Italy votes on speeding up citizenship for foreigners

Italians are voting in a referendum to shorten the residency requirement for citizenship from ten to five years for non-EU foreigners, a proposal opposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rightwing government. If approved, this change could enable about half of Italy’s 5.4 million foreign residents to apply for citizenship, aligning Italy’s immigration rules with those of Germany and France. However, low voter turnout is expected, as Meloni’s government encourages abstention, potentially preventing the referendum from reaching the required participation threshold for it to be binding.

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