Italy is reorganizing the way citizenship recognition applications from people living abroad are handled, creating a new centralized structure within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
On September 16, 2026, the Italian Council of Ministers approved the establishment of the “Servizio per la cittadinanza,” or Citizenship Service, at the Farnesina in Rome. The new Directorate General will take responsibility for procedures concerning recognition of Italian citizenship submitted by residents outside Italy.
The change is particularly significant for citizenship by descent, or iure sanguinis, applications, which have traditionally placed a substantial administrative burden on Italy’s diplomatic and consular network around the world.
Centralizing these procedures is intended to make their management more consistent and easier to oversee, while strengthening safeguards against irregularities. The measure follows legislation approved earlier in 2026 that provided for the centralization of iure sanguinis citizenship cases.
The reform is also designed to allow Italian embassies and consulates to devote more resources to other services for Italian citizens and businesses abroad.
The Council of Ministers simultaneously approved a new International Relations Code, consolidating and coordinating existing rules governing the Foreign Ministry’s responsibilities. The goal is to create a clearer and more streamlined regulatory framework for international relations and for protecting and promoting Italian citizens and companies overseas.
Both initiatives are part of a broader effort to simplify and modernize the Foreign Ministry’s administration. For the large Italian communities abroad, the new Citizenship Service represents a significant structural change – moving toward a single, centralized system intended to provide greater uniformity in how applications submitted from around the world are processed.
