In 2024, 68.841 thousand Brazilians had their Italian citizenship recognized. The data is part of a total of 113.221 citizenships granted to descendants of Italians living abroad, according to a survey by Istat, and released this week, as per the Il Sole 24 Ore .
In total, 340.297 people obtained the Italian citizenship, 126.299 of which were outside Italy. Most of the citizenships abroad were obtained by jus sanguinis (blood right), mainly to descendants of emigrants in South America.
Recognition by descent
There were 140.735 citizenships by descent. Of these, 113.221 were granted to people living outside Italy. The main beneficiaries live in Brazil (60,8%) and Argentina (22,3%), countries with a strong history of Italian immigration.
Among foreigners residing in Italy, 213.998 acquired citizenship in 2024, an increase of 68% compared to 2019. The majority of cases (90.709) refer to acquisitions due to time of residence.
Changes in legislation
Decree-Law 36/2025 restricted automatic recognition to children and grandchildren of Italians. Even so, the volume of requests prior to the new rule will ensure a high number of recognitions in the coming years. In courts such as Venice, for example, there are hearings scheduled until 2028.
However, there are still thousands of lawsuits being filed based on the clear unconstitutionality of the new legislation.
Even with the limitations of the new Italian legislation, 899 families of Italian descent filed lawsuits in May only in the Court of Venice – with an average of 5 to 7 applicants per action.
Other forms of acquisition
Besides the jus sanguinis, another 20.600 citizenships were granted by marriage, 14 by election (at age 18, for those born in Italy) and 61 to minors. Abroad, 9.416 citizenships were granted to minors and 3.662 by marriage, the majority to women
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