--- title: "Italian Citizenship by Descent - 730-Day Cap & Law 74/2025" url: https://partenza.co/us/en/italian-consulate/processing-times/ lang: en-US generated: 2026-07-16 --- 1. [Home](/us/en/) 2. [Italian Consulate](/us/en/italian-consulate/) 3. Processing times Reference # Processing Time and Law 74/2025 Italian citizenship by descent carries a **730-day statutory processing cap**, and Law 74/2025 narrowed who qualifies. Updated July 2026 ## Key facts Processing cap 730 days (about 2 years) Law Legge 74/2025 In force 24 May 2025 Grandfather Filed before 27 March 2025 Applies to Citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis) Processing time ## The 730-day statutory cap A citizenship application by descent has a statutory processing limit of 730 days from the day the consulate receives a complete file. The 730-day limit is fixed by law and runs from receipt of a complete, correctly prepared file, not from the appointment date. A file with a missing or unapostilled document is not yet complete, so the clock has not started. In practice the appointment itself is the longer wait. Securing a citizenship slot on Prenot@mi can take from a few months to several years at the busier consulates; the 730-day review begins only once the file has been submitted and accepted. The 730-day cap governs the review **after** submission; it does not shorten the wait for the appointment itself. Eligibility ## Law 74/2025: who qualifies now Legge n. 74 of 23 May 2025, in force 24 May 2025, narrowed automatic citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis). Before the reform, citizenship passed down an unbroken Italian line with no generational limit. Law 74/2025 restricted this. Citizenship by descent is now recognized automatically only where one of the following holds: - A **parent or grandparent held exclusively Italian citizenship** (no other nationality) at the time of death; or - A **parent, or adoptive parent, was legally resident in Italy for at least two consecutive years** after acquiring Italian citizenship. Applications formally confirmed **before 27 March 2025** are assessed under the previous rules. **The reform is recent**Its application to specific family lines is still settling. Eligibility should be confirmed with the competent consulate, or a qualified professional, before documents are prepared. Before you apply ## Preparing a U.S. file Each U.S. vital record in the line still needs an apostille and an Italian translation before submission. Every U.S. birth, marriage, and death certificate in the applicant’s line must be **apostilled** by the issuing state (or the U.S. Department of State for federal records) and **translated into Italian**. Apostille and translation are two separate steps, and both are required before submission. A complete, correctly translated file is what starts the 730-day clock, so document preparation is where the timeline is won or lost. **Need a vital record translated?** Partenza provides professional English-to-Italian translation of U.S. birth, marriage, and death certificates, formatted for consular submission. [Get a quote →](/us/en/) Where it is filed ## Where the application is filed The rules are national, but the application is filed with the consulate that serves the applicant’s U.S. state of residence. [**Washington, D.C. · Embassy**District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia](/us/en/italian-consulate/washington-dc/)[**Boston**Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont](/us/en/italian-consulate/boston/)[**Chicago**Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming](/us/en/italian-consulate/chicago/)[**Detroit**Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee](/us/en/italian-consulate/detroit/)[**Houston**Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma](/us/en/italian-consulate/houston/)[**Los Angeles**Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico](/us/en/italian-consulate/los-angeles/)[**Miami**Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Jamaica, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Saba, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos](/us/en/italian-consulate/miami/)[**New York**New York, Connecticut, New Jersey (partial)](/us/en/italian-consulate/new-york/)[**Philadelphia**Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland (partial), Virginia (partial), New Jersey (partial)](/us/en/italian-consulate/philadelphia/)[**San Francisco**Northern California, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington](/us/en/italian-consulate/san-francisco/)[**All states & territories →**Browse the full state-to-consulate lookup](/us/en/italian-consulate/) References ## Sources The statutory cap and the eligibility rules are cited to the published law and official consular guidance. 1. [Legge 23 maggio 2025, n. 74 — conversione del DL 36/2025 sulla cittadinanza ↗](https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:legge:2025-05-23;74) · Normattiva — Portale della legislazione vigente 2. [Citizenship by descent — new rules (Law 74/2025) ↗](https://consbrisbane.esteri.it/en/servizi-consolari-e-visti/servizi-per-il-cittadino-straniero/citizenship-by-descent-iure-sanguinis-new-rules/) · Italian Consulate General (English explainer) 3. [Italian Missions Abroad — Italian diplomatic network ↗](https://www.esteri.it/en/ministero/struttura/laretediplomatica/) · esteri.it RC **Reviewed by Rafael Cecilio** · professional English-to-Italian translator. The statutory cap and eligibility rules are verified against the published law (Normattiva) and official consular guidance. Updated July 2026. ## Translating U.S. records for an Italian consulate? Professional English-to-Italian translation of birth, marriage, and death certificates, formatted for consular submission. [Get a quote →](/us/en/)