Question – Dearest Editorial staff,
I wish to have some information about familiar unity rights.
Immigration Consolidated act establishes rules on family unity, these rules provide for that non-EU or EU relatives to Italian citizens are to be applied Presidential Decree dispositions 1656 issued December 30th 1965 and also the new more favourable dispositions introduced by actual law and its own rules for the enforcement.
DPR 54 issued January 18th 2002 establishes that foreigners that are relatives to Italian citizens are to be considered the same as EU citizens.
At the same time Immigration Consolidated act n. 286 affirms that such citizens cannot be expelled, police headquarters usually issue them family cohesion residence papers, which allows labouring.
An example: a non-EU citizen has become Italian and his/her brother regularly lives in Germany. If this person comes to Italy on basis of tourism, can he live with his brother/sister and can he have papers issued? How can this person prove that he lives with his brother/sister?
Another example: what about a non-EU citizen adopted by an Italian parents (the child obtained the family’s surname and Italian citizenship)? Do the child’s biological parents keep relations? If this happen, does the child allow his/her aunt/uncle to come to Italy and live with him/her?
Thank you a lot.
Answer – Immigration Consolidated act art. 8 paragraph 2 states: “Italian or EU citizens’ foreign relatives are to respect Presidential Decree dispositions issued December 30th 1965 and also the newly introduced more favourable dispositions. Foreigners related to Italian citizens are to be considered the same as EU citizens from a juridical point of view.”
Consolidated Act’s rules on freedom of movement (DPR 54 issued January 18th 2002) provide for that foreigners that are relatives to Italian citizens are to follow rules and directives EU citizens have to respect, this means that EU citizens and those relatives are put on the same footing and they therefore are granted freedom of movement and residence.
These same citizens cannot be expelled and they have the right to residence papers issued on basis of familiar unity (Consolidated act art. 19). This permit allows to labour.
In case of a brother regularly living in Germany: he can come to Italy without the need of entry visa (thanks to Schengen Treaty). He can come to Italy for tourism or short stays, he can stay three months the most but he will need to refer to police headquarters once he gets to Italy (he has eight days to go) and have tourism visa issued. In case this person chooses to move to Italy and live with his Italian brother, he can ask to have art. 19 applied and have a family matters permit immediately released since he lives with an Italian brother.
In this case law talks about nationality and not about citizenship. Anyway, Italian Constitution (art. 3) states that all citizens all equal to law. Law cannot treat citizens differently just because someone is born Italian and someone else is naturalised Italian.
In case of a non-EU citizen, a child adopted by Italian citizens (and therefore naturalised Italian) this law cannot be applied since biological relatives are not by law relatives anymore. Law 184/1983 art. 27 – On adoption – provides for that adoption implies that loss of juridical relation with the biological family of the adopted.