Senators voted to approve the changes with 81 votes in favour and 37 against, after the government on March 28th controversially pushed through an urgent decree tightening rules on claiming citizenship by descent
The new law means applicants must have at least one parent or grandparent born in Italy, and with "exclusively" Italian citizenship, abruptly changing past rules under which anyone with an Italian ancestor alive after March 17th, 1861 - the date the Kingdom of Italy was created - was eligible to apply.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters on Thursday evening that the Senate vote was a "very important" step in "strengthening the integrity of our system and preventing abuse", La Repubblica reported.
"There will no longer be automatic recognitions for people born abroad who do not have at least one parent or grandparent with exclusively Italian citizenship," Tajani continued, meaning only those who have a parent or grandparent born in Italy would be eligible.
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"The children of Italian citizens born abroad will still have the possibility of acquiring citizenship if their parents request it,
"On my proposal, the Senate has also approved an amendment that allows requests to reacquire citizenship for Italian emigrants who have had to renounce Italian citizenship to work in the countries where they have settled."
The two-generational limit came into force immediately in March under the decree law, which allowed the government to temporarily bypass a vote by lawmakers. As with all urgent decrees, it must however be approved by both houses of parliament within 60 days.
Following the green light from the Senate, the decree will now go to the lower house of parliament for final approval, which it is widely expected to pass.
Tajani said in March that the decision to tighten the rules was partly due to a "commercialisation of Italian passports."
He said lucrative businesses had sprung up helping people track down Italian ancestors and find the official records needed for citizenship applications, clogging up consular and municipal offices with requests for documentation.
The number of Italian citizens abroad had increased by 40 percent over the past decade – from 4.6 million to 6.4 million, according to foreign ministry figures.
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