This web page will go over my own experience researching Italian citizenship by descent.
Until recently, Italy had very permissive citizenship by descent.
I will not cover every possible detail, because Italian citizenship by descent rules are evolving rapidly, even as I type this.
I had a great-grandfather who was born in Italy.
I do not believe that I ever met him in person, but he truly earned the title great, because I could have acquired an EU citizenship by descent from him before I had the opportunity to acquire an EU citizenship by any other paths.
This page will go over the 3 points below at a very high level.
At the bottom of this web page, I will have some links to forums for discussing Italian citizenship by descent.
While some people may view Europe as being "progressive", for much of the 20th century, women's rights in Europe trailed women's rights in the United States.
Before 1948, women could be Italian citizens, but they could not pass on Italian citizenship to their children.
My Italian born great-grandfather, had a daughter, and she had my father.
Because my father was born before 1948, the chain was broken.
Under the rules of not so long ago, I could have hired a lawyer in Italy to sue the Italian government based on gender discrimination and the Italian government would not have defended the case.
Bada bing: I would then have become an Italian citizen.
As late as Italy was to equal rights party, at least regarding citizenship by descent, German speaking countries were even later.
While the post-World War 2 Basic Law in Germany had language regarding the equality of men and women, until at least the mid-1970's that language was best understood as "puffery".
I will need to look up the date, but I believe that in 2024, the Italian government made a decision that if your ancestor that had Italian citizenship was granted a new citizenship before the next ancestor was an adult, the chain to you would be broken.
I believe that my great-grandfather became a U.S. citizen before my grandmother became an adult.
If that proves to be the case, then that was the first change that signaled Arrivederci to my chance for Italian citizenship by descent.
I remember long-ago having one of my high school teachers pound into my head that I should refer to the central government that opposed the United States during the Cold War as The Soviet Union, not Russia.
After having had it stressed to me to refer to Russia, not the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union then had the audacity to dissolve.
Similarly, much information on Italian citizenship by descent is now obsolete.
You may still find old posts on the internet in which someone says that there are generational limits on Italian citizen by descent, and one or more people correct him or her.
Until fairly recently, generational limits were not an issue.
Now, generational limits are an issue.
You can only go back as far back as a grandparent.
Merely having a parent or grandparent who had Italian citizenship is not enough to mean that you are necessarily eligible for Italian citizenship by descent.
However, having neither a parent or grandparent who had Italian citizenship IS enough to mean that you are NOT eligible for Italian citizenship descent.
Under the current rules, I do not appear to have a path towards either a court case in Italy or applying to a consulate for Italian citizenship by descent.
I already have at least one EU citizenship, so in my case the stakes are not particularly high.
Below are some links for people who are looking for the latest news on this subject: