Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Italian citizenship by descent: Joint Sections restore the Minor Age rule (Judgment No. 24045/2026)
Published: July 29, 2026 | Legal commentary: Avv. Salvatore Aprigliano | Aprigliano International Law Firm
Last Update — September 3rd, 2026
When this article was originally published on July 29, 2026, Judgment No. 24045/2026 could be relied upon immediately in court proceedings, but the Ministry of the Interior had not yet adopted the Joint Sections’ new interpretation for administrative applications.
Since then, that has now changed.
On August 10, 2026, the Ministry of the Interior issued Circular No. 65050/2026, formally adopting the interpretation established by the Joint Sections and providing new instructions for the administrative handling of the Minor Age Issue. In addition, the Circular also opened the possibility of re-examination for qualifying applications previously rejected on Minor Age grounds.
As a result, Italian Consulates have since begun implementing the new guidance and, in some jurisdictions, have published specific procedures for reconsideration.
For applicants whose applications were previously rejected, the question is therefore no longer simply whether the Minor Age Issue has been resolved, but how their original application can now be reconsidered and whether administrative reconsideration or court proceedings may be the more appropriate path.
The Italian citizenship minor issue has been fundamentally reshaped by Italian Supreme Court Judgment No. 24045/2026, published on July 26, 2026.
In particular, the Court has overturned the recent restrictive approach and returned to the traditional interpretation: when a child is born abroad to an Italian citizen and also acquires citizenship of the country of birth under jus soli, the child is already an Italian citizen from birth and retains Italian citizenship even if the parent later naturalizes while the child is still a minor. In other words, in these cases, the parent’s naturalization during the child’s minority does not interrupt the citizenship line.
This is a highly positive development, however, it is important to distinguish between administrative applications and court proceedings.
In plain terms: The traditional rule is back. A child who was a dual citizen from birth keeps Italian citizenship even if the Italian parent naturalized during the child’s minority.
Ruling at a glance
| Court | Court of Cassation – Joint Sections (Sezioni Unite) |
| Judgment | No. 24045/2026, published July 26, 2026 (following the April 14 hearing) |
| Issue | The “Minor Age” issue – effect of a parent’s naturalization during the child’s minority |
| Outcome | Traditional interpretation restored: naturalization during minority does not interrupt the citizenship line |
| Administrative effect | Following Judgment No. 24045/2026, the Ministry of the Interior issued Circular No. 65050/2026, adopting the Joint Sections’ interpretation for administrative purposes. Consulates and Municipalities must now apply the new Minor Age interpretation to pending applications, and qualifying applications previously rejected on Minor Age grounds may be submitted for re-examination. This effectively reopens the administrative path for applicants affected by the former Minor Age interpretation. |
| Interaction with the 2025 reform | Resolving the Minor Age Issue does not, by itself, remove the restrictions introduced by the 2025 citizenship reform. Applications filed on or before March 27, 2025, as well as cases protected by a qualifying consular appointment obtained by that date, remain governed by the previous rules and are therefore not subject to the new generational limits introduced by Article 3-bis. By contrast, applications filed after March 27, 2025, or based on consular appointments obtained after that date, remain subject to the rules introduced by the 2025 reform, even though the former Minor Age interpretation no longer applies. |
What happens now to pending and previously rejected Minor Age applications?
Pending or suspended applications
Applications that were suspended by Italian Consulates or Municipalities because of the Minor Age Issue can now proceed under the interpretation established by the Joint Sections in Judgment No. 24045/2026.
Where the Minor Age Issue was the only obstacle to recognition, and no other legal or documentary issues prevent recognition, an application filed on or before March 27, 2025 can now be completed and Italian citizenship recognized.
Applicants whose cases were suspended should therefore distinguish their position from that of applicants who received a formal rejection: there is no previous denial to reconsider. Instead, the original application remains pending and can now be decided under the new interpretation.
Applications previously rejected because of the Minor Age Issue
Circular No. 65050/2026 also provides for the re-examination of qualifying applications previously rejected on Minor Age grounds.
Importantly, reconsideration does not require the applicant to submit the entire citizenship application and supporting documentation again. The procedure concerns the re-examination of the application that was previously filed and rejected.
The Circular, however, does not establish a single detailed technical procedure for submitting a reconsideration request.
