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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Giada Zampano

Italy’s highest court strengthens citizenship claims by descendants of Italian emigrants

Italy Court Citizenship - (2026 Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Italy’s highest court has ruled that a child born with both Italian citizenship and citizenship in another country does not automatically lose Italian citizenship when a parent later naturalizes abroad. The decision is expected to strengthen citizenship claims by descendants of Italian emigrants worldwide.

The ruling resolves a long-running legal dispute known as the “Minor Issue,” which has affected thousands of ancestry-based citizenship cases involving families who left Italy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, experts say.

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