The Local

If you’re planning to apply for Italian citizenship, a language test might be one of the first hurdles you have to overcome. Is your Italian good enough? , ...ادامه مطلب

Italian citizenship rules are relatively generous - even if they come with a ton of paperwork and requirements. But, under certain circumstances, what has been given can be taken away again. , ...ادامه مطلب

Following a proposal to tighten the rules for applying for Italian citizenship via ancestry, we look at what stage the plans are at and how soon changes could come in. , ...ادامه مطلب

Getting an Italian passport is the last step to becoming a fully fledged Italian citizen – but how soon can you apply for one after gaining citizenship and how does the process work? , ...ادامه مطلب

The United States - almost uniquely in the world - operates citizen-based taxation, and this can have serious consequences for Americans who live abroad. Tell us how you are affected and what advice you have for fellow Americans in Italy. , ...ادامه مطلب

As a foreigner in Italy you enter a complicated world of bureaucracy, but one question we are asked a lot is the difference in status between residency and citizenship. , ...ادامه مطلب

The fee for applying for recognition of Italian citizenship via ancestry is a few hundred euros, but other expenses can quickly mount into the thousands, as The Local’s readers explain. , ...ادامه مطلب

The US looks finally set to push ahead with its promise to cut the fee for renouncing American citizenship from $2,350 down to $450, writes Helen Burggraf. , ...ادامه مطلب

Applying to have your Italian birthright citizenship recognised can be dizzyingly complicated, so we asked Italian legal specialists to share their advice on the process. , ...ادامه مطلب

Recent changes to how Italian courts are applying rules dating from 1912, known as the ‘minor case’ issue, can prove an unexpected obstacle for some citizenship applications. , ...ادامه مطلب

A Rome demonstration earlier this year in favour of citizenship reform. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AF Proponents of a controversial law that would grant Italian citizenship to the children of foreigners bo in Italy have made a last-ditch appeal for it to be approved before parliament is dissolved. Parliament is due to be dissolved on Thursday, paving the way for general elections which are expected to be called for March 4th. But the ‘Italians without citizenship’ group, made up of immigrant children, and senators for the ruling centre-left Democratic Party and the Green Party have urged President Sergio Mattarella to allow parliament two more weeks to debate and pass the law. "I urge him to do so, with the confidence that is due to a gentleman whose intellectual rectitude and social sensitivity is well known," Democratic Party senator Luigi Manconi was quoted by Ansa as saying. The ‘right of the soil’, or ‘Ius soli’ law, was one of the Democratic Party’s key proposals, but it has languished in the senate for months amid fierce opposition, especially from the far-right Northe League. "Mattarella mustn't listen to the left," said Roberto C, ...ادامه مطلب

The Italian Senate during a voting session on economic reform measures demanded by the European Union, in Rome on November 11th 2011. Photo: AFP. AFP [email protected] @thelocalitaly 24 December 2017 15:14 CET+01:00 A controversial bill that could grant Italian citizenship to about 800,000 children bo in the country if they have spent five years in school was defeated in the Senate, newspapers said Sunday. Under the bill called "right of the soil" or Ius soli, children under 12 who have spent five years in school would qualify to be naturalised. The rule would also apply to children bo to non-Italians.  The Senate was near empty during the vote on Sunday, newspapers said. Currently, foreigners bo in Italy can only apply for citizenship when they tu 18 and if they have lived in the country since birth. Only 116 of the 319 Senators were present in the house and the vote was deferred to January 9, by which time parliament is likely to have been dissolved ahead of legislative elections in March. The proposed law mooted by the g, ...ادامه مطلب

People demonstrating in favour of citizenship reform in October 2016. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP Parliament is not expected to vote on the govement's controversial proposal to reform Italy's citizenship laws this term, whips said on Wednesday. The so-called "ius soli" bill, which would create an earlier path to citizenship for children of foreign parents bo and schooled in Italy, is one of the centre-left govement's key proposals but has languished in the senate for months amid fierce opposition from the right. Now the goveing Democratic Party (PD) has definitively given up on passing the reform before Italy's general election, which is expected in early March. The bill is scheduled to be put to a vote only after parliament has agreed on lengthy budget proposals, the PD's senate whip said on Wednesday, effectively ending the chances that senators will vote on citizenship reform this parliamentary term. "At the moment we don't have the majority to approve it," said whip Luigi Zanda, explaining that passing the ius soli bill would require a confidence vote that could topple the PD's coalition govement in the final months of its term. "Th, ...ادامه مطلب

Prime minister Paolo Gentiloni pictured speaking on Wednesday. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFPItaly's govement has delayed a parliamentary vote on a citizenship rights bill as tensions rise over the number of migrants arriving on the country's shores. The proposal to give children bo on Italian soil to , ...ادامه مطلب

A demonstration calling for reform of Italy's citizenship law. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFPWith a flood of migrants arriving on Italy's shores, a bitter debate has erupted over whether children bo on Italian soil to foreign parents should have citizenship rights at birth. According to a poll publ, ...ادامه مطلب