As a result, Consulates have begun issuing their own operational instructions. The method of requesting reconsideration may therefore vary from one jurisdiction to another, including, for example, how the request must be submitted and which documents or identification materials should accompany it.
Applicants should check the current instructions published by the Consulate or Municipality that issued the original decision before submitting a reconsideration request.
For our step-by-step guide to Minor Age reconsideration, see Italian Citizenship Minor Age Reconsideration Guide.
For a comparison between reconsideration and proceedings before an Italian court, see Italian Citizenship Minor Age Rejection: Reconsideration vs. Court in Italy.
Court proceedings: immediate effect and highest authority
By contrast, in court proceedings, the principle established by the Joint Sections can be relied upon immediately and applied by first-instance and appeal courts. The judgment is not formally binding in the same way as legislation, but a Joint Sections ruling carries the highest precedential authority within the Italian Supreme Court system, coming from the Joint Sections in their nomofilactic function. Consequently, lower courts would therefore need strong and specific reasons to depart from it.
Two further points confirmed by the Court
1. Burden of proof. The applicant is only required to prove their line of descent through birth certificates. The burden of proving any interruption of transmission rests with the Ministry of the Interior as the opposing party.
2. Claims filed before the cut-off. The restrictions introduced by the 2025 citizenship reform do not apply to court claims filed on or before March 27, 2025, which remain governed by the prior legal framework. The same pre-reform framework applies to administrative applications filed on or before March 27, 2025 and, subject to the applicable transitional requirements, to cases protected by a qualifying consular appointment obtained by that date.
Does the 2025 Tajani citizenship reform apply after the Minor Age ruling?
It depends on when the Italian citizenship claim or application was filed. Supreme Court Judgment No. 24045/2026 and Ministry of the Interior Circular No. 65050/2026 resolved the specific Minor Age Issue, but the 2025 Tajani citizenship reform continues to apply to cases that are not protected by the March 27, 2025 cut-off.
For court claims and administrative applications filed on or before March 27, 2025, as well as cases protected by a qualifying consular appointment obtained by that date, the 2025 Tajani citizenship reform does not apply. These cases remain governed by the pre-reform rules and are therefore not subject to the new generational limits introduced by Article 3-bis.
For these protected cases, resolving the Minor Age Issue removes the obstacle created by the former Minor Age interpretation without exposing the application to the new generational limits introduced by the 2025 reform.
By contrast, applications filed after March 27, 2025, or based on consular appointments obtained after that date, remain subject to the restrictions introduced by the 2025 Tajani citizenship reform. In these cases, resolving the Minor Age Issue removes the former Minor Age obstacle, but does not remove the separate requirements and generational limits introduced by Article 3-bis.
What about the exclusivity requirement and the CJEU?
For applicants who no longer face the Italian Citizenship Minor Age issue but still encounter the exclusivity requirement under the Tajani Decree, we do not recommend waiting for the Court of Justice of the European Union. Instead, cases can already be filed now with the EU law challenge included from the outset, as the arguments now before the Court of Justice had already been developed by our firm before Order No. 147/2026 was issued, moreover, if the Court of Justice later finds that the retroactive restrictions introduced by the Tajani Decree are incompatible with EU law, pending cases will benefit from that ruling in the same way as all other affected cases, while filing now places the case in a stronger procedural position.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does the new Minor Age interpretation now apply at Italian Consulates?
Yes. Following Judgment No. 24045/2026, the Ministry of the Interior issued Circular No. 65050/2026, instructing Italian Consulates and Municipalities to apply the interpretation established by the Joint Sections. This means that the former Minor Age interpretation is no longer, by itself, a ground for denying recognition of Italian citizenship.
For applications filed on or before March 27, 2025, where the Minor Age Issue was the only obstacle to recognition and no other legal or documentary issues remain, the application can now proceed under the pre-reform rules. For applications filed after March 27, 2025, the Minor Age Issue no longer constitutes the former obstacle, but the restrictions introduced by the 2025 citizenship reform remain applicable.
2. If my Italian citizenship application was rejected because of the Minor Age Issue, should I request reconsideration or go to court?
