Italy sent shockwaves through its global diaspora in March 2025 when the government introduced a sweeping new law which placed a strict two-generation cap on citizenship by descent.
Overnight, millions of descendants around the world — many of whom had already spent thousands of dollars on family research and legal fees — saw their path to a European passport completely blocked.
But following an apparent judicial U-turn this week, the high-stakes battle to overturn the controversial legislation has officially restarted.
Initially, Italy’s Constitutional Court upheld the strict law, known as L74/2025, leaving applicants devastated as hundreds of lawsuits challenging the ban were dismissed.
However, after re-scrutinizing the legislation, the court performed an about-face. It has now suspended the latest challenges to the law from regional Italian judges and officially referred the case to the European Court of Justice to determine if Italy broke European legal rules.
