A total of 12,000 Brazilians applied for Italian citizenship in one year in the Veneto region, with an average of one thousand per month.
In spite of the fact that the majority of applications for citizenship in Italy came from nationals from Brazil, a significant increase in requests was also noted by nationals from Argentina and Venezuela.
According to local media reports, the main reason for the increased number of applications for Italian citizenship is that internationals are eligible to travel more easily. In addition, those who hold such a document, in addition to being able to travel to the EU, can also travel to the United States by benefiting from the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
The US VWP program allows nationals from specific countries to travel to the US for tourism or business purposes for stays of 90 days or less without being required to apply for a visa at first.
At present, all Brazilians are required to have a visa when travelling to the US, taking into account passengers making international connections. However, tourists with dual nationalities may be eligible to enter the US without visas under the VWP scheme by using their non-Brazilian passport, as explained by the US Embassy and Consulates in Brazil.
In a municipality in the province of Belluno, Val di Zoldo, the mayor, Camillo De Pellegrin, decided to display the Brazilian flag as a sign of protest due to an overwhelming number of requests.
The town has ironically adopted the name “Municipality of Val di Zoldo in Brazil, State of Rio Grande do Sul,” by the mayor De Pellegrin, as reported by Il Corriere.
We will give priority to the practices of Italian-Brazilian citizens to avoid exposing the Municipality to further appeals, complaints or requests for compensation. We will first deal with jure sanguinis citizenships and then with our residents since this is what the State wants. Municipality of Val di Zoldo of Brazil, State of Rio Grande do Sul. We will also fly the Brazilian flag.
According to local media reports, a significant increase in appeals has been noted since 2022.
The president of the Venice court, Salvatore Laganà, already expressed concerns about this trend in the report of the previous year, citing 2,600 appeals. This year’s report indicated that a total of 6,923 appeals were registered by June 30, thus accounting for 55 per cent of civil litigation, which totalled 12,632 files.
However, by the end of the year, Laganà’s data revealed an increase, with 12,000 appeals thus accounting for 68 per cent of the total files for the year.
