After the affair of the Zan law proposal, the secretary of the Democratic Party Enrico Letta should be careful to handle with care another addition that he would like to make to an already complex, and heavy, program of government and legislation: the ius soli.
First of all, it is necessary to clarify what it is about. Encyclopedias tell us that jus soli (in Latin “right of the soil”) is a legal expression that indicates the acquisition of citizenship of a given country as a consequence of the legal fact of being born in its territory, regardless of the citizenship of the parents. It is opposed to ius sanguinis (or “right of blood”), which indicates the transmission to the offspring of the citizenship of the parents, or of a parent, therefore on the basis of descent and not of the place of birth. Almost all the countries of the American continent apply the ius soli automatically and without conditions. These include the United States, Canada and much of Latin America; the reason is that they were born from European immigration, often in conflict with the natives.
Automatic ius soli is not necessarily an advantage. My children know this well, both born in Washington DC in the United States (where I lived for more than three decades). Not having officially and formally renounced American nationality at the age of 18 (and before turning 19), now due to changes in the American tax legislation, they have to do with two tax authorities, with different rules and must, therefore, fill in two different declarations of income and assets, using an overseas accountant for the US one. The agreement to avoid double taxation, in fact, does not concern investments, whose surplus value in the USA is calculated day by day for tax purposes, not when it is made (usually at the sale).
In Italy, the ius soli is already in application of the rules that aim to avoid statelessness. These are exceptional circumstances, essentially:
- by birth on the Italian territory of unknown parents;
- by birth on Italian territory of stateless parents;
- by birth on Italian territory of foreign parents unable to transmit their citizenship to the subject according to the law of the country of origin.
Furthermore, by virtue of art. 4, paragraph 2, of the law of 5 February 1992, n. 91, a particular version of the ius soli is applied to the foreigner born in Italy and who has legally resided there without interruption until reaching the age of majority. In fact, in this case, he becomes an Italian citizen by right if he declares that he wishes to acquire Italian citizenship within one year of reaching the age of eighteen, therefore without the conditions normally required (sufficient income, employment, circumstances of merit, etc.) to obtain citizenship through naturalization. This benefit is lost in the absence of express will within one year of reaching the age of majority, after which citizenship is obtainable.
What happens if he is born in Italy of foreign parents
A non-Italian, but Cape Verdean expert (and president of the Association of Cape Verdean Women in Italy), Sonia Lima Morals , wrote an essay that Enrico Letta would do well to read in order not to run into a new attempt to create (rightly or wrongly) in a new “state religion” subsequently rejected by Parliament (and perhaps also by public opinion). The essay begins by specifying that “citizenship is not only a legal but also a social and economic fact … the person becomes the holder of civil, political and social rights, but also of duties such as those of work, voting and contributing to the financing of expenses public “.
Currently, the second generation has the right to apply for Italian citizenship at the age of eighteen but the window remains open only for one year (as for the renunciation of American citizenship in the case of my children). If you fail to get the documentation in time, you risk missing the train. If, then, the person has not been resident in Italy for a period (the family has returned home for one reason or another or – which is common for the children of Asians – they are sent to live with their grandparents to learn local language), the right to apply is lost.
It would be useful to review these aspects to make the right to citizenship more accessible, which ius soli is not, but which is what most of the children of immigrants aspire to. It is sufficient to modify these two conditions; for example, to bring the window from one to three years, to allow temporary residences in the parents’ homeland, establishing the stakes clearly. To acquire a large majority of consensus, even parliamentary, it would also be useful to provide that those who want to have Italian citizenship know its culture, the Constitution, the basic rules. That is, that he has studied in Italy (what some call ius culturae) and, if necessary, takes an exam of Italian culture, as happens in many countries.
To draft the possible bill, a suggestion: rely on someone less apodictic than those who drafted the provision that goes by the name of Senator Zan.
