The many questions we dayly receive on familiar unity prove that, though Italy boasts to be respectful of family’s values, sensibility towards families and foreign minors is not increasing. These are considered “potentially criminals”. We often meet strict bureaucracy and lack of communication among qualified offices; this leads to the block of cases that from a human and moral point of view should find positive solutions.
Italian citizenship – How to regularise a foreign mother whose child is Italian since birth
Question – I am an Albanian citizen, I am about to come to Italy together with my daughter, who is four years old. My daughter holds an Italian passport since her father is Italian. My question is: how can I have residence papers issued? The problem is that my cohabitant and I are not married and the Italian embassy in Tirana was not able of answering to my questions. Since my daughter is Italian, shouldn’t I be entitled to residence papers? Best regards.
Answer – Italian law offers a specific solution to this problem. Your daughter has in fact the right to live in her country together with both her father and her mother.
Rules concerning the right to familiar unity are provided for by Immigration consolidated act art. 28, which states: “… Italian citizens’ foreign relatives – both non-EU and EU citizens – have the same rights to freely move that EU citizens hold.”.
Actual law on EU citizens’ freedom of movement also recognises that parents of EU citizens have the same chance of freely moving in EU that their children have.
This is the meaning of the disposition we’ve just quoted – art.28 paragraph 2. Dispositions say that Italian citizens’ relatives are equalized to EU citizens and they therefore can freely move around European Union countries.
Immigration consolidated act also provides for (art. 29 paragraph 6) that parents can rejoing their Italian underage children. They need to prove that they hold all requisites such as idoneous lodgings and income, as provided for in case of family rejoinings. This needs to be documented within one year from their arrival. Art. 4 paragraph 6 rules over cases of expelled or signalled into SIS (Schengen Information System) citizens.