Updated July 2026 — Avv. Irene Damiani, Damiani & Damiani International Law Firm, Palermo
Judical courts are now saying so that even if you never managed to book a consulate appointment before the 27 March 2025 deadline, you may still obtain judicial recognition of your Italian citizenship.
Italian merit courts have begun granting Italian citizenship by descent beyond the second generation in cases filed after the reform’s cutoff, where the applicant proved — with written, dated, unequivocal evidence — that they had tried to book a consular appointment before 28 March 2025 and were blocked by the system’s unavailability. Our firm obtained rulings to this effect the route runs through the Italian civil courts (from the Court of Genoa in 2025–2026). This line of case law builds on Supreme Court ruling no. 13818/2026, which reaffirmed that the right to Italian citizenship by descent is original, permanent and not subject to expiration: a right you hold from birth cannot be extinguished by the administration’s own backlog.
I tried to apply for Italian citizenship before March 2025 but never got a consulate appointment — am I still eligible?
Law 74/2025 (the conversion of Decree-Law 36/2025) limits automatic recognition of Italian citizenship by descent to two generations for those born abroad. But it carved out a protected group: applicants whose request was submitted, or whose appointment was officially confirmed, by 11:59 PM Rome time on 27 March 2025 are still processed under the previous, generation-unlimited rules — roughly 60,000 files. The decisive question for thousands of others is what counts as having “begun” the process when the consulate never gave them a date.
What the 27 March 2025 cut-off actually means. The gap the Constitutional Court left open
On 30 April 2026 the Constitutional Court deposited ruling no. 63/2026, upholding Law 74/2025 in its entirety. Crucially, the Court did not resolve the position of people who started the consular process but never received a confirmed appointment by the cut-off. Whether they can be treated differently from those who never filed at all is a question the ruling expressly reserved. That silence is not a denial — it leaves the door open to judicial recognition.
The Court of Palermo precedent
In early 2026 the Court of Palermo ruled in favour of applicants who could prove they had attempted to lodge their citizenship request before the 27 March 2025 cut-off but were blocked by consular delays. The reasoning is straightforward: a person who acted in good faith and was prevented from filing by administrative backlog should not lose the rights they were actively trying to exercise. For descendants in this position, this precedent — argued from our offices in Palermo — can be the difference between a closed file and a recognised claim.
The “denial of justice” route
Italian courts now consistently recognise that consular delays so severe they amount to a denial of justice justify bringing the claim directly before an Italian court. Where the wait for an appointment exceeds roughly two years, the applicant can ask a judge to recognise citizenship rather than wait indefinitely for an administrative slot that may never come. The claim is filed against the Ministry of the Interior, and relatives sharing the same ancestral line can often be joined in a single proceeding, lowering the cost per applicant.
What evidence proves you tried
The strength of this kind of claim rests on documentation that you genuinely initiated the process before the cut-off. Useful proof includes dated emails to or from the consulate, screenshots of the prenot@mi appointment portal showing no availability, PEC (certified email) correspondence, payment records, and any written confirmation of a request in progress. The earlier and more complete the paper trail, the stronger the position.
How we handle these cases from Palermo
We assess each line of descent and each evidentiary file individually before advising whether a judicial claim is viable. Because the underlying question was left open by the Constitutional Court and is being shaped case by case, the quality of the legal argument and the documentary record matters more here than in a routine application. For descendants who believe they were shut out by delay rather than by ineligibility, this is worth reviewing now, while the judicial route remains active.
July 2026 update: court victories for blocked applicants
Over the past year, our firm obtained recognition of Italian citizenship before the Court of Genoa for descendants beyond the second generation, despite the petitions being filed after the 2025 reform entered into force. The decisive factor was evidence: screenshots from the Prenot@mi booking portal showing the applicant’s full name, the date of the booking attempt, and the system’s “no appointments available” message.
This means there is now merit-court case law accepting so-called “late” filings — submitted after 28 March 2025 — whenever the applicant documents in writing the attempt to access the consular route before that date. Two further developments strengthen the framework: the Constitutional Court has referred the validity of the 2025 reform to the Court of Justice of the European Union (order no. 147/2026 of 23 July 2026), and the Supreme Court’s Joint Sections have resolved the minor issue (ruling no. 24045/2026 of 26 July 2026), also confirming that the reform does not apply to court cases filed before 27 March 2025. Importantly, the evidence-based route described here stands on its own: it does not depend on the outcome of the EU proceedings.
What evidence do Italian courts accept?
Courts require written, certain and unequivocal proof. In order of evidentiary strength, based on the cases we have litigated:
1. Prenot@mi screenshots showing, together: that you were duly registered and logged into the portal under your own account; that you attempted to book an appointment before 28 March 2025, with a visible date; and the system’s message indicating no appointments were available. Your full name must be legible.
2. Written communications with the Consulate dated before 28 March 2025 — emails, letters, WhatsApp messages — reporting that it was impossible to book an appointment through Prenot@mi despite your intention to file the citizenship application.
3. The Consulate’s waiting-list confirmation received by email before 28 March 2025: the most direct proof that your application had been channeled and that the delay is attributable to the administration.
4. Written communications with third parties dated before 28 March 2025 — a relative, a friend, a professional — in which you complained about the impossibility of booking. If reliably dated, these also contribute to the evidentiary picture.
To start a case, prepare: your complete family tree (download our template below), the Italian ancestor’s birth certificate, the birth certificate of the ancestor’s first descendant in your line, and the written proof of the consular delay described above
Family tree FLOWCHART (example)
