Valerio Caruso, consul general of Italy in Porto Alegre, has set an ambitious goal: to process 5 Italian citizenship recognitions annually. With a dynamic approach, he wants to optimize consular services and meet the growing demand, but is this goal realistic?
Since August 2022, when he took office, Caruso, 35, has been focusing on reducing queues and consular efficiency.
“The consulate is doing its best, and people are grateful, because they are seeing a new dynamism,” Caruso said in an interview with the newspaper Zero hour.
According to him, the demand for citizenship recognition has increased due to debates about possible changes in Italian legislation. Many descendants fear restrictions on their right to citizenship. the right of blood, but Caruso emphasized that these decisions go beyond the scope of the consulate: “Obviously this is not a matter for the consulate, as it is a government issue.”
Despite the progress, the goal of 5 annual cases faces challenges. Diplomatic turnover, a characteristic of the consular service, could limit the continuity of the changes implemented by Caruso.
Furthermore, frequent political and administrative obstacles in Italy make it difficult to quickly recognize citizenship on a large scale.
See what Valerio Caruso said to reporter Alessandro Valim:
In addition to its basic activities of representation and cultural outreach, the consulate's main point of contact with descendants is the task of recognizing citizenship. How do you evaluate this service provided by the consulate, which has even been accelerated under your management?
It is clearly a challenge, because the Italian Consul General is like the mayor of a city with a rapidly growing number of citizens. Last year I was interviewing a colleague of yours from Rádio Gaúcha and I said that the Italian Consulate General in Porto Alegre was going to reach a record of 120 citizens. Today we are already reaching 130. In a year's time I will talk about the record of 150 recognized citizens. Can you imagine the challenge of management and services for a community that grows 7% to 8% every year? It is enormous! So, the challenge exists and I will never promise that the consulate will be able to recognize 50 citizenships. The queue exists and it is very long, which also has a positive side, because it means that people want this recognition and want to strengthen this bond with Italy. What we want is to put things in order, and it is important to ensure that, from the point of view of providing consular services, there is an expectation of reducing the waiting time.
The queue has also increased significantly in recent years due to news of possible changes to citizenship legislation, a debate that is currently taking place in Italy. Obviously this is not a matter for the consulate, as it is a government issue, but do you think there is any real prospect of changing the law?
Personally, I don't know. Each state has its own democratic debate and I believe it is not easy to find a synthesis of the different positions. But it is clear that we here see that our Italian citizens have a strong connection with Italy. So, whether it changes or not, we have to deal with the situation as it is today, which is the right to the right of blood. And we see that here, in Rio Grande do Sul, this legacy and this rapprochement with Italy are stronger than in other places, and our responsibility is to ensure that this right is truly met, that the consulate is able to recognize the greatest possible number of citizenships, even if, in any case, consular services are limited.
Do you think it is possible to set a goal?
I can only promise that the consulate is doing its best, and people are grateful because they are seeing a new dynamism. We must remember that Italian citizenship is not simply a right, it's not just a travel document. It is also a set of duties that we must ensure are respected and promoted. We cannot expect that next year, as I have already said, the consulate will be able to recognize 4 million people from Rio Grande do Sul, but I think the goal of recognizing 5 citizenships per year is achievable. We work towards this goal, whatever the law may be, we need to ensure that Italian-Brazilians from Rio Grande do Sul can be proud of their consulate.
