Italian municipalities are facing a growing demand for Italian citizenship of people residing mainly in South America, especially in Argentina and Brazil. It is unsustainable for municipalities, which cannot deal with the exponential increase in requests — 1.200% in the last ten years.
The 98 mayors of the municipalities of the province of Verona, in particular, made an appeal to the Italian government to help them deal with this problem, according to the newspaper La Arena.
Representatives sent letters to the Ministry of the Interior, local parliamentarians, the president of the Veneto Region and ANUSCA (National Association of Civil Registration and Registration Officials), requesting an immediate solution.
After citizenship has been transcribed, municipal registry offices must deal with applications to register with Aire, the Register of Italians Resident Abroad, and to include adults on electoral lists.
Furthermore, there is a considerable increase in requests for historical certificates, which require archival research and incessant and voluminous telephone and email correspondence.
The scenario is unsustainable for many mayors, especially in small and medium-sized cities, who do not have a sufficient number of employees to deal with the increase in the number of requests.
“Despite changing the municipal regulations and providing more time for processing processes, no significant advantages are obtained, as these requests continue to grow. Furthermore, many law firms sent notices to meet deadlines or even started fights with municipalities”, wrote Flavio Pasini, president of the province of Verona, in the letter.
Several municipalities have adopted extraordinary services, with overtime beyond normal working hours or transferring employees from other offices to be able to operate with the necessary attention in acquiring and evaluating deposited documents.
