ABOUT · PRATICA
Pratica opened in 2026. We ask you to take nothing on trust: every rule is cited to its source, with the date it took effect.
FOUNDED
2026
CONSULATES
London · Manchester · Edinburgh
BASED
United Kingdom
WHY SOURCES
27 March 2025
23:59 Rome time. The window under the old law closes.
24 May 2025
Art. 3-bis comes into force.
At 23:59 Rome time on 27 March 2025, the window closed for filing a claim under the old law. On 24 May 2025, Art. 3-bis came into force. Between those two dates the question that decides who has a claim to citizenship by descent changed.
The reform gets called a two-generation limit. That is a summary of the outcome, not the test. The test asks whether a parent or grandparent held exclusively Italian citizenship, or whether a parent lived in Italy for two continuous years after acquiring it. Those are different questions, and they can give opposite answers: a grandparent who became British after their child was born but before the applicant was born passed the old test and does not meet condition (c) of the new one. Had the grandparent become British only after the applicant was born, Circolare 26185 of 28 May 2025 treats the condition as met: it is measured on the applicant's date of birth.
ONE CASE, TWO ANSWERS
A grandparent who became British after their child was born and before the applicant was born
Guidance written before a reform is not always rewritten after it, and a reader cannot tell from the page which is which. That is how a family can pay for certificates, apostilles and translations before finding out that the test has changed.
So there is one thing you can check here without trusting us: every rule on this site carries the article it comes from, with the date it took effect and the source. When a source moves, the page moves, and the page says when it moved.
WHAT WE CHECKED
Art. 3-bis of Law 91/1992, five alternative conditions, in force from 24 May 2025. Decree-Law 36/2025 in Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 73, conversion Law 74/2025 in n. 118. The guides cite the article, not a summary of it.
Circolare 26185 of 28 May 2025 requires the absence of another nationality to be documented: a self-declaration is not accepted. That is where files that look complete get turned away, and it appears nowhere in the text of the law.
London, Manchester and Edinburgh ask for slightly different things on the same file. Edinburgh runs separate pages for the parent and the grandparent who possess exclusively Italian citizenship. The difference is public, if you know where to look.
On the minor-child question (Art. 7 against Art. 12 of Law 555/1912) the Sezioni Unite were asked to rule in July 2025. Cass. 13818/2026, often cited for it, we have read: it is a First Section ordinance about standing. A judgment numbered 24045/2026 is reported as deciding the question. We have not obtained its text, so we do not say what it holds.
THE METHOD
The first thing we do is read the case.
If we think the route is closed (by date, by the ancestor's citizenship, by residence) we say so in writing, with our reasons. A no said early is worth more than months of documents gathered for a file that cannot be filed.
Every document is dated, numbered, searchable.
Every translation is verified before being handed to the consulate. Every apostille is applied at the correct step of the chain, not before, not after. This is not perfectionism: it is keeping a two-hundred-pound fee from turning into two lost months.
We write a lot.
The important decisions (which route, which sequence, which consulate) arrive in writing, with the reasons. Calls and quick messages are summarised in the portal, so that a year later, if needed, you can find again why we chose one path and not the other.
WHAT TO EXPECT
We tell you plainly whether we think you qualify, what you need, and what we cannot yet confirm.
Citizenship rules change. We follow the law, the fees and the circulars, and we date what we publish.
We answer every question calmly. If you are not sure, take your time. There is no rush.
WHAT PRATICA IS NOT
We do not provide legal advice. Cases that require court proceedings (including the 1948 maternal line) need an Italian lawyer. We know some, and point to them without commission.
We are not regulated by the SRA or OISC. We do not handle UK visas, family reunification, or the settlement scheme. If that is what you need, we point you to those who do it for a living.
We do not issue passports, ID cards, certificates or citizenship. We prepare and deliver files. The final decision is always the consulate’s, or the court’s.
If doing something quickly means doing it wrong, we do not do it. We would rather tell you we need another week to request a correct certificate than have the file refused for a detail.
Transparency
Pratica is an administrative document preparation service. We do not provide legal or immigration advice. We are not regulated by the SRA or OISC. Cases requiring court proceedings need an Italian lawyer (avvocato).
ONE LAST THING
The meaning of this work is simple: when a family arrives, we want the experience to be safe, ordered, calm. This is not a service that seeks volume. It is a service that tries to do its work well, for each family, with the time it takes.