A migrant in Italy faces unfavourable eligibility requirements, which receive the third worst score of the 28 MIPEX countries, tied with AT, DK, EE and SI. Under rules dating back to 1992, first-generation migrants can apply after ten years' of uninterrupted residence, which would shorten to 5 under a current bill (see box). Their Italian-born descendants must have lived in Italy for 18 uninterrupted years. Yet Italians' spouses are eligible after just six months' residence or three years' marriage without residence. Naturalised migrants are insecure under the law since their Italian citizenship can be withdrawn at any time on many grounds, including if they performed a task for a foreign government that is ‘not appreciated.' Previously, the state suggested naturalising migrants give up their original nationality; increasingly the state firmly requests it. Children of certain nationalities can be dual nationals.
