How the rules for Italian Citizenship change for Brits from today

Italian citizenship change, there’s some bad news today for British nationals living in Italy and hoping to soon apply for Italian citizenship through residency after being in the country for four years. While many people may have thought the terms for Italian citizenship applications based on residency would remain the same after Brexit day, at least during the transition period, British Embassy officials have confirmed that this is not the case. British Embassy officials told Brits living in Italy this week that unless they’ve been a resident for four years or more by today – January 31st 2020 – they will not be eligible, as these terms will no longer apply after Brexit. Instead, they may now have to wait ten years under Italy’s third-country national rules.

At a town hall meeting in Rome on Wednesday, a British embassy representative said that, according to the Italian government, any British citizen who had been here for at least four years by Brexiit day (January 31st 2020) would be able to put in an application for citizenship until the end of the transition period, (Dec 31 2020.)

Anyone else will have to meet the ten years required of third-country nationals resident in Italy – unless applying through the marriage route. This will come as a huge blow to anyone nearing the four-year residency mark who had been expecting to be able to apply under the current rules. But in Italy, only EU citizens are allowed to apply after four years of residence.

Why is the cut-off date today and not at the end of the transition period?

The transition period doesn’t apply here, because Italian citizenship is a national competence (meaning it doesn’t fall under EU law) so it’s not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement (WA).

What if I’ve been in Italy for three years and 11 months?

Unfortunately, it seems that even if you reach the four-year mark during the transition period, you won’t be eligible.

Is this the case for Brits in other European countries too? Italian citizenship change

It depends entirely on the rules in each country, as citizenship is not covered by EU law. Rules vary, but in some countries, such as France, the citizenship laws are already quite similar to the current EU rules.