A recent ruling by the Court of Venice regarding the addition of minors to a citizenship case filed before the Tajani Decree provides another promising avenue to those still seeking citizenship jure sanguinis. Below, we first discuss what has changed with the regular registration of minors now, and then dive in to what happened in Venice and how this might affect similar situations.
How to register minors for Italian citizenship following the Tajani Decree
The procedure for registering minor children of at least one Italian parent are as follows:
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If the child was born before May 24, 2025 and is still a minor, parents have until May 31, 2029 to register the child’s Italian citizenship. This is an extension of the previous deadline, May 31, 2026.
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If the child was born after May 24, 2025, then parents have three years after birth or adoption to register the child’s citizenship.
Much has changed with the introduction of the Tajani Decree, and as seen above, it has also created a ripple effect in other areas of jure sanguinis citizenship acquisition. However, as discussed below, there are protections in place for certain situations including, now, the addition of minors to cases filed before the reform.
What cases are protected since the Tajani Decree
It has been made clear that applications filed before March 28, 2025 will be considered under the old rules for Italian citizenship jure sanguinis. This means that those with an Italian ancestor in the fourth generation or beyond can now, in theory, only acquire citizenship if an application was filed before the Tajani Decree went into effect.
It should also be noted, however, that there have been many successful cases in which applicants were allowed to be considered under the old rules by demonstrating good faith attempts to make a citizenship appointment before the Tajani Decree, but were unsuccessful, due to consular delays or other administrative barriers beyond their control. One such case occurred last year with a group of Italo-Argentinians at the Court of Palermo.
The Venice Court’s ruling
On September 14, 2026, the Court of Venice issued a ruling recognizing the citizenship of five minors who had been added to a case filed in 2023, before the Tajani Decree. The applicants were petitioning to have their Italian citizenship recognized based on an ancestor born in 1862. Significantly, although the minors were added to the case after the reform, they were allowed to be considered under the previous jure sanguinis framework because, according to the judge, the case was ongoing and had not yet been closed. The legal basis for this decision comes from Article 105 of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure, which allows third parties to be added to a lawsuit. This is known as intervento.
Such a decision is promising for those who might have a similar situation. Applicants who filed a citizenship case before the Tajani Decree and have since had a child are encouraged to add the child to their case before a final decision has been made. This can likewise apply in the instance that a minor was unintentionally omitted from the original application.
Recent challenges to the Tajani Decree
In the past year, both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court have been called upon to review aspects of the Tajani Decree and if they fit into Italy’s legal framework or if they violate inherent rights of citizens. While the Supreme Court recently upheld the decree, for the time being, in May 2026, they did explicitly acknowledge the group of people who tried in good faith to make appointments before the decree, but were unsuccessful. Essentially, there is hope that such people might have a path forward to citizenship, as demonstrated with the Italo-Argentinians mentioned above, and even more recently in June 2026 in Florence with a Brazilian family who had had bureaucratic issues in submitting their application. The Constitutional Court has also held a hearing over the Tajani Decree, and as of July 2026, they have sent the decree to be reviewed by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Italian Citizenship Assistance can help
Do you have a minor who needs to be added to a case filed before the Tajani Decree? Would you like further clarification or assistance with the new citizenship laws and what pathways to life in Italy lay open now? Italian Citizenship Assistance is here to answer all your questions. Contact an expert now at [email protected].
