How do you get the Italian citizenship? And what are the main differences between our country and the other main members of theUe? While in Parliament there is talk again about the possibility of introducing the jus scholae (i.e. the issue of citizenship to the children of foreign parents born in Italy or who entered Italy within the age of 12 and who have completed a school cycle of at least five years), the Observatory on Italian public accounts takes stock of the rules currently in force.
How does a foreigner obtain Italian citizenship?
There are four possibilities.
1) After the age of 18
Children of foreign parents - even if born in our country - can only become Italian citizens after turning 18.
2) The “ius sanguinis”
To be recognized as Italian at birth, however, it is necessary that at least one of the two parents is Italian (jus sanguinis).
3) Italian citizenship by marriage
The third way is that of wedding : a foreigner who marries an Italian citizen can apply for citizenship if in the two years following the wedding he has maintained legal residence in Italy (the EU average is almost double: 3,6 years). The time instead rises to three years from the day of the wedding for residents abroad. While waiting, the marriage must not be dissolved or annulled.
4) Naturalization
The last way to receive Italian citizenship is the naturalization, which is obtained after ten years of legal residence in our country (in this case the EU average is much lower: 6,8 years). The wait drops to five years for those who have been granted stateless or refugee status and to four years for citizens of countries belonging to the European Union (EU average 6,2 years).
To obtain naturalization, however, other conditions must also be met:
- obtain a certificate attesting to the mastery of the Italian language
- pay administrative fees;
- demonstrate that you have sufficient income to support yourself;
- have no criminal record.
Comparison with other EU countries
According to the Cpi Observatory – which cites the Migrant Integration Policy Index – in 2019, Italy ranked fourteenth out of the 27 countries of the European Union (on a par with Greece) for ease of issuing citizenship. However, if Eastern European countries are excluded from the calculation, our country collapses to the bottom of the ranking, positioning itself in thirteenth place out of 16.
Italian citizenship: what has changed with the security decrees of the Conte government 1
In the general ranking we lost two positions between 2013 and 2019 mainly due to security decrees launched by the first Conte government, which introduced more stringent requirements for the issue of Italian citizenship, including:
- Italian language at least B1 level;
- increase from 200 to 250 euros of the contribution to apply for citizenship;
- increase from two to four years of the maximum term for the conclusion of the procedures for the recognition of citizenship by marriage and by naturalisation. The latter criterion, however, was repealed with the new law on citizenship which re-established the maximum duration of 24 months.
Ius soli and granting of citizenship: how does it work in other EU countries?
Finally, the CPI Observatory proposes a scheme that takes stock of the ius soli and its variants adopted in the main European countries.
- Ius alone: it is the rule that links citizenship to the place of birth. No EU country adopts it, while this approach is followed by 83% of American countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico;
- Ius soli “temperate”: citizenship is acquired at birth if the foreign parents have resided in the country for a certain period of time. Rules of this type are in force in Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Portugal.
- Double ius alone: Citizenship is obtained at birth if at least one of the parents was also born in the country in question. France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain have chosen this path.
- “Tempered” double ius alone: in addition to the birth of at least one of the two parents in the country in question, permanent residence is required. Only Greece applies this principle.
- Ius scholae: not foreseen by any EU country. Italy could therefore lead the way.
