Americans interested in seeking refuge in Italy due to dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s administration will encounter increased difficulty in acquiring citizenship in the country.
Several individuals have already departed the United States, including public figures such as Rosie O’Donnell, who relocated to Ireland in January, and Ellen DeGeneres, who made a move to the UK in November.
In a surprising turn of events, Italy announced on March 28 that it would be implementing stricter guidelines for obtaining citizenship, reversing its earlier decision to allow descendants of Italian-born ancestors to claim citizenship.
People were originally told they would be granted citizenship in the European country if they had ancestors who were born there after March 17, 1861 – the day the Kingdom of Italy was founded.
Now, individuals are only eligible to obtain an Italian passport if they have at least one parent or grandparent who was born there.
Many people who have started their application process did so with proof that their great-grandparents were born in the country, but now their chances have been thrown out the window.
Jerry Lombardo, who has dreamed of moving to Italy to start a business with his wife for years, was one of those people banking on his great-grandparents’ ancestry and jure sanguinis – right of blood – to get them there.
‘It’s frustrating to say the least, because you’re told your whole entire life that you’re Italian,’ Lombardo, an Italian-American, told The Washington Post.
American citizens who are fed up with President Donald Trump’s administration are going to have a hard time relocating to Italy due to new restrictions. (Pictured: Trump on Sunday)
People were originally told they would be granted citizenship in the European country if they had ancestors who were born there after March 17, 1861 – the day the Kingdom of Italy was founded. (Pictured: Stock photo of Venice)
‘Up until last week, you are told that you have the right to citizenship. This entire jure sanguinis thing, it’s not me petitioning to get my citizenship. It is the government acknowledging that, yeah, you are an Italian by birth.’
The tedious jure sanguinis application process involves hiring legal experts and in-depth genealogy research.
Over the past couple years, Italian leaders have been weighed down by the influx of applications, leaving government offices with less time to focus on other pressing matters, the outlet reported.
Meanwhile, locals have voiced their criticism about how easy it was for people to obtain citizenship in Italy.
Italian national Flavio Spadavecchia said he has some compassion for those who have to alter their plans due to the new restriction, but also thinks this was long overdue.
‘It would be kind of shameful for us to keep having this law forever, because it is basically admitting to people who are born in Italy, and who do not receive citizenship at birth, we’re saying, “This person who is from New Jersey and his great-grandparents were from Sicily, he has more of a claim to citizenship than you”,’ Spadavecchia explained.
Children born in Italy are not granted citizenship until the age of 18, and have to apply to apply to obtain it. The ongoing migrant crisis in the country has been an ongoing issue that drags out crucial opportunities like education and interacting with their local community, per la Repubblica.
‘I just don’t like that as an Italian national. I don’t want other countries to have that impression.’
Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani echoed Spadavecchia’s opinion, telling The Washington Post, ‘Being an Italian citizen is a serious thing.’
Now, individuals are only eligible to obtain an Italian passport if they have at least one parent or grandparent who was born there. (Pictured: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Wednesday)
Americans aren’t the only ones looking to relocate to Italy, as citizenship was granted to 20,000 people in 2023 and 30,000 in 2024. Argentine President Javier Milei (pictured on November 14) was one of those who obtained citizenship as his grandparents are Italian
‘It’s not a game to get a passport in your pocket to go shopping in Miami.’
Over the course of 10 years – from 2014 to 2024 – the number of Italian citizens living abroad rose from 4.6 million to 6.4 million, according to Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
If jure sanguinis applications continued how they were prior to this change, the ministry estimates that 60-80 million people would be eligible for citizenship in Italy.
At a press conference last week, Tajani revealed that in recent years a majority of jure sanguinis applicants have come from South American countries.
Italian citizenship was granted to 20,000 Argentinians in 2023 and 30,000 in 2024.
Argentine President Javier Milei was one of those who obtained citizenship as his grandparents are Italian. He is also an ally of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The decision to grant him citizenship sparked a great deal of criticism from Italians, including lawmaker Riccardo Magi.
He took to X, explaining that ‘millions of Italians without citizenship who were born in Italy, who grew up in our county, who studied here, who work here, who pay taxes in our country – unlike President Mileli – having Italian citizenship will remain an ordeal.’
Soon after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, DeGeneres (pictured in 2015) and her wife Portia de Rossi made a quick exit from the US to rural England
O’Donnell (pictured in October 2024) confirmed in March that she relocated to Ireland on January 15 – just days before the inauguration
Similarly, Italy has also seen an influx of citizens from Brazil as 14,000 people were granted citizenship in 2022 and 20,000 in 2024.
Andressa Anjos, from southern Brazil, has been working on becoming an Italian citizen since she applied in September 2023.
Since submitting her application, her case has been reassigned to three judges, and now with the new restrictions, she is bound to face more issues.
She believes that people who have already applied should be exempt from this new rule.
‘To do this from one day to another is so abrupt. It’s disrespectful to the people who are going through the process,’ Anjos told the outlet.
Now, she said she has been left at a crossroads, adding that she has been enduring this process for a total of eight years.
‘To visit the U.S., it’s easier to get a visa. We apply, and maybe in six months, we can get a travel visa and go to Miami and do shopping there. It doesn’t make any sense,’ she added.
Soon after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi made a quick exit from the US.
The 66-year-old talk show host and her partner, 51, packed up their bags and headed across the pond to rural England.
Since then, they have been selling off their properties in the US, including a home in Montecito, California.
Meanwhile, O’Donnell confirmed in March that she relocated to Ireland on January 15 – just days before the inauguration.
The outspoken Trump hater told her 2.5 million followers that she’s having a ‘wonderful’ time living in Ireland – but admitted that she is already missing things about the US.
She said: ‘It’s been pretty wonderful, I have to say. The people are so loving and so kind, so welcoming. And I’m very grateful.’
She noted that leaving the States was something she never expected to happen in her life, adding: ‘I was never someone who thought I would move to another country, that’s what I decided would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child. And here we are.’
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