Government’s New Proposals and Key Exclusions in Senate Panel

Italy’s Decree-Law 36/2025, often called the “Tajani Decree,” is making its way through the legislative steps to become permanent law (DDL 1432), and some critical developments have just occurred. This Decree 36 Amendments Update shines a light on the recent activities in the Italian Senate’s Constitutional Affairs Committee (1ª Commissione Permanente Affari Costituzionali, Presidenza del Consiglio e Interni, Ordinamento generale dello Stato e dealla Pubblica Amministrazione). Here, new amendments backed by the government have emerged, while a good number of proposals from opposition parties have been ruled out of order. These events are painting a clearer picture of the law’s likely final shape and how it will affect Italian citizenship by descent.

If you’re looking for a full list of all the changes that were initially suggested, you can find it in our in-depth guide on the amendments to Decree 36. The committee, led by rapporteur Senator Lisei (FdI), is still hard at work discussing these matters.

You can track official legislative details on the Italian Senate’s official website and check the Gazzetta Ufficiale (Official Gazette) for formal publications.

Government Puts Forward Specific Amendments (1.500 and 1.0.500)

The Italian Government has tabled two new amendments, numbered 1.500 and 1.0.500. While these bring about particular adjustments, they don’t touch the main restrictive elements of the Tajani Decree as it pertains to jure sanguinis citizenship. The text of the amendments, though announced, has not yet been officially published (we managed to get a preview of it) so the final text may differ from the one presented in this article.

Amendment 1.500: Adjusting Processing Times for Certain Citizenship Applications

This proposal mainly concerns the timeframes for citizenship applications handled under Article 5 (citizenship through marriage) and Article 9 (citizenship via naturalization or residency) of Italy’s main citizenship law, Law 91/1992.

• Comma 1-bis makes a change to Article 9-ter, comma 1, of Law 91/1992. What it does is remove the option to stretch the processing time for these applications past the usual 24 months (the part that said “prorogabili fino al massimo di trentasei mesi” is taken out). So, for new applications under these articles, 24 months will be the strict limit.
• Comma 1-ter serves as a grandfather clause. It confirms that applications under Articles 5 and 9 already in the system when this new rule starts will still be handled under the old rules (meaning the 24-month deadline could still be extended up to 36 months).

What this means: The idea here is to make processing times more certain for future applications for citizenship through marriage or long-term residency by setting a firm 24-month limit. This doesn’t, however, change anything for the Decree 36 amendments update related to jure sanguinis.

Amendment 1.0.500: A Narrow Path for Some Former Citizens to Reacquire Citizenship

This amendment suggests adding a new “Article 1-bis” to Law 91/1992, with a focus on people getting their citizenship back.

• It adjusts Article 9-bis, comma 2, of Law 91/1992 with a small technical detail about declarations made at consular offices.
• The main part changes Article 17, comma 1, of Law 91/1992. The new text would allow people who were born in Italy OR had lived there for at least two straight years AND lost their Italian citizenship because of specific rules (Art. 8, items 1 & 2, or Art. 12) in the Law 555 of June 13, 1912, to get it back.
• To do this, they must make a specific declaration between July 1, 2025, and December 31, 2027.
• A very important point: the rule starts by saying “Fermo restando quanto previsto dall’articolo 3-bis,” which means “The provisions of Article 3-bis still stand.” This makes it clear that this reacquisition option doesn’t get around the new restrictions the Tajani Decree put on jure sanguinis claims.
• There will be a new consular fee of €250 for making this declaration to reacquire citizenship.

What this means: Amendment 1.0.500 creates a short-term chance for a very particular group of ex-citizens to regain Italian citizenship. But, because it clearly states that Article 3-bis is not affected, it’s not a backdoor for new citizenship-by-descent claims that don’t meet the new, tougher jure sanguinis criteria. This is a vital point in this Decree 36 amendments update.

Many Opposition Amendments Ruled Out of Scope

In a significant development, the Senate committee has labeled a large set of amendments as “improponibili per estraneità di materia.” These were mostly put forward by opposition parties (M5S, PD, Azione, AVS, Italia Viva). Essentially, they were deemed inadmissible because their content was seen as not directly related to the subject of the decree-law being made into law.

