Italy's government on Friday announced it would tighten citizenship laws to put a stop to people going too far back in their family history to make a case for citizenship.

As it currently stands, according to Italy's "right of blood" or "jure sanguinis" laws, people with proof of an Italian ancestor alive after March 17, 1861, when the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, can get nationality.

Italy says acquiring passport 'serious' and 'not a game'

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says the system is being abused and that Italian consulates around the world are being inundated with passport applications.

"Being an Italian citizen is a serious thing. It's not a game to get a passport that allows you to go shopping in Miami," Tajani said at a press conference.

Tajani said the aim was to "boost the affective link between Italy and the citizen abroad."

"Many descendants of emigrants will still be able to obtain Italian citizenship, but precise limits will be set, above all to avoid abuse," Tajani said, citing the "commercialisation of Italian passports."

Two generations to be new benchmark to secure passport

In future, people will automatically qualify for citizenship by descent if at least one parent or grandparent was born in Italy, according to Friday's decree.

Italy's foreign ministry said there been a spike in people being granted citizenship abroad, particularly from South America where a large amount of the Italian diaspora emigrated during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The foreign ministry cited Argentina in a statement as having citizenship recognitions surge from 20,000 in 2023 to 30,000 the following year.

In Brazil, the figure rose from 14,000 in 2022 to 20,000 in 2024.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar