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Moving to Italy permanently just got easier. Will there be a citizen referendum?

2024-09-28 08:55:41Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Moving to Italy permanently just got easier. Will there be a citizen referendum?

For non-EU nationals living in Italy or thinking of moving to the country, there is good news about obtaining citizenship. Activists have called for a change in the law to make it easier for foreigners to obtain citizenship by residency.

Currently, non-EU nationals must live in Italy for at least 10 years before they are eligible for citizenship by residence. Opposition politicians and non-profit organizations such as Oxfam Italia have fought to reduce this to five years. This week, they announced they had collected enough signatures to qualify for a national referendum.

"We made it! In a few days, 500,000 citizens signed for the Citizenship Referendum", posted opposition MP Riccardo Magi on social networks. This means that a national referendum can now be called to reduce the required length of stay from 10 years to five.

Halving the time non-EU nationals must live in Italy before qualifying for citizenship would bring Italy in line with other European countries, including Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands and the UK. Since 1999, several challenges to the law have been made, but none have been successful.

Magi said that the activists and those who signed the petition are pressing for "something simple, almost banal: those who choose Italy to live, study, love and grow up, those who imagine their future in our country, are Italians". "And it's just the first step towards a fairer law that recognizes every girl, every one of their boys as Italians," he added.

Even if born in Italy, children of non-EU nationals who are not Italian citizens cannot apply for citizenship until they turn 18. However, when the parents become Italian citizens, the minors are automatically granted citizenship. The request for a referendum must now be approved by two of Italy's highest courts with a 50 percent voter turnout for the result to be valid.

If the changes to the law are approved, about 2.5 million foreigners will be eligible for Italian citizenship, activists said. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party is not in favor of easing the current rules. The right-wing party is seen to have a strict anti-immigration stance. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Meloni said she considered 10 years of residence "a reasonable period for citizenship" and "there is no need to change" the law.

How can foreigners obtain Italian citizenship with residence?

Once the required period of residence has passed, or two years after marriage to an Italian citizen, non-EU citizens can make an online application for citizenship through the Italian Ministry of the Interior. Applicants need multiple documents, including translations, for the process.

These include an original translated and certified copy of your birth certificate, criminal records from the countries of your current citizenship, proof of residence in Italy and a B1 language certificate. The application costs €250.


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