On the day Italy celebrates the 79th anniversary of the historic referendum on the institutional form of the state held on June 2, 1946 which led to the birth of the Republic, the country prepares for a new democratic appointment: on June 8 and 9, 2025, Italian citizens, including those residing abroad, will vote on five abrogative referendum questions. Four of them concern labour rights, while one on citizenship represents a potentially historic shift not only legally but also culturally and socially. The proposal aims to reduce the required period of uninterrupted legal residence for non-EU adults applying for Italian citizenship from 10 to 5 years. This long-awaited change could finally mark a significant step toward recognising millions of people who live, study, and work in Italy and pay taxes.
The 1946 Referendum: A Historic Precedent
Just as June 2, 1946, marked a moment of popular emancipation and the first time women fully participated in the electoral process, we face a new opportunity for historic democratic participation today. “Every vote is a voice; every voice can make a difference”, – reads the message distributed by the referendum committees.
In 1946, the popular vote led to the creation of the Republic and the election of a Constituent Assembly, following a turbulent transition marked by anti-fascist resistance and allied advances across a divided and war-torn Italy. After decades of exclusion, clandestine struggles, and courageous battles, millions of people went to the polls, aiming to change the country’s future.
That year, for the first time, Italian women were also achieving the right to vote. Voter turnout reached nearly 90% in some provinces. Of the 28,005,449 eligible voters, 24,946,878 cast ballots (89.08%). Among the 23,437,143 valid votes, 12,718,641 (54.27%) voted for the Republic, and 10,718,502 (45.73%) for the Monarchy.
That simple, revolutionary act opened a new path: one of participation, equality, and full citizenship through direct democracy, through a tool like the referendum that was exercised 24 more times since then, mainly on civil rights issues. Today, nearly 80 years later, voters are once again called to express their views on critical issues: workers’ rights and citizenship.
A New Era of Participation
Between Disengagement and Responsibility
Ahead of the 2025 referendum, several political forces, particularly within the government alliance, have publicly encouraged citizens not to vote at all or even to collect their ballots and submit them blank, in an explicit attempt to undermine the quorum minimum requirement (50% plus one of eligible voters) and thereby invalidate all the referendum questions automatically. As with all referendum procedures proposed under the Italian system, a voter turnout exceeding 50% is necessary for the results to be considered valid. Notably, the government’s position does not amount to a substantive rejection of the referendum content – which would require a “NO” vote – but rather it promotes abstention as a strategy of boycott, effectively discouraging participation and undermining democratic engagement.
Such messaging suggests delegating decision-making entirely to parties, discouraging citizens from engaging with the content and political implications of the referendum, which especially relevant for the questions on citizenship and labour rights. This approach risks rendering the democratic process and the value of active citizenship meaningless.
Italian Citizenship today:
an old system in need of reform?
The current Italian citizenship law is still based on Law No. 91 of February 5, 1992, which reflects outdated demographic and social assumptions rooted in ‘jus sanguinis’ (right of blood). The citizenship is inherited from an Italian parent, regardless of place of birth, while naturalisation generally requires at least ten years of uninterrupted residence (five years for refugees or stateless individuals), whereas the ‘jus soli’ (right of soil) is applied only in exceptional cases.
Contrary to the common rhetoric about ‘handing out citizenship’, a provocative phrase often used in political debate and counterarguments, the proposed referendum would simply reduce the current ten-year residence requirement to five years for non-EU nationals seeking Italian citizenship, provided they meet all other legal criteria. This provision already existed under Royal Decree No. 153 of June 13, 1912, which stated: “Italian citizenship may be granted by royal decree, subject to the favourable opinion of the Council of State to a foreigner who has resided in the Kingdom for at least five years.”
Importantly, submitting a citizenship application does not guarantee approval. The processing can take 2–3 years, extending the actual wait time to 7–8 years. The referendum would not alter any of the required documents or criteria: applicants must still demonstrate a good command of the Italian language (at least B1 level), an adequate income (set at a minimum of €8,263.31 for individual income, increased to €11,362.05 if the applicant has a dependent spouse, plus an additional €516.00 for each dependent child), as well as the absence of serious criminal convictions and any indication of being a threat to public safety.
In this framework, the potential reform would be a modest yet vital step toward building a more inclusive society for those who contribute to Italy’s development but are currently still excluded from citizenship.
The Citizenship Decree:
A Clampdown on Rights
Meanwhile, the so-called ‘Citizenship Decree’ (DL 36/2025), converted into law on May 20, 2025, stipulates that Italian citizenship is no longer automatically passed to descendants born abroad unless they have at least one Italian parent or grandparent. Ongoing debates surrounding this law questioned whether citizenship should be granted to distant descendants with no linguistic or cultural ties to Italy, who neither pay taxes nor contribute to the economy. Paradoxically, citizenship is now denied both to immigrants working and paying taxes in Italy because they lack ‘Italian blood’ and at the same time is also denied to Italian descendants abroad whose ‘blood’ is deemed insufficiently Italian.
Minors Born or Raised in Italy:
A Forgotten Majority
Compared to many other EU countries, Italy’s citizenship law is particularly restrictive. Notably, minors born or raised in Italy to foreign parents do not automatically acquire Italian citizenship, even if they attend Italian schools and are fully integrated into the cultural and social life of their native peers. Under the current law (Law No. 91/1992), they may apply for citizenship only upon turning 18, provided they have maintained uninterrupted legal residence. Missing the narrow 12-month application window (between the ages of 18 and 19) forces them to restart the lengthy 10-year residency process, which involves numerous administrative obstacles.
Several activist groups – including “L’Italia sono anch’io” “L’Europa sono anch’io” “Dalla parte giusta della storia” and the movement “Italiani senza cittadinanza” – have long denounced this injustice and called for reform. In addition, a number of proposals for further collective actions and for launching potential European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECIs) have emerged over the past decade, aiming to bring the issue to the transnational level and highlight the need to harmonise citizenship rules across the European Union.
According to Italy’s Ministry of Education, up to 65% of foreign students in Italian schools were born in Italy, yet they cannot obtain citizenship until adulthood, and only under strict conditions. These young people fluently speak Italian, identify culturally with the country they live in, and share the same dreams and aspirations as their peers. Denying them citizenship fuels frustration and identity conflict, forcing them to navigate imposed labels that fail to reflect their lived realities.
Toward greater European equity and inclusion
Italy’s citizenship laws are among the most restrictive in Europe. Many other countries offer clearer, faster and more inclusive paths, especially in the case of minors, including:
Belgium: Children become citizens if one parent was born in Belgium or has lived there for a period of at least 10 years.
France: Children born in France can become citizens at 18 if they have lived there for five years since the age of 11; they can apply from the age of 13 if they have lived there since the age of 8.
Germany: Children born in Germany automatically acquire citizenship if one parent has been residing legally in Germany for at least 8 years and holds permanent residency.
Portugal: Children of foreign parents become citizens if one parent was born in Portugal or has resided there for a period of at least 2 years.
Spain: Citizenship is granted to those born to a Spanish parent, to children born in Spain to parents who were also born in Spain, or to those born to foreign parents who have legally resided in Spain for at least one year if the parents’ nationality will not be passed on.
The referendum proposal aims to align Italy with these prevailing and more advanced standards. Halving the residency requirement to 5 years would not alter administrative procedures but would enhance legal recognition and civil inclusion.
The 2025 Referendum:
A continent-wide reform proposal
The abrogative referendum proposal seeks to amend Article 9 of Law No. 91/1992 by reducing the minimum legal residence requirement for non-EU adults applying for Italian citizenship from ten to five years. If approved, citizenship would also be automatically extended to their minor children.
The yellow ballot title reads: “Italian Citizenship: Halving the legal residence period in Italy from 10 to 5 years for non-EU adults applying for citizenship”. All other legal conditions – such as language proficiency, income requirements, and the absence of a criminal record – would remain unchanged.
Alongside Italian parties backing the referendum, including +Europa, Sinistra Italiana, Rifondazione Comunista, Possibile, PD, Radicali Italiani, and Movimento 5 Stelle, the pan-European party Volt Europa has explicitly supported both content and participation, especially among Italians abroad.
Damian Boeselager, first Volt’s Member of the European Parliament and co-founder of the transnational party, stated: «Citizenship is not just an Italian issue, it concerns all of Europe, as the national citizenship also implies the European citizenship» .
Nela Riehl, also Volt’s Member of the European Parliament elected in Germany and Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, added:
Obtaining citizenship should not be an obstacle course marked by injustices. Those who are born and raised in a European country and attend its schools must be fully recognised as citizens.
Riehl highlights a key issue: the outdated ‘jus sanguinis’ model excludes children born or raised in Italy from citizenship unless their parents are eligible. Meanwhile, these children grow up speaking Italian and contributing to society, without full rights.
