An integration exam to become Italian, longer periods of legal residency to obtain citizenship, and new grounds for revoking it: the League is pushing for a crackdown on the legislation, submitting to the Chamber of Deputies a bill that has been widely publicized in recent months, especially after the June referendum that rejected the idea of halving the legal residency requirement to five years to apply.

"Citizenship is a serious matter, and it must be treated as such!" Matteo Salvini clarified, adding an exclamation point, explaining that in addition to "more stringent requirements," the bill includes "anti-Maranza" rules and a crackdown on family reunifications.

This initiative is being contested by the opposition, and even among its allies, not everyone supports it, given that there had already been strong tensions this summer with Forza Italia, which instead supports the reform of the Ius Scholae. The tone is also different from that used on the issue by Defense Minister Guido Crosetto in an interview with Avvenire: "We must offer men and women around the world, who truly want to be, the opportunity to become Italian citizens. I am thinking of a citizenship path that gives strength to Italy. My goal is to give strength to those who care and respect Italy."

The League's bill, finalized in September, has now been filed with the Chamber of Deputies, and it is still awaiting confirmation as to whether and when it will begin its parliamentary process in committee.

The League demands that foreigners born in Italy, to become Italian citizens at age 18, pass an exam (defined by the Interior Ministry) to assess their effective integration and knowledge of basic social and legal norms. Furthermore , they must not have any criminal convictions or proceedings for non-negligent crimes. The League also requires revocation of sentences for those convicted of more than five years or more than three years for crimes of gender-based violence, rape, mistreatment of family members and cohabitants, stalking, revenge porn, as well as so-called "culturally motivated" crimes, such as forced or forced marriage, female genital mutilation, or human trafficking.

Salvini's party proposes doubling the period of legal residence in Italy from two to four years for minors, children, or second-degree descendants of Italians, as well as for those with an Italian-born parent; from three to ten years for foreigners born in Italy; from four to eight for EU citizens; and from five to ten for stateless persons. Instead, it proposes shortening the administrative procedures from 24 to 12 months (extendable to 24 instead of 36), and reducing the deadline for revoking citizenship from ten to two years, eliminating the possibility of revocation if the interested party does not possess or cannot acquire another citizenship.

(Unioneonline)

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