Italian Citizenship by Descent: What You Need to Know
- Rocco Hindman
- Apr 4, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 17, 2025
Originally posted March 5, 2025. Updated April 4, 2025, by Lisa H. Taylor
Update: How the New 2025 Emergency Decree Impacts Italian Dual Citizenship
by Descent Current Applicants
Marco Permunian spoke live with SCGS's Italian Interest Group on March 15, 2025, to discuss Italian citizenship by descent, known as jus sanguinis. On March 28, the Italian government tightened regulations, making it more challenging for people with Italian ancestry to obtain citizenship and apply for an Italian passport, effective immediately, according to CNN. Currently, the law has 60 days to be ratified by parliament. For now, new applications for citizenship must meet the new requirements, said CNN.
In an April 2 episode of the Italian Citizenship Assistance podcast, Rafael Di Furia featured Marco Permunian as his guest. The topic was the new Italian government ruling. "It is important to mention that any application that was submitted to the Italian Consulate, an Italian municipality, or an Italian port prior to midnight of the 28th of March is still regulated by the old rules," explained Marco in the episode. "So the new rules only apply to people who either were not recognized as Italian citizens or who have not submitted the application prior to midnight of March 28."
On an April 13, 2025, episode of the Italian Citizenship Assistance podcast, Marco and Rafael Di Furia discussed the 40-page document released with the 2025 emergency decree.
To learn more, view the podcast on YouTube.
Buon giorno a tutti!
Please mark your calendar for the next regularly scheduled Southern California Genealogical Society's Italian Interest Group (IIG) meeting on Saturday, March 15, at 10 a.m. PDT. We will be joined again by attorney and Italian citizenship expert Marco Permunian. Marco was featured in the Los Angeles Times on March 11 in the article "Italy, here we come: Why these Angelenos are bailing on the U.S."
Since early 2025 (yes, we're barely into the third month), calls to his office in Italy from Southern Californians have doubled from 30 to 60 a month, Permunian said in the LA Times article. "There have been a few spikes in business over the years typically tied to the political and social climate," he said. "But for people in Southern California right now, it seems to be a combination of factors."
Marco Permunian at his office in Italy.
Do I Qualify for Citizenship by Descent?
Joining SCGS's IIG online meeting live from Italy, Marco will discuss the general requirements and process of obtaining Italian citizenship by descent (jus sanguinis) and explain a recent court ruling that might affect one's eligibility for Italian citizenship.
Are you interested in learning more about Italian citizenship by descent? Join SCGS Italian Interest Group members as Marco navigates the process of acquiring Italian citizenship based on having a direct bloodline to an Italian ancestor. Many of our IIG members are interested in Italian citizenship by descent, and Marco generously offers to share his expertise with us. Whether you are curious about your eligibility, considering applying for dual citizenship, or want to know more about this process, please attend the online meeting and bring your questions for the Q&A session with Marco.
Prepare Your Questions for the Q&A
After our conversation with Marco, time will be allocated for an open discussion period during which group members can ask questions of one another, offer assistance to those who may need it, and share other topics of interest regarding our Italian and Italian American family history. If you recently made an interesting discovery or have a valuable resource to share with others, please come prepared to "show and tell."
How to Register
This meeting will be conducted online using Zoom. You do not need a paid Zoom subscription to participate.
Join the meeting in one of two ways:
If you have the Zoom program/app on your computer, click this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9612789862?omn=81246514935 and click the Launch Meeting button.
To join by using the website, visit https://www.zoom.us/join and enter the Meeting ID: 961 278 9862
About Our Speaker, Marco Permunian
Attorney Marco Permunian is an expert in jure sanguinis Italian citizenship cases. He received his law degree from the University of Ferrara in Italy. Founded in 1391, the University of Ferrara is located between Bologna and Venice in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
Marco is a highly experienced lawyer in Italy (registered with the Rovigo Bar Association) and the principal lawyer at the Italian Dual Citizenship law firm (IDC), which employs several professionals, including lawyers, genealogists, translators, and outside specialists.
Marcos oversees multiple levels of the IDC process, including retrieving ancestry records, analyzing complicated citizenship cases, providing legal advice, and finalizing all documents for submission.
Marco comes from a family of Italian lawyers and has worked with law firms in Italy and the United States on various cases, including international transactions, commercial matters, and immigration.
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What I’m still fuzzy on after reading this: if someone’s appointment is later this year but they had all documents ready before March 28, it sounds like that doesn’t matter unless the application was actually submitted — so the bottleneck is literally the appointment system. That feels like it’ll create a lot of inequity between consulates with different backlogs. Totally different topic, but the “prove it with timestamps” vibe made me think of those virtual hairstyle try-on tool sites where one tiny detail changes the output — here it’s just paperwork instead of hair. Would love to hear if you think municipalities in Italy will interpret the submission cutoff differently than consulates.
The way the decree sounds “effective immediately” but then has this ratification window is so confusing in practice — I can already imagine people making expensive document requests based on rumors. The podcast references help, but I’m wondering whether the 40-page document actually clarifies what happens for applicants who were recognized but haven’t registered AIRE yet. On a totally unrelated note, the whole timing scramble reminded me of seeing this quirky free ghibli ai image style thing recently — everyone rushing to get results before some change kicks in — but obviously the stakes here are way higher. Any chance you’ll update this again if parliament amends the text?
The “submitted before midnight March 28” detail is the part I wish more summaries led with — that’s a huge line in the sand for families who already booked consulate appointments months out. It almost reads like the real stress is proving when your packet was officially received, not just what’s in it, a bit like how vigenere cipher can be less about the letters and more about using the exact right key at the exact right time. Curious if you’ve seen any guidance on what counts as proof of submission (email receipt vs portal timestamp, etc.).