The author, a British expat living in Italy since 2012, shares insights on the citizenship challenges faced by many non-EU foreigners. Despite speaking the language and integrating into the community, the author reflects on the inability to vote and the implications of an upcoming referendum aimed at reducing the legal residency requirement for citizenship from 10 to 5 years. Through personal anecdotes and testimonies from others, such as Sonny and Benedicta, the article underscores the systemic obstacles faced by approximately 1.4 million foreigners in Italy, affecting their citizenship applications.
It's estimated that as many as 1.4 million people, including 284,000 minors, are living in similar states of limbo, their paths to citizenship blocked due to clerical errors and other systemic obstacles.
At an Italians Without Citizenship event, Sonny shared his struggles, highlighting that vital documents sent to the wrong address had delayed his citizenship for over a decade.
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