“I am guilty too.” With this statement, the mayor of Val di Zoldo, Camillo De Pellegrin, wants to provoke a new debate on the recognition of Italian citizenship to Brazilian descendants.
The recent case of Crocetta del Montello, where three local police officers are under investigation on suspicion of ideological forgery, has reignited the debate mainly in northern Italy.
Controversial rule puts mayors under pressure
Mayor De Pellegrin, known for his critical stance regarding the increase in applications for Italian citizenship, especially from Brazilians, does not hide his frustration with the current legislation. “What happened there (in Cross Montello) can happen in any city in Italy, because the rule is insane,” he told the newspaper Il Gazzettino.
According to him, Italian legislation, which allows Brazilian descendants to apply for citizenship based on short-term stays, has caused an unsustainable backlog of cases.
In the case of Val di Zoldo, which has just over 2.800 inhabitants, around 600 citizenship processes are at a standstill. De Pellegrin points out that, despite the efforts of mayors and local agents, “the State is not responding to the demands”. He refers to the 2007 circular from the Ministry of the Interior, which allows registration in municipal registers with a simple declaration of presence, as long as the stay does not exceed three months.
Waiting for responses from the Italian government
De Pellegrin’s frustration resulted in a letter sent to the Italian government earlier this year, in which he questioned whether authorities should only verify applicants’ addresses or confirm their “habitual residence” in the municipality. “If proof of habitual residence is required, most applications should be rejected, as the applicants themselves claim that their stay in Italy is only to obtain citizenship,” the mayor explained.
Without receiving concrete answers, the mayor now criticizes a new circular issued in September, which recommended that mayors verify the actual presence of applicants at the registered address. For De Pellegrin, the measure does not resolve the issue and “only raises doubts about the work of municipal employees”.
“The applicants themselves claim that their stay in Italy is only to obtain citizenship”
“The State is transferring the responsibility to us, without answering the main point: can Brazilian descendants register or not just to obtain citizenship? Until this issue is resolved, we are all being blamed, and not just the three agents from Crocetta del Montello,” concluded the mayor.
Italianism's Opinion: The lack of clarity in legislation
Despite his stance often being associated with xenophobia, Camillo De Pellegrin, mayor of Val di Zoldo, has a valid opinion on this matter. Circular K28, which regulates Italian citizenship processes, is vague regarding the residency period required to apply for citizenship recognition.
This lack of definition creates legal uncertainty for both municipalities and descendants seeking their rights.
The Italian State's inertia in defining clear rules means that the issue of residence — one of the fundamental requirements when the applicant chooses the administrative form, that is, carrying out the process in Italy — is open to different interpretations.
