Italy's highest court has begun reviewing the government's restrictions on citizenship by descent, in three cases that could determine the fate of challenges to the country's sweeping March 2025 citizenship law.

On Tuesday, the United Sections civil panel of the Corte di Cassazione convened to examine the so-called "minor issue" — a rule introduced through a government circular in October 2024. The circular stipulates that if a parent of an Italian child born abroad naturalized in another country while the child was still underage, that naturalization "cuts" the line of descent, unless it would otherwise render the child stateless.

The rule immediately disqualified Italo-descendants in countries such as the United States, which grant citizenship to anyone born on national territory. Its sudden implementation made no provision for applicants whose citizenship requests were already in progress, leaving some who had already relocated to Italy in complex legal situations.

The "minor issue" preceded the broader March 2025 change, introduced by emergency decree on March 28, 2025. Known as Law 74/2025, that law cut citizenship by descent to two generations and effectively banned dual citizenship for Italians abroad.

The three cases

The Cassazione judges examined three citizenship-by-descent cases that lower courts had rejected at both initial trial and appeal. Two involve American families tracing their ancestry back three and four generations respectively. The third case concerns a Venezuelan applicant whose Italian mother naturalized when he was 10 years old. Notably, the Venezuelan plaintiff's brother had already received citizenship by descent before the "minor issue" took effect, creating a discrepancy in legal status between siblings.

The Procuratore Generale — a post that advises the Cassazione judges — delivered a legal interpretation in favor of the plaintiffs and against the government restrictions. Her evaluation emphasized that citizenship cannot be lost involuntarily.

"It was important that she said that citizenship can only be lost by a voluntary act," said Monica Restanio, attorney for the Venezuelan family.

Marco Mellone, attorney for the American plaintiffs, explicitly asked the court to rule on whether citizenship is a permanent right acquired at birth. Such a ruling would give lower courts an avenue to disregard the 2025 citizenship restrictions. Speaking after the hearing, Mellone said he was "absolutely confident" the court would find the "minor issue" illegal, citing previous case law.

The Cassazione has intervened in citizenship law only twice in the 21st century, Mellone noted. In both instances, it retroactively re-established citizenship for those who had lost it involuntarily.

Path to a judicial dismantling

Although the cases heard predate the 2025 law, lawyers for the plaintiffs hope the Procuratore Generale's reasoning could strengthen future challenges to the March legislation, which stripped millions of descendants of the right to recognition.

Separately, regional judges have referred Law 74/2025 to the Constitutional Court, which rules on perceived infringements of the Italian Constitution. In the first of four hearings, held in March, the court ruled in favor of the government but has yet to publish its legal reasoning. The next three challenges will be heard on June 9. Mellone said he is "not so confident" about that hearing.

If the two top courts issue conflicting rulings, citizenship seekers could be forced to sue the Italian government for recognition rather than applying through consulates, the traditional route.

Diaspora waiting

Members of the diaspora affected by the restrictions followed the hearing closely. "We're holding our breath," said Jacqueline Matwick, whose family moved to Italy and was in the process of requesting citizenship when the "minor issue" disqualified them. "I am really hoping the interpretation gets reversed — both for people with pending applications and for people like us who made irreversible life changes based on the old legal interpretation."

Karen Bonadio, a third-generation Italian-American, flew from San Diego to Rome to attend the hearing, carrying a photo of herself as a child with her great-grandfather, who had moved to New York State from Basilicata in southern Italy. Bonadio had planned to move to Italy once her citizenship was recognized but is now barred by the new legislation. "I came because it means so much to me," she said.

Demographic backdrop

The court review comes as Italy's birth rate reached a new low. Figures released on March 31 by ISTAT, the national statistics institute, show the average number of children per woman fell to 1.14 in 2025, down from 1.18 in 2024. In Sardinia, the fertility rate has remained below one child per woman for the last six years. Italy now has the lowest number of young people in the European Union and the highest number of over-65s, according to ISTAT, which cited the country's "long-standing decline in fertility." One in eight births in 2025 were to foreign nationals.

Applicants and descendants affected by the October 2024 circular and Law 74/2025 should monitor rulings from the Corte di Cassazione and the Constitutional Court, and consult official government sources for the current status of citizenship-by-descent applications.