Americans who picked up and moved to Italy hoping for la dolce vita by claiming dual American-Italian citizenship have had their hopes dashed and lives upended when the country suddenly changed its rules.
A series of Americans stuck in legal limbo in the bel paese told CNN about giving up everything in the States—jobs, homes, community ties—and following Italy’s rules to claim citizenry via “blood right” (jure sanguinis in Latin) only to have the lineage requirements change mid-application.
“I did exactly what they told me to do,” American Lea Black told the outlet.
After moving to Sicily on March 8, 2025, Black hoped to claim descent-based citizenry through her Italian great-grandparents. But 20 days after her arrival, as she was in the midst of paperwork, the country changed the ancestry requirements by a generation.
According to Decree Law No. 36/2025, applicants must trace ancestry back no more than one or two generations—to a parent or grandparent. The generational limits were reinforced this month when Italy’s constitutional court announced that it would reject the first legal argument against the law.
Black had been raised by her second-generation grandfather, who spoke fondly of Sicily.
“The Sicilians embraced me in such a way that I felt my grandfather was guiding me,” she told the outlet.
While she was waiting for her April 4 appointment at the consulate to get her Social Security number, the law changed. After spending $20,000 on following her dreams, Black said she moved back to the U.S. where she has “no home, no job, no car, no furniture.”
Altering the path to citizenship via heritage
This isn’t the first decree that altered the path to Italian citizenship through ancestry.
In October 2024, a new rule dubbed the “minor issue,” decreed that if an Italian citizen who had moved abroad was naturalized in another country, then any minor children would lose their rights to later claim citizenship via heritage. The Italian line was considered “broken.”
That law has been challenged numerous times, and there will be a new hearing about it on April 14, 2026, before the Court of Cassation, Joint Sections, according to immigration law firm Harris Beach Murtha.
Freelance video graphics artist Kellen Matwick, who had Italy-born great-grandparents, along with his wife and two kids, got caught in the immigration whiplash. The family had migrated to Turin from Arizona in August 2024 only for the ancestry rules to suddenly change, dashing the couple’s hopes of making a life in Italy.
They pivoted to trying to claim citizenry through another route. Because Italian women could not pass on their citizenry outside of the country until after 1948, thousands of would-be dual citizens had successfully sued the government on civil rights grounds.
Since Kellen’s great-grandmother had been born in Italy, he was told by legal experts he had a shot at claiming unbroken ancestry. But then in, 2025, the laws changed more—shortening the generational requirements.
Once again, the family was out of luck.
“We felt we were constantly hit by waves,” wife Jacqueline told CNN. “We kept making the logical choice based on the advice we were given in the moment, but each time it turned out to be the wrong choice.”
However, since Jacqueline had a child in the country, she and her kids were granted a temporary visa, but it expires next month. Kellen remains in limbo, without the ability to legally work or obtain health insurance.
“We said, ‘We’ll get an apartment, have the kids learn Italian, live a real Italian life. We did everything they wanted us to do. Now I feel so stupid,” he told the outlet. Reached by Realtor.com®, Kellen declined to comment.
Given that their children are in school, the pair had signed a four year lease (part of the citizenship application requirements), and they don’t have the finances to move back to the U.S., they’ve decided to hang tight in Italy to see what happens. They have a hearing for their case in January 2027.
Americans wanting to ditch the U.S.
Americans are more interested than ever in fleeing the country. The high cost of living, exorbitant health care, and contentious politics have driven millions to either move abroad or look into it.
Recent polls show that an astonishing one-third of Americans would like to live elsewhere—and Italy is a popular choice.
The boot-shaped country came out tops on Monmouth University’s poll for where Americans would most like to travel, and has always been a popular destination for vacationers. Retirees are increasingly looking toward the romantic country to spend their golden years.
On the 12 Best Overseas Retirement Destinations for 2026 compiled by expat adviser Live and Invest Overseas, the island of Sardinia ranked No. 11.
But the stories of Americans caught in legal limbo demonstrate that it may not be wise to move abroad before obtaining the proper documentation. Paths to foreign residency and citizenship can be moving targets, and often there isn’t much (or any) warning when they morph.
“Italy was one of the last countries in Europe to still offer an option for citizenship through ancestry via great-grandparents,” Lief Simon, co-founder of Live and Invest Overseas, tells Realtor.com. “Rules for citizenship and residency change all the time.”
“It sounds like this couple [Kellen and Jacqueline Matwick] didn’t use an immigration attorney and just hopped on a plane thinking the process was simple and that they’d just figure it out along the way. They could have avoided a lot of stress had they hired a professional to help them, and maybe started the application process soon enough to have avoided the changes that happened.
“But honestly, they shouldn’t have moved to Italy before they obtained their citizenship.”
He notes that it’s possible to obtain ancestry-based citizenship while staying in the U.S.—a potentially safer choice. “We know several people who got their Italian citizenship through ancestry and they didn’t have to live in or move to Italy to get it,” he says.
He also notes that it may be wiser to apply for long-term residency than to take a crack at citizenship via ancestry. Though the requirements for each country vary, he says, “residency is definitely more straight forward than citizenship by ancestry.”
In many countries, you can apply for citizenship after five years of residency.
America may also be cracking down
Last year, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) introduced the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025.
Moreno, who was born in Colombia and became an American citizen at age 18 while renouncing his Colombian citizenship, says, “being an American citizen is an honor and a privilege—and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing. It’s time to end dual citizenship for good.”
Should the bill pass, President Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, as well as their son, Barron, who maintain dual citizenship with Slovenia and the U.S., would have to make a decision.
Legal experts say the bill has only a small chance of being approved into law.