The municipality of Legnago, in the province of Verona, in northern Italy, is facing an unprecedented overload in its civil registry service due to the significant increase in Italian citizenship applications, especially Brazilians.
To deal with the situation, Mayor Paolo Longhi, with the support of the city council, ordered the closure of the Civil State Office, a body similar to the registry office in Brazil, two days a week until September 2025.
The measure aims to prioritize the processing of accumulated documents, concentrating public services only on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, with extended hours on Tuesday afternoons. On Wednesdays and Fridays, employees will dedicate their time exclusively to internal work, that is, to focus on Italian citizenship procedures.
This scenario reflects a trend already observed in other cities in the province.
Em Legnago, the recognition of Italian citizenship based on the principle of jus sanguinis, which benefits people of Italian descent, has overwhelmed the small local team. Currently, two employees are responsible for processing requests related to birth and marriage registrations, which are necessary for citizenship recognition.
“We have received numerous requests for transcripts of records from new Italian citizens, predominantly of Brazilian origin. The civil registry department cannot meet all demands in a reasonable time. For this reason, it is necessary to close the service to the public two days a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays, to allow staff to complete pending transcriptions,” Mayor Longhi explained to the newspaper. Arena.
Currently, according to the newspaper, there are around 50 Brazilian families awaiting formal recognition.
Milena Mirandola, head of the civil registry office, explained: “Considering that each family has, on average, four or five members, we are dealing with more than 200 cases. This is a legal obligation that we cannot avoid. That is why we have requested the hiring of an additional employee.”
Daniela De Grandis, the municipality's financial advisor, confirmed that a new employee is expected to be hired in 2025, which should ease the team's workload.
Meanwhile, adjustments to opening hours are the only solution to meet the growing demand.
