Citizenship by Descent

Jus sanguinis is one of the two foundational citizenship-acquisition principles, alongside jus soli (right of soil — citizenship by birth on the country's territory). Most countries combine both, with national variations on generation depth, naturalisation requirements after generational claim, and language/residency conditions.

Major citizenship-by-descent routes accessible in 2026:

• Italian citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis) — historically unlimited generational depth (the so-called "1948 rule" allowing maternal-line claims after Italy's gender-equality constitutional ruling). The March 2025 reform (Decreto-Legge 36/2025) restricted future claims to grandparent or great-grandparent, eliminating the unlimited rule. Existing applications submitted before the reform's effective date are processed under prior law. Italian citizenship grants EU citizenship and visa-free access to most of the world.

• Irish citizenship by descent — straightforward grandparent rule. Anyone with one Irish-born grandparent can register on the Foreign Births Register and receive Irish citizenship. Grandparents who naturalised as Irish citizens count. Great-grandparent claims require the parent to have registered first.

• German Stag 14 / 15 BeurkG — citizenship restoration for descendants of Germans persecuted by the Nazi regime (StAG § 15) plus general descent rules (StAG § 4). The Stag 15 route is broad and well-used by descendants of Jewish, social-democratic, and other persecuted groups.

• Hungarian, Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian — each has descent-based naturalisation programmes for ethnic-origin claimants, often with ancestor records dating back 3-4 generations.

• Portuguese Sephardic citizenship (Lei n.º 30-A/2015) — closed to new applicants in 2024 after Portugal removed the route from the citizenship law. Existing approved applications are still processed.

• Spanish Sephardic citizenship — closed in 2019.

Processing timelines run 2-7 years depending on country and consulate workload. Document gathering (birth, marriage, death certificates of the bridging generations, plus apostille and certified translations) is the rate-limiting step. Italian processing through Italian consulates is currently 5-8 years; the alternative "1948 court route" through the Italian courts in Rome is faster (12-24 months) for maternal-line claims.