Italy: minor issue resolved in applicants favour, but consulates have not moved yet

What changed

Cassazione Sezioni Unite 24045/2026 held that a minor who was a dual citizen from birth never lost Italian citizenship. The Interior Ministry's Circolare 65050 of 10 August 2026 told Italy's prefectures and town halls to apply it, but instructed no consulate — so Circolare 43347/2024 still governs consular practice and the court route remains the practical path. Reported via Corte di Cassazione (Italy).

Why it matters

If your claim runs through an ancestor who naturalised while the next person on the line was still a minor, the Court has now held that a minor who held another citizenship from birth never lost Italian citizenship. Consular practice has not caught up: the Interior Ministry's Circolare 65050 of 10 August 2026 treats the earlier reading as superseded for parent naturalisations between 1 July 1912 and 15 August 1992, but it is addressed to Italy's prefectures and town halls rather than consulates and has not appeared on the ministry's own website, so a consulate may still decline and the judicial route is where this ruling currently bites. The judgment reads Italy's 1912 law and does not switch off the 2025 reform, which still applies on its own terms to a claim brought after 27 March 2025. The separate cohort of minors who were exclusively Italian is listed for hearing on 7 October 2026.