For those born on or after December 15, 2025, citizenship by descent can still be passed beyond the first generation, but the Canadian-born-abroad parent must demonstrate a "substantial connection" to Canada, which is defined as at least 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada before the child's birth.[7]
According to Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer, this change could affect around 115,000 people over the next five years.[8] Some immigration lawyers estimate the actual number of newly eligible individuals could reach into the hundreds of thousands, or even millions, when accounting for the full scope of multi-generational chains of descent, with particularly high concentrations among Americans in New England and the northern border states.
For Americans in particular, the timing is notable. Amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Canada, interest in Canadian citizenship by descent has surged. And unlike some other citizenship programs, obtaining Canadian citizenship does not trigger Canadian tax obligations for individuals who continue to reside in the United States.
What This Means for You
The divergence between Italy and Canada reflects a broader philosophical split in how countries think about citizenship by descent. Italy has moved toward a model that requires a closer, more demonstrable connection to the country such as generational proximity or exclusive nationality. Canada has moved in the opposite direction, prioritizing inclusivity and correcting what its own courts recognized as an unconstitutional barrier.
If you have Italian ancestry and were hoping to pursue citizenship, the situation is more complex than ever but not necessarily hopeless. The outcome depends heavily on the specifics of your family line, the timing of any prior applications, and the ongoing legal proceedings. Working with a knowledgeable citizenship by descent consultant is essential.
If you have Canadian ancestry, this may be the most favorable moment in decades to explore your eligibility. The documentation requirements are real: you'll need to prove the chain of descent through birth certificates, marriage records, and other vital documents, but the legal framework is now significantly more welcoming than it has been at any point since 2009.
At Roots Recovered, we work with clients on citizenship by descent across multiple countries, including Italy, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Poland, and more. Whether you're navigating the new Italian legal landscape or exploring a newly opened Canadian pathway, we can help you understand your options, gather the right documents, and build the strongest possible case.
Book a free consultation to discuss your family history and find out which paths are still available to you.
References
- 10 key facts about Italy's 2026 citizenship ruling: Constitutional Court upholds limits ↩
- Italy made acquiring citizenship by descent harder while Canada made it easier ↩
- Constitutional Court Ruling on Italian Citizenship ↩
- Italian Citizenship Constitutional Court March 2026 ↩
- Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025) comes into effect ↩
- Changes to the Citizenship Act: Rules (2025) ↩
- Lost Canadians Citizenship ↩
- New law opens door to citizenship for lost Canadians in Bellingham and beyond ↩