Following Supreme Court Judgment No. 24045/2026 and Ministry of the Interior Circular No. 65050/2026, applicants whose Italian citizenship applications were previously rejected because of the Minor Age Issue now have two possible paths: administrative reconsideration or proceedings before an Italian court. The appropriate option depends on the circumstances of each individual case and family. Relevant factors may include the grounds stated in the original rejection, the composition of the family group, the age of the children, whether children filed their applications together with their parents, the timing of the original applications, and whether additional issues arising from the 2025 citizenship reform are involved. Administrative reconsideration is not generally a mandatory prerequisite before bringing an Italian citizenship claim before the competent Italian court. For a detailed comparison of the two options and the factors that may affect this choice, see Italian Citizenship Minor Age Rejection: Reconsideration vs. Court in Italy.
3. When selecting a qualifying lineage for new clients, should we still prioritize a line with no naturalization?
For first- and second-generation applicants, or mixed cases involving second and later generations, we still recommend prioritizing a line where it is possible to obtain a certificate of non-naturalization, so that recognition can be decided directly under the current law. For applicants who fall beyond the second generation regardless, the date of naturalization becomes irrelevant, provided it occurred after the birth of the next child in the line.
4. I still face the exclusivity requirement under the Tajani Decree. Should I wait for the CJEU ruling?
We do not recommend waiting. Cases can already be filed now with the EU law challenge included from the outset, as the arguments now before the Court of Justice had already been developed by our firm before Order No. 147/2026 was issued. If the Court of Justice later finds that the retroactive restrictions introduced by the Tajani Decree are incompatible with EU law, pending cases will benefit from that ruling in the same way as all other affected cases. Waiting for the CJEU ruling does not provide any additional legal protection, while filing places the case in a stronger procedural position should the law change again in the future.
5. I had a consular appointment before March 27, 2025, but did not file my application because of the Minor Age Issue. Can I request reconsideration?
No. Minor Age reconsideration under Circular No. 65050/2026 is a procedure for re-examining a previous official rejection. The reconsideration request must identify the previous rejection decision, including its reference number. If you never formally filed an Italian citizenship application and therefore never received an official rejection, there is no previous decision to reconsider.
However, if you obtained a qualifying consular appointment on or before March 27, 2025, your case may still be protected from the restrictions introduced by the 2025 Tajani citizenship reform, subject to the applicable transitional requirements.
A different legal analysis may be required if you cancelled an appointment, withdrew an application, or were unable to complete the administrative process because of the former Minor Age interpretation. These situations are not reconsideration cases and should be assessed separately based on their individual facts, documentary evidence and procedural history.
6. How long does Italian citizenship Minor Age reconsideration take?
Circular No. 65050/2026 does not establish a specific deadline for deciding Minor Age reconsideration requests. Processing times may therefore vary depending on the Consulate or Municipality handling the original application, its existing backlog, and the circumstances of the individual case. Some Consulates have already published operational instructions indicating that applications or reconsideration requests will be processed chronologically, but there is not yet sufficient administrative practice to provide a reliable general processing time. For more information on the reconsideration procedure, see our Italian Citizenship Minor Age Reconsideration Guide.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The Minor Age Issue has been resolved by the Italian Supreme Court. Judgment No. 24045/2026 confirmed that, where the conditions identified by the Joint Sections are met, the naturalization of an Italian parent while the child was still a minor does not, by itself, interrupt the transmission of Italian citizenship.
- The administrative path has been open again since August 2026. Following Ministry of the Interior Circular No. 65050/2026, issued on August 10, 2026 and officially published by the Ministry on August 26, 2026, Italian Consulates and Municipalities must apply the new Minor Age interpretation to pending applications, while qualifying applications previously rejected because of the Minor Age Issue may be submitted for re-examination.
- March 27, 2025 remains the key dividing date. Applications filed on or before March 27, 2025, as well as cases protected by a qualifying consular appointment obtained by that date, may be assessed under the pre-reform rules, without the new generational limits introduced by Article 3-bis. Applications filed after that date, or based on appointments obtained after that date, remain subject to the 2025 citizenship reform.
- Applicants previously rejected because of the Minor Age Issue now have two possible paths: reconsideration or court. The appropriate option depends on the circumstances of each individual case and family. Administrative reconsideration is not generally a mandatory prerequisite before bringing an Italian citizenship claim before the competent Italian court.