Growing up close to Boston, parts of Italian-American tradition have been threaded by a lot of Liz Fitzgerald’s life.
Every Christmas Eve, her uncle would go to her household’s dwelling to have a good time the Feast of the Seven Fishes, bringing dishes like stuffed shrimp, calamari and clam chowder, whereas her aunts poured batter into steaming irons to make the crispy, waffle-like Italian cookies known as pizelle. Her father’s contribution was at all times a ricotta pie from a neighborhood Italian bakery.
The household traces their Italian roots to her great-grandfather, Angelo, who was born in 1890 close to Naples and arrived within the United States in 1909. He didn’t naturalize as a US citizen till 1945, a number of years after Fitzgerald’s father was born.
When she realized a number of years in the past that she had a path to Italian citizenship because of him by jus sanguinis or “blood right,” Fitzgerald, 53, set about accumulating the paperwork to submit her case.
She had gathered all the mandatory paperwork and had them translated, apostilled and able to submit by late March 2025 when she — and hundreds of different individuals all over the world additionally within the technique of making use of for Italian citizenship — have been blindsided by a sudden change within the legislation.
A shock decree made efficient instantly on March 28, 2025, by the Italian authorities tightened laws for claiming citizenship by jus sanguinis, limiting it solely to individuals with a mother or father or grandparent born in Italy.
And whereas the brand new regulation, generally known as the Tajani Decree (transformed to Law 74/2025 ), didn’t have an effect on the functions of roughly 60,000 folks that have been pending on the time at consulates and in Italian courts, it successfully closed the trail for these like Fitzgerald.
But there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon for individuals who nonetheless hope to achieve Italian citizenship regardless of now not qualifying beneath the brand new laws: A listening to in Italy’s Constitutional Court is about for March 11, 2026, to guage the legislation’s constitutionality.
“Many Americans and others of Italian descent are in a holding pattern right now, because the Constitutional Court could still reverse or soften key parts of the decree when it hears the case in March,” mentioned Pierangelo D’Errico, a supervisor within the London workplace of immigration agency Fragomen.
“Until the Court rules, applicants are facing real uncertainty, both about whether they qualify and about how long applications may take to be processed,” he mentioned in an e mail to CNN.
Kristina Scanlan, a doctor at present doing her residency in Pennsylvania, was additionally within the technique of gathering paperwork to use for Italian citizenship by her great-great-grandmother when the Tajani Decree was introduced final 12 months. While the whole lot was roughly able to go, she mentioned, the case had not but been filed when the brand new laws dropped.
“Devastated, in a word,” is how Scanlan described her response to listening to the information that she and her mom, sister, uncle and two cousins, who have been on the identical utility, have been now not certified. She and her husband, who additionally certified for Italian citizenship beneath the previous guidelines, had already mentioned the advantages of their future youngsters probably having Italian passports, and Scanlan had thought of in the future working in Italy as a doctor, too.
After discussing issues with their lawyer, she and her household determined to maneuver ahead with their utility, which was filed in Italy in June 2025 and is at present awaiting a court docket date.
“Once I heard this ruling come through I knew that there would be some filings in court, so I’ve always held up hope that something might come of it. And that it might be declared unconstitutional,” Scanlan mentioned.
Arturo Grasso, whose agency My Lawyer in Italy is at present representing roughly 300 purchasers affected by the change, says his recommendation to purchasers is to “fight for their rights.”
“While the government introduced this rule and secured parliamentary confirmation through a voto di fiducia (vote of confidence), lawmakers can make mistakes,” he mentioned through e mail to CNN.
“This is precisely why Italy has a Constitutional Court composed of 15 experts who scrutinize laws whenever a judge identifies a serious breach of constitutional principles,” Grasso mentioned.
When the court docket hears arguments difficult facets of the decree — notably provisions that retroactively lower off eligibility for descendants of Italians who naturalized overseas — the court docket might “uphold the law as written or strike down parts of it,” mentioned D’Errico, whose agency additionally has many consumers impacted.
And whereas a call on the legislation’s constitutionality is just not prone to be made earlier than the center or finish of April, it’s doable it might be additional delayed, he mentioned.
As a outcome, mentioned D’Errico, “many prospective applicants, particularly in the US, are taking a wait-and-see approach ahead of the Court’s decision, given the possibility that eligibility rules could change again.”
Grasso mentioned roughly half of his purchasers affected by the brand new legislation have already filed court docket challenges towards it “on the grounds that it deprives descendants of citizenship they rightfully acquired at birth.”
“There is significant legal consensus that this constitutes a retroactive deprivation of citizenship. This violates the fundamental legal principle that laws affecting basic rights, such as citizenship, property, and liberty should not be applied retroactively,” Grasso mentioned.
That’s what twin American and Italian citizen Kris Rini is hoping is set for his spouse and her household, who utilized for Italian citizenship post-decree, even supposing not all of them qualify beneath the brand new legislation.
Rini, who lives in Long Island, utilized for himself and his son earlier than the decree was introduced final 12 months. Both have been granted Italian citizenship in September 2025. He took the lead on serving to his spouse’s household with their utility, he mentioned, since he’d been by the method already.
He and his spouse hope to ultimately purchase a home in Italy and spend no less than a part of the 12 months there, Rini mentioned. For the final seven months, he’s been taking Italian classes, listening to podcasts and watching reveals to get a greater grasp on the language.
For all of them, he mentioned, the connection to their Italian heritage is an enormous driver.
“I remember my first time going to Italy, I kind of got off the plane, and I couldn’t explain why, but I just kind of felt like I was home, like kind of where I belonged,” Rini mentioned.
Fitzgerald, who hopes she should still be acknowledged after the Constitutional Court listening to, has been finding out Italian for 3 years and may relate to feeling a hyperlink to the motherland.
Last summer time, she and 13 members of the family from Boston, together with 10 who’re descendants of her great-grandfather, Angelo, hung out collectively in Florence. Then Fitzgerald and her daughter traveled south to Mirabella Eclano, a small city outdoors of Naples the place Angelo was from.
She and her daughter had gotten tattoos, written in Fitzgerald’s father’s handwriting, of the zip code the place Angelo, his grandfather, had lived.
“We plan to add a second tattoo, the date we become citizens, underneath the zip code, also in his writing. Realizing I don’t know when the actual end date of this whole process will be, I had my dad write out all of the numbers from 1-10 in case he is no longer around,” she mentioned in an e mail.
And Fitzgerald is preserving the religion that it’s going to occur.
“I feel like I’m Italian and I want this and I’ve come so far,” she mentioned. “I’m going to do this and hope for the best.”
Florida-based journey author Terry Ward lives in Tampa and is awaiting a call on her Italian citizenship.