New Citizenship Rules Outline

The Case

It may happen that an Australian citizen, born in Australia to a parent who is also an Italian citizen, would like to obtain an Italian passport.

Let's see what the Italian law provides in these cases and what rights those living abroad would have.

General Rule

Under the Italian law citizenship is obtained by descent ("ius sanguinis").

This means that if one parent is an Italian citizen, the child is also considered to be an Italian citizen from the birth.

Born Overseas Holding Another Citizenship

Since March 2025, the law on Italian citizenship for those born abroad has changed.

According to the new legislation, those who were born abroad who hold another citizenship would not automatically gain the Italian citizenship, even if their parents are Italian.

This rule also applies to those born before the law came into force.

However, there are some exceptions, including the case where either the parent or grandparent holds (or had, if deceased) only the Italian citizenship.

Conclusion

In our case, the parent had a dual citizenship. The possibility of obtaining an Italian passport would then depend on the grandparent's circumstances and particularly:

Example 1 – Either grandparent only held the Italian citizenship

In this case, the exception provided by law would apply.

The Italian citizenship would pass on to the descendants even if they were born overseas and already held another citizenship.

The applicant, having automatically acquired the Italian citizenship, could therefore apply for an Italian passport.

Example 2 – Either grandparent held a dual citizenship:

In this case, the exception would not apply.

Therefore, according to the legislation in force since 2025, the descendant born overseas would not automatically acquire the Italian citizenship and, consequently, could not obtain an Italian passport.