The Italian government announced on Friday (28) a significant reform in the law that allows the granting of citizenship by blood rights (blood), restricting the benefit only to children and grandchildren of citizens born in Italy. The change, defended by Deputy Breed and Chancellor Antonio Tajani, directly affects thousands of Brazilians seeking the Italian passport, either by affective ties with the ancestry or practicality of the European document.
During a press conference, Tajani presented examples: “We want those who want to be Italian citizens, because they have the right and because they feel linked to our country, they can do so. But without abuse, with the purpose of using our nationality for other reasons.”
And it was straightforward: “Being an Italian citizen is a serious matter, it is not a joke to have the passport in your pocket [italiano] to shop in Miami. ”
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One of the objectives of the change is to curb what Italian Foreign Ministry pointed out as a “passport industry”, with agencies offering promotional citizenship recognition packages, including “Black Friday” style ads.
In Veneto cities, such as the Val dio Zoldo region, authorities reported having received more than 3,000 mass citizenship requests, much from Brazil.
Understand everything that changes with the new law, from when it starts to use and who will be affected.
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When does it start to be worth?
The new rules are valid for requests from midnight at Italy’s time, or 4am this Saturday morning at Brazil.
In order to enter into force definitively, the decree must be converted into law by the Italian parliament within 60 days. As the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has a majority in both houses, approval is considered virtually certain.
End of the “TRISAVÓ Queen”
Until then, the 1992 Italian legislation allowed Italian descendants even from Wednesday or fifth generation to claim citizenship, even without speaking the language or having any cultural bond with the country.
Now, only those who have at least one grandfather born in Italy can request recognition.
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“The decree concretely alters the situation, because it predicts that the Italo-descendant born abroad will be automatically italian citizen only for two generations,” said Tajani. “Since midnight in Italy you can no longer ask citizenship with old rules. You have to start with the new rules.”
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In addition, the decree includes proposals to require Italians abroad to maintain ties with the country, such as voting, renewing documents or paying fees at least once every 25 years – an attempt to combat the so -called “sanitary tourism”. “That is, to vote, renew the passport or the identity document, pay some fee,” said Tajani.
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Another measure under analysis is the requirement of residence in Italy for spouses of Italian citizens seeking naturalization. “The spouses of Italian citizens can continue to obtain naturalization, but only if they live in Italy,” he said. Today, the main requirement is to prove knowledge of the language.
And who already has citizenship?
According to Tajani, those who already have the Italian passport will not be affected by the new rules.
However, those with processes in progress and without formal recognition until this Friday will have to adapt to the new criteria.
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“From midnight onwards,” said Tajani, “one can no longer ask for citizenship with old rules, but only if he has Italian grandparents.”
Brazilians: the most affected
Brazil is one of the most affected countries. It is estimated that more than 30 million Brazilians have some degree of Italian descent. Only between 1870 and 1920, about 1.4 million Italians migrated to Brazil.
In 2023, 42,000 of the 61.3 thousand recognitions of Italian citizenship went to Brazilians – about 68.5% of the total. Many of them resorted to administrative or judicial copies to streamline the process, including hiring specialized services that charged up to 3,000 euros.
(With information from Corriere Della Sera and La Repubblica)
