Citizenship referendum surpasses 500,000 signatures: here’s what happens next

I am already more than half a million, the figure needed for the quorum, the signatures in the digital collectionwith Spid and Digital Identity Card, for the citizenship referendum supported by +Europa and which reached the finish line in less than three weeks, before the deadline of September 30th.

Now the Court of Cassation must confirm the validity of the signatures and then the Constitutional Court will be called to examine the admissibility of the question. If these steps, not obvious given what happened to the referendums on the end of life rejected in 2022, are passed, we will go to vote in the spring of 2025, between April 15 and June 15.

The question proposes to halve from 10 to 5 years of continuous legal residence the deadline after which Italian citizenship can be requested. This would overcome the 1992 law which established that number of years and which, according to Georgia Meloniquestioned in New York on the subject, is instead an excellent law.

This is the text of the question of the abrogative referendum: “Do you wish to repeal art. 9, paragraph 1, letter b), limited to the words “adopted by an Italian citizen” and “subsequent to the adoption”; as well as letter f), containing the following provision: “f) to a foreigner who has resided legally for at least ten years in the territory of the Republic”, of Law 5 February 1992, no. 91, containing new rules on citizenship”?”

The secretary of +Europa Riccardo Magi explained that «the other requirements already established by current legislation and jurisprudence would remain unchanged, such as: knowledge of the Italian language, possession of adequate economic sources, professional suitability, compliance with tax obligations, the absence of impediments linked to the security of the Republic». He also asked Italians «to continue to sign in the next few days giving even more strength to this popular initiative”. There would be two and a half million people, including minor children, who could benefit from the reduction in the waiting years for Italian citizenship.

This initiative is different from the Ius scholae re-proposed last summer, also by the majority, with stable school attendance for 5 or 10 years as a means to obtain citizenship and aimed at children born in Italy or arrived before the age of 12. There are also proposals from the opposition, but so far no law has reached an agreement in Parliament.

The signature collection site explains that the citizenship referendum would align Italy with the majority of European regulations. The 10-year legal residence period currently provided for by Italian law is among the most restrictive among EU countries. Germany passed a law at the beginning of 2024 that coincides with the requests of this referendum and which established the term of 5 years of residence for obtaining citizenship.