Italian Dual Citizenship in the U.S. — 2026 Guide

Recognition of Italian citizenship by descent changed fundamentally in 2025. Decree-Law 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025, inserted a new Article 3-bis into the citizenship law and ended the unlimited generational chain. For applications filed after 23:59 Rome time on 27 March 2025, recognition is in practice limited to people with an Italian-born parent or grandparent. Italy’s Constitutional Court reviewed the reform in March 2026 and left it standing.

Quick facts

The fee rose from €300 to €600 on 1 January 2025 and is not refundable whatever the outcome. It is paid in dollars at the quarterly rate, by money order or cashier’s check, on the day of the appointment.

Fees breakdown

Dollar equivalents move every quarter with the official conversion rate, which was 1 euro to 1.1651 dollars for the quarter ending 30 September 2026.

Who still qualifies

1. Anyone whose application, with full documentation, was filed with a consulate or comune — or whose consular appointment fell — by the 27 March 2025 cut-off is assessed under the previous, unlimited rules.
2. Anyone whose claim was already before an Italian court by that same deadline keeps the old framework too.
3. An ascendant of the first or second degree — a parent or grandparent — who held exclusively Italian citizenship at the time of their death satisfies the new test.
4. A parent who was legally resident in Italy for at least two continuous years after acquiring Italian citizenship and before the child’s birth or adoption also satisfies it.
5. Beyond that, descendants of great-grandparents and further back no longer qualify automatically, whatever the paper trail shows.

Required documents

• Birth, marriage and death records for every person in the line of descent, in long form.
• The Italian-born ancestor’s birth record obtained from their Italian comune.
• Naturalisation records, or certified evidence of no naturalisation, for the ancestor who emigrated.
• Apostilles on every U.S. record, plus Italian translations.
• Court orders correcting any discrepancy in names or dates across the chain.
• Consular application forms, signed before the officer, and the fee.

Where to apply

Applications go to the consulate covering your U.S. residence, and only there. Establishing residence in an Italian comune opens a separate administrative route with its own timetable.

Additional notes

The Constitutional Court ruling

The challenges to Law 74/2025 were decided in March 2026, with the full reasoning deposited at the end of April, and the generational limits were upheld. There is no automatic reopening of applications refused under the new rules.

Transitional windows have closed

The declaration window that allowed parents to preserve a minor child’s claim expired on 31 May 2026. Cases that missed it fall under the ordinary rules.

Judicial route

Claims brought before the Italian courts follow the same substantive law. What differs is the forum and the timetable, not the eligibility test.

Document discrepancies

Misspelled surnames and mismatched dates across a century of records remain the most common reason for refusal, independent of the reform. Corrections are obtained where the record was issued, not at the consulate.