L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 4 O n M a r c h 2 8 , 2025, the Ital- i a n C o u n c i l of Ministers a d o p t e d Decree Law No. 36, intro- ducing a set of legislative m e a s u r e s t o r e f o r m t h e country's citizenship by descent regulations. The aim, as clarified in the offi- cial press release by the Min- istry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, is to strengthen the actual link between Italy and its citizens abroad. M i n i s t e r o f F o r e i g n A f f a i r s A n t o n i o T a j a n i explained that "the principle of ius sanguinis — the right t o c i t i z e n s h i p b a s e d o n descent — will not be under- mined, and many descen- dants of emigrants will still be able to obtain Italian citi- zenship, but there will be precise limits, mainly to pre- vent abuses or phenomena of the 'commercialization' of Italian passports. Citizen- ship must be a serious mat- ter." The decision to intervene in the citizenship rules was, in fact, supported by signifi- c a n t d a t a s h o w i n g h o w countries with the highest rates of Italian emigration have seen a sharp increase in recognitions of citizen- ship over the past decade. From the end of 2014 to the end of 2024, the number of I t a l i a n c i t i z e n s r e s i d i n g abroad grew from about 4.6 million to 6.4 million — a 40% increase. Over 60,000 legal proceedings for citi- zenship determination are ongoing. In Argentina, for example, citizenship recog- nitions jumped from around 20,000 in 2023 to 30,000 the following year. In Brazil, they increased from about 14,000 recognitions in 2022 t o 2 0 , 0 0 0 l a s t y e a r . Venezuela recorded nearly 8,000 recognitions in 2023. Official estimates suggested t h a t , u n d e r t h e p r e v i o u s legal framework, between 60 and 80 million people worldwide could potentially request recognition of Ital- i a n c i t i z e n s h i p , w i t h t h e government stating that the resulting pressure on con- sulates and administrative offices negatively affected their functioning. This was cited as part of the rationale for the new restrictions. The reform will proceed in two stages: the decree- l a w a p p r o v e d i n M a r c h immediately limits automat- ic citizenship transmission to two generations abroad: only individuals with at l e a s t o n e p a r e n t o r g r a n d p a r e n t b o r n i n Italy will now be consid- ered citizens from birth. A second phase will intro- d u c e f u r t h e r c h a n g e s through a draft law already approved in principle, which will require individuals born a n d r e s i d i n g a b r o a d t o maintain a real connec- tion with Italy, exercising rights and duties of citizen- s h i p a t l e a s t o n c e e v e r y twenty-five years. Finally, the system for processing citizenship applications will also be overhauled: instead o f r e l y i n g o n c o n s u l a t e s , applications will be handled by a new centralized office within the Ministry of For- eign Affairs, allowing con- sulates to focus on serving existing citizens rather than processing new claims. T h e s e c h a n g e s m a r k a clear departure from Italy's t r a d i t i o n a l l y g e n e r o u s approach to citizenship by descent: previously, there w a s n o g e n e r a t i o n a l limit; descendants of Ital- ians who emigrated as early as the 19th century could apply for citizenship provid- ed that the bloodline had remained legally intact and no renunciations occurred. Now, by setting stricter gen- erational limits and requir- ing a demonstrable connec- tion to Italy, the government intends to fall in line with more widely-applied Euro- pean practices such as those in place in France and Ger- m a n y , w h i c h h a v e l o n g r e s t r i c t e d c i t i z e n s h i p b y descent to one generation, while Ireland and Poland, t h o u g h m o r e g e n e r o u s , require rigorous documen- tation and closer ties. Reactions among Italian communities abroad, espe- c i a l l y I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n s , were swift and critical. The National Italian Ameri- can Foundation (NIAF) issued an official statement on April 4, 2025, addressing the proposed decree. "Amer- ican and Italian dual citizens constitute a vital resource and a tremendous benefit f o r b o t h c o u n t r i e s , " t h e statement read. "As such, the National Italian Ameri- can Foundation supports the widest possible parame- ters for the transmission of citizenship via jus sanguinis to Italian descendants resid- ing in the United States." N I A F e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n that narrowing eligibility would weaken longstanding bonds between Italy and its A narrower bridge: Italy's new approach to ancestral citizenship FRANCESCA BEZZONE NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS CONTINUED TO PAGE 6 According to the Italian minister for foreign affairs Antonio Tajani, the new laws are important not to "dilute" the meaning of Italian citizenship (Photo: Dmytro Surkov/Dreamstime)

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