Introduction:
In this case, the Court of Naples examined an application filed by a U.S. citizen seeking recognition of Italian citizenship by descent through his Italian-born mother. The applicant reconstructed the family line through official civil-status documentation and demonstrated that his mother, although she emigrated to the United States, never renounced Italian citizenship and never became a naturalized U.S. citizen. The Ministry of the Interior appeared in the proceedings and sought dismissal of the application, requiring the Court to assess the claim under the legal framework introduced by the 2025 citizenship reform.
Outcome:
The Court granted the application and declared the petitioner an Italian citizen jure sanguinis. It ordered the Ministry of the Interior, through the competent Civil Status Registrar, to carry out all registrations, transcriptions and annotations required by law, including the necessary communications to the competent Italian consular authorities. Legal costs were fully offset between the parties.
Challenge:
The Court first confirmed its territorial jurisdiction under the rules introduced by Law No. 206/2021, as the Italian ascendant had been born within the district of the Court of Naples. It then examined the application under Decree-Law No. 36/2025, converted into Law No. 74/2025, which introduced Article 3-bis into Law No. 91/1992. The key issue was whether the applicant satisfied the exception contained in Article 3-bis(1)(c), which preserves citizenship recognition where a first- or second-degree ascendant possesses, or possessed at the time of death, exclusively Italian citizenship.
Action:
After reviewing the documentary evidence, the Court found that the applicant had fully established his line of descent and demonstrated that his mother had never acquired U.S. citizenship through naturalization, thereby retaining exclusively Italian citizenship throughout the relevant period. As a first-degree descendant of an Italian citizen who had preserved her exclusive Italian citizenship, the applicant satisfied the exception provided by Article 3-bis(1)(c) of Law No. 91/1992. The Court therefore concluded that the requirements introduced by the 2025 reform had been met and recognized the applicant as an Italian citizen jure sanguinis.
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