Italian Constitutional Court Approves a Referendum on the Timeframe for Obtaining Citizenship.

The Italian constitutional court has declared admissible the abrogative referendum that proposes to halve from 10 to 5 years of legal residence in Italy required for non-EU foreigners of age to obtain Italian citizenship.

This decision comes after a petition was lodged and reached 500,000 signatures in September 2024. The question submitted proposes to reduce from 10 to 5 the years of legal residence in Italy required to apply for Italian citizenship which, once obtained, would be automatically passed on to one's minor sons and daughters. It therefore aims to modify Article 9 of the current citizenship law 91/1992.

Italian citizens will be called to the polls between April and June 2025, with the exact date to be established in the coming weeks.

Source: gov.it