Italy
Italian Citizenship Through a Grandparent Who Held Only Italian Citizenship
The rule
Law No. 74 of May 23, 2025 added Article 3-bis to Italy's citizenship law. A person born abroad who holds another citizenship is deemed never to have acquired Italian citizenship unless one of a few conditions applies. Source: Consulate Boston One of them, letter c), is that a parent or grandparent held only Italian citizenship, or held only Italian citizenship at the time of death. Source: Consulate Boston Source: Italian Foreign Ministry
The other conditions cover applications or court cases filed by the March 27, 2025 deadline, and a parent who lived in Italy for two consecutive years after becoming Italian and before your birth. Source: Consulate Boston See the March 27, 2025 cutoff.
How to prove "only Italian"
Italy's Foreign Ministry lists examples of proof: Source: Italian Foreign Ministry
- negative certificates of citizenship
- certificates of renunciation of foreign citizenship
- certificates of non-enrolment on foreign electoral registers
The Los Angeles consulate says self-declarations about not holding other citizenships aren't accepted. Source: Consulate Los Angeles
What Los Angeles asks for (grandparent route)
Los Angeles has a separate checklist for a grandfather or grandmother who holds, or held at death, only Italian citizenship. Source: Consulate Los Angeles For the grandparent, it includes: Source: LA checklist, Category 1
- the original Italian birth certificate (international format, or an extract with annotations) from the comune, issued within 6 months before your appointment
- a certificate of non-naturalization from the authorities of each country they emigrated to. Where a country doesn't issue one, other documents may be used, such as a certificate of non-registration on the electoral roll.
- if they did naturalize, the naturalization document showing the exact date. The checklist warns that the ancestor's naturalization could cost descendants the right to recognition.
- their marriage certificate and, if applicable, death certificate
- Form 3 if the grandparent is alive, or Form 4 if deceased
You also send your parent's records and your own: birth and marriage certificates as certified long-form copies with apostille and Italian translation. Source: LA checklist
Naturalization dates matter
An Italian citizen who took a foreign citizenship before August 16, 1992 automatically lost Italian citizenship. Source: LA checklist Since August 16, 1992, acquiring a foreign citizenship doesn't cause loss of Italian citizenship unless the person formally renounces it. Source: Italian Foreign Ministry
Full list of records: documents checklist. Booking: Prenot@mi appointments.