Some of the proposals that were set aside include:

• Amendments 1.2, 1.3, 1.71, 1.74, 1.0.4, and sections of 2.0.1 and 2.0.2: These all aimed to bring in different versions of ius scholae (gaining citizenship by going to school in Italy).
• Amendment 1.90: This wanted to raise the fines quite a bit for not complying with AIRE (Registry of Italians Resident Abroad) rules.
• Amendments 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.5, 1.0.6: These were more general suggestions, some proposing different sets of restrictions or other ways to get citizenship.

What this means: Turning down these amendments greatly reduces the chances of major changes to the Tajani Decree, especially changes that would have created new ways to get citizenship, like ius scholae, or significantly softened the jure sanguinis rules.

Where Things Stand: Outlook for the Decree 36 Amendments Update

The government’s move to introduce very specific, limited amendments, while at the same time many wider-ranging opposition ideas are rejected, points in a clear direction. It looks like the Italian government is set on getting the Tajani Decree passed into law mostly as it was first written – restrictive, with only small tweaks for administrative matters or very particular reacquisition scenarios that don’t weaken its main rules.

The Senate’s Constitutional Affairs Committee will have more meetings to go over the amendments that are still on the table, plus any related sub-amendments. However, this Decree 36 amendments update suggests that the decree’s core effect on Italian citizenship by descent probably won’t change much through these current talks. The main question now is how these changes will play out for future citizenship applications and those already in progress. It also remains to be seen if bodies like the Italian Constitutional Court might have something to say about it later on. For the moment, it seems the path is clear for an approval that largely mirrors the government’s original decree.

Keep an eye on our news section for more information as it comes out.

Frequently Asked Questions: Latest on the Decree 36 Amendments Update

What are the government’s new amendments to Decree 36, numbered 1.500 and 1.0.500?

Amendment 1.500 tweaks Law 91/1992 (Art. 9-ter). It means that for new citizenship applications through marriage (Art. 5) or residency-based naturalization (Art. 9), the 24-month processing time becomes a hard stop; the old 36-month extension is gone. Cases already underway will follow the old rules. Amendment 1.0.500 adds a new Art. 1-bis to Law 91/1992. This opens a specific timeframe, from July 1, 2025, to December 31, 2027, for certain former citizens to reclaim their citizenship. It’s for those who lost citizenship under parts of the 1912 Law and were either born in Italy or lived there for at least two years. This route explicitly respects the Tajani Decree’s main rules for citizenship by descent (Article 3-bis) and comes with a new €250 consular fee.

Which significant opposition amendments to Decree 36 didn’t make the cut?

The Senate committee decided that several major amendments, mostly from opposition parties like M5S, PD, Azione, AVS, and Italia Viva, were ‘irrelevant to the subject matter’ and thus inadmissible. These included ideas for ‘ius scholae’ (citizenship via schooling in Italy), proposals that would have deeply changed the core of the Tajani Decree, and one that aimed to raise fines for not keeping AIRE details up to date. You can find a full rundown of the initial proposals in our earlier article on Decree 36 amendments.

Will the new government amendments ease the Tajani Decree’s rules on jure sanguinis citizenship?

No, the government’s fresh amendments (1.500 and 1.0.500) don’t alter or relax the main restrictive conditions for Italian citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis) that were introduced by Article 3-bis of the Tajani Decree. These new amendments deal with different matters: processing times for other ways to get citizenship, and a very particular path for some former citizens to get their citizenship back, which specifically upholds the new jure sanguinis regulations.

What’s the takeaway from many opposition amendments being turned down?

Seeing many opposition amendments set aside, especially those that aimed for big changes like ‘ius scholae’ or a major rewrite of the Tajani Decree, strongly suggests the government plans to pass Decree 36 pretty much as it was originally written, with its restrictive stance. This makes it less likely that there will be significant changes to how the decree affects jure sanguinis applications.

Where does Decree 36 (DDL 1432) stand in the law-making process right now?

The bill to make Decree-Law 36/2025 into a permanent law (A.S. 1432) is currently being reviewed by the ‘referring committee’ (sede referente) in the Italian Senate’s Constitutional Affairs Committee. This committee’s job is to look closely at the decree and all suggested amendments before it can go to the full Senate for a vote, and then move on to the Chamber of Deputies. The committee has been holding meetings and has more planned to continue its work on this Decree 36 Amendments Update.