Currently, non-EU adults must wait at least 10 years before applying, plus several more for processing, totalling 13–14 years. During this time, their children lived in Italy as second-class residents.
Even if approved, the referendum would only be a first step. Italy would still remain behind in terms of harmonisation. The hopes of many of those who advocated for the long awaited reform is that it will pave the way for a structural shift, reducing obstacles and embracing a citizenship model based on equality and cohesion, rather than the current situation characterised by systemic exclusion and unfair treatment, leading to a regime of ‘apolidia de facto’.
The importance of the referendum
for new generations
According to initial scientific estimates on the potential effects of the question to be voted on 8–9 June, presented by the IDOS Study and Research Centre, the maximum number of potential beneficiaries of the proposed citizenship reform could reach 1,706,000 people, including 286,000 minors. These figures are based on the population of non-EU residents already living in Italy who hold long-term residence permits, as citizens from the rest of the European Union can already apply for citizenship after just four years of residence.
Specifically, the 286,000 children and adolescents would acquire citizenship as a consequence of their parents’ naturalisation. This change would allow them to participate fully in the social and civic life of the country, removing both bureaucratic and psychological barriers. For instance, they could travel abroad on school trips without requiring additional visas, more easily access programmes such as Erasmus and the European Solidarity Corps, apply for international internships – including those linked to vocational education and training in technical schools – and, upon turning 18, exercise both active and passive voting rights. Currently, many of these young people face several obstacles such as having to renew their residence permits, which often results in school absences and emotional stress, in addition to enduring widespread discrimination.
Educational Inequalities
Linked to Citizenship Status
According to the study “Il mondo in una classe” (The World in a Classroom) focused on cultural pluralism in Italian schools, conducted by the NGO Save the Children Italy and involving over 6,000 students aged 10 to 17 across five Italian cities, lack of access to citizenship adversely affects the educational aspirations of minors with migrant backgrounds. While 45.5% of Italian students expect to attain a university degree or higher education diploma, only 35.7% of students with a migration background and without citizenship share the same expectation.
Moreover, 25.4% of students without Italian citizenship are behind in their schooling, compared to just 8.1% of Italian nationals, often due to bureaucratic hurdles or their consequences. These disparities become more pronounced in upper secondary education, where school delays among foreign students reach 48.4%.
During the 2022/2023 academic year, 914,860 students without Italian citizenship were enrolled in Italian schools, accounting for 11.2% of the total. Of these, 65.4% were born in Italy. The lack of citizenship creates real barriers for these minors, especially regarding the need for visas for school trips abroad and bureaucratic obligations such as residence permit renewals, which often require missing school classes.
The persistent inequalities in the education system are also particularly evident in the earliest stages of schooling. Only 77.9% of children without Italian citizenship attend preschool, compared to 95.1% of Italian children.
These disparities are also reflected in the results of the national assessments INVALSI (Istituto nazionale per la valutazione del sistema educativo di istruzione e di formazione, the National Institute for the Evaluation of the Education and Training System), which are conducted at key points throughout schooling to evaluate fundamental competencies. At the end of the first cycle of education, 26% of first-generation students without Italian citizenship fail to reach adequate competence levels in Italian, mathematics, and English, a rate twice as high as that of students with Italian citizenship or second-generation students of foreign origin.
The International Mobilisation
and the European Vision of Citizenship Rights
In numerous European and global cities, referendum committees have mobilised to inform Italian communities abroad. In cities like Brussels, Berlin, London, Madrid, Helsinki, Tirana, and many others worldwide, events such as information sessions, debates, particularly in the format of “Caffè di Cittadinanza” (Citizenship Cafés), and public presentations have been organised to counter voter abstention and address the lack of coverage in mainstream media regarding the content and electoral implications of the referendum.
Thanks to the possibility of voting by mail granted to citizens temporarily residing abroad for at least three months due to work, study, or medical treatment (provided they submitted a request to their municipality of residence at least 32 days before the opening of polls in Italy), tens of thousands of Italians abroad have already received the five ballots. Since this is an abrogative referendum, Italian citizens registered with AIRE (Register of Italians resident abroad) and residing abroad can still vote until 5 June 2025.
