{"id":17653,"date":"2026-07-26T09:30:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T04:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=17653"},"modified":"2026-07-26T09:30:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T04:30:35","slug":"the-global-battle-for-italian-citizenship-rights-just-got-a-potential-lifeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=17653","title":{"rendered":"The global battle for Italian citizenship rights just got a potential lifeline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-editable=\"content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-reorderable=\"content\">\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5gy7z002p2dnjdxwegznm@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Italy sent shockwaves through its global diaspora in March 2025 when the government introduced a <a href=\"https:\/\/cnn.com\/2026\/03\/14\/travel\/italy-citizenship-law-restrictions-constitutional-court\">sweeping new law<\/a> which placed a strict two-generation cap on citizenship by descent.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s0001356rx7cnq1le@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Overnight, millions of descendants around the world \u2014 many of whom had already spent thousands of dollars on family research and legal fees \u2014 saw their path to a European passport completely blocked.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz7wpor00033b6r7q7ohbyd@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But following an apparent judicial U-turn this week, the high-stakes battle to overturn the controversial legislation has officially restarted.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz7y2o500053b6rzwqy20be@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Initially, Italy\u2019s Constitutional Court upheld the strict law, known as L74\/2025, leaving applicants devastated as hundreds of lawsuits challenging the ban were dismissed.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz7zb3k00073b6rvbntzpz3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            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.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s0005356rzidy7u5g@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIt\u2019s a 180-degree change of direction,\u201d Marco Mellone, one of four attorneys who fought the law in the latest June hearing, told CNN. \u201cIt\u2019s a confession that they made a mistake in March.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s0006356rxdgi4aju@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI didn\u2019t expect it because we\u2019d requested a referral in the previous hearing but the court denied it,\u201d said Corrado Caruso, a law professor at Bologna University, who also argued in court. \u201cSo it\u2019s a positive step because it means the court has some doubts. I think there was a change of mind.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s0008356resodw8wf@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Attorney Monica Restanio, who also argued the case, called it \u201cthe best news that we could have got, and much better than what I was expecting\u2026 they are putting everything back in play.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s0009356r8dtnfvnb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Even though the Italian court claims it still  believes the law complies with EU rules, Mellone views the move as a quiet admission of a past mistake. Past European rulings have firmly established that citizenship cannot be stripped away without warning, disproportionately, or all at once.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s000a356ricaxpy0z@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThey had the chance to refer it three months ago and didn\u2019t, it\u2019s clear they changed their opinion,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been brave. The law was completely against 30 years of case law at the ECJ.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s000b356r2lb1bdw7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Restanio said that European legal precedent usually favors descendants, \u201cestablishing the need for adequate notice and individual assessment\u201d before restricting citizenship by descent. Instead, Italy pushed L74\/2025 through without warning, cutting off thousands of people who were already mid-application.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s000c356rqu3rjwbl@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Since then, hundreds of Italian descendants have lost their legal battles challenging the new law, which bans dual citizens abroad from passing down their nationality and enforces the two-generation cap.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz9yfqz000y3b6r87mj3175@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The challenge hinges on whether claimants were born Italians with unrecognized citizenship, as previous case law had ruled.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s000f356r0tjaeyk9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            If the ECJ rules against the law, it will be completely wiped out, leaving the Italian government to write new legislation that complies with EU rules.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s000g356r56z34plw@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Caruso couldn\u2019t fully explain the court\u2019s sudden shift. \u201cMaybe the court was too quick dismissing our request in March \u2014 maybe they reflected a little deeper,\u201d he said, adding that recent unrelated rulings have been notably \u201cEU-friendly.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s000h356rsr4ltnia@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            This is not the only challenge working its way through the system. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/04\/16\/travel\/italy-citizenship-law-supreme-court-minor-issue\">In April<\/a>, Italy\u2019s supreme court examined the so-called \u201cminor issue,\u201d a 2024 measure that restricts citizenship by descent. Restanio said she is awaiting that final ruling \u201cwith great serenity.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s000i356rpm3if05o@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Meanwhile, Mellone called the constitutional court\u2019s referral a historic moment \u2014 the first time an Italian court has conceded that something may be wrong with the new law.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrz5ie7s000j356r8zjw5d70@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThis is a good sign,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were almost dead. Now we restart our battle.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 \u2014 many of whom had already spent thousands of dollars on family research and legal fees \u2014 saw their path&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/gettyimages-1954634597.jpg?c=16x9&q=w_800,c_fill","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}