You Can No Longer Get Italian Citizenship Through Your Great-Grandparents

• Italy tightened its requirements for citizenship by descent.
• People applying for a second citizenship with Italy must now have either an Italian parent or grandparent—no great-grandparents are allowed.
• Additionally, applicants must now pass a language proficiency test and attend an in-person interview.

It just got a little harder for those with Italian ancestry to become officially Italian on paper.

On March 28, the Italian government proposed a decree that makes it more difficult for people with Italian ancestry to claim citizenship and get an Italian passport. While the law has 60 days to be ratified by parliament, it is effective immediately. The changes are an attempt to ensure that people requesting citizenship have a true connection to Italy rather than a desire to obtain one of the most powerful passports in the world.

Previously, anyone who could trace their ancestry to a relative who left Italy after it was founded in 1861 (and could document the connection with paperwork) was able to request Italian citizenship. Now, under iure sanguinis aka citizenship by descent, only those who have an Italian grandparent or parent will be able to claim citizenship.

There are additional requirements now, too—applicants must be able to pass an Italian language proficiency test, and they need to have lived in the country for three years to qualify. Plus, Italian consulates will no longer be able to process applications. Applications will be handled in Italy and will require an in-person interview.

Even before the changes, the process to claim Italian citizenship took about two years. Now, some applicants who were in the middle of acquiring paperwork will no longer be able to claim citizenship.

Most people applying for Italian citizenship abroad in the last decade hailed from Argentina and Brazil. Around 30,000 people from Argentina and 20,000 people from Brazil were granted Italian citizenship in the last year alone.

The decree also states that Italian passport holders with dual citizenship can be stripped of their Italian passport if they don’t engage in civic duties, such as paying taxes, renewing ID cards, and voting. And for those who are married to an Italian must live in the country for two years to qualify and apply for citizenship through their marriage.

In the past, Italy has often been listed as one of the easiest places to get citizenship—that sentiment is likely to change with this new decree.