The movement “Italiani Senza Cittadinanza” (Italians Without Citizenship) has played a key role in promoting the referendum, collecting over 637,000 signatures in just 22 days alongside other members of the Referendum Committee, a record in the history of the Italian Republic. The referendum has been supported by a broad civic and political coalition, including not only the “Italiani Senza Cittadinanza/Italians without Citizenship” but also the National Coordination of New Italian Generations (CoNNGI), the Idem Network, and some left-wing and liberal political parties such as +Europa, Rifondazione Comunista, Possibile, and Radicali Italiani.
During a launch event on 30 May in Brussels’ Grand Place, coinciding with the presentation of issue 19 of the magazine “Ossigeno”, entirely dedicated to the citizenship referendum, the movement’s president, Daniela Ionita, stressed the importance of restoring decision-making power to civil society:
The referendum gives power back to the people. Not to those in government offices, but to those who live, work, study, and build the real Italy every day. And who should have a say in how it is governed.
Ionita recounted the origins of the referendum initiative:
The idea of the referendum came from a somewhat crazy impulse. It was summer, hot, post-Olympics… and we asked ourselves how to respond to what many newspapers were reporting at the time. Remember? Italy’s Foreign Minister Tajani was celebrating: ‘Our new Italians brought us gold medals, silver medals…’
In fact, Italy did win a lot of medals at the last Olympics, and many were earned by children of migration. Tajani kept saying over the summer that citizenship reform was necessary. But the truth? We knew full well it would not be seriously addressed. The reform had been stalled for years. It occasionally resurfaced on the political agenda, only to vanish again. And the current government clearly has no intention of prioritising this issue, its leading figures are even discouraging participation in the referendum. So, we said: let’s make a symbolic gesture, even a bold one, but a necessary one. After three years of silence, it was time to bring citizenship back into public debate. And to do that, we needed civil society. Because the truth is, reform can only happen through collective, consistent work, inside and outside Parliament. With parliamentary groups, sure, but also with associations, the third sector, and grassroots movements. We also know that passing a reform requires a solid political majority. And in the past – in 2016, 2018, 2022 – there were attempts, but even those now in opposition lacked the courage. We will not forget that. Today we have their support for the referendum, but what truly matters to us is giving the people a voice. Because it is the people, students, workers, families, Italians without citizenship, who must decide. The referendum, for us, is just one tool among many to finally achieve a fair, shared, and necessary reform.
The Kurdish artist Nuri Sen of “Book Art Brussels” based in Belgium, also contributed to the campaign, creating one of his signature artworks using ancient books to support the cause of citizenship. He highlighted the centrality of dignity and freedom in the struggle for civil rights:
In human history, all struggles have been struggles for dignity. Political battles arise from a deep desire to live with dignity, with freedom, with humanity. » Sen continued: «Today’s youth are fighting everywhere – in Italy, in Kurdistan, in Serbia, in Latin America – because they want to live free. They don’t want to be enslaved, don’t want to live in poverty or misery. Humanity deserves to live in dignity. That is why we resist. Struggle is not a hobby, not a pleasure: it is a necessity. Let me give a powerful example of denied citizenship. Twenty years ago, when people asked where I came from, I would say I was Kurdish and came from Turkey. And they laughed. They told us: ‘Kurds do not exist, you are nobody!’ They mocked and humiliated us constantly. But today, when I say I am Kurdish, people listen, recognise us, respect us. The world knows about the Kurdish struggle because of our resistance. Now, I proudly say: ‘I am Kurdish,’ and I say it wherever I go. It has not been easy, but we have had the strength of our politics, our culture, our art. I have always been involved in the struggle for Kurdistan, but not only that. I care about Italy, about Europe, and about struggles happening around the world. I even created one of my pieces for the Serbian students when they arrived in Brussels at the end of their ultramarathon.
I stand in solidarity with all these struggles because I believe that only in a truly democratic world can we all breathe and experience freedom and democracy. I am truly happy to be here with you today. When I heard that there was an active movement in Italy fighting for democracy and the right to citizenship, I came immediately and I also prepared this commemorative book to support your campaign in view of the referendum.»
In conclusion, the citizenship referendum represents a tangible opportunity to recognise the rights of millions of people who live, study, and work in Italy. It marks an important step toward building a more inclusive and just society. It is essential that all eligible voters take an active role in this political process, fully aware of its significance for the future of Italy, of Europe, and for the creation of a community that truly reflects its diversity and lived realities.
Just as in 1946, today more than ever, citizenship is exercised through informed and conscious participation in the upcoming vote.
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