“Recovering the roots… after having uprooted them by decree”.The Interministerial Decree of 24 November formalizes the list of countries whose Italian descendants (“oriundi”) are now eligible to obtain authorization for subordinate employment in Italy.
On Monday, 24 November, the Official Gazette published the decree entitled: “Identification of the States of destination of significant flows of Italian emigration whose citizens, if they are descendants of Italian citizens, may enter and remain in Italy for employment in a subordinate capacity outside the quotas provided for in Article 3, paragraph 4, of Legislative Decree 286/1998.” Dated 17 November, the decree is signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio TaUnder the new decree, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Australia, Canada, Venezuela, and Uruguay are the countries from which these descendants may come to Italy to work.jani, together with the Ministers of the Interior, Piantedosi, and of Labour, Calderone.The structural paradox: those who were Italians by right must now apply as foreigners
A legal-critical analysis of the Interministerial Decree of 24 November and the new category of “descendants entitled to work in Italy”
The Interministerial Decree of 24 November formalizes the list of countries whose Italian descendants (“oriundi”) are now eligible to obtain authorization for subordinate employment in Italy.
On Monday, 24 November, the Official Gazette published the decree entitled:
“Identification of the States of destination of significant flows of Italian emigration whose citizens, if they are descendants of Italian citizens, may enter and remain in Italy for employment in a subordinate capacity outside the quotas provided for in Article 3, paragraph 4, of Legislative Decree 286/1998.”
Dated 17 November, the decree is signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, together with the Ministers of the Interior, Piantedosi, and of Labour, Calderone.
Opposition media argue that the 500,000 entries authorized over three years by the “Decreto Flussi” are apparently not enough; now the Government intends to encourage the return of descendants of Italian citizens from North and South America—an irony for an administration that publicly presents itself as hostile to immigration.
Under the new decree, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Australia, Canada, Venezuela, and Uruguay are the countries from which these descendants may come to Italy to work.
The introductory section explains that these States were selected “on the basis of the current size of the Italian communities residing therein”, quantified as of 31 December 2024 as follows: 989,901 in Argentina; 682,300 in Brazil; 241,056 in the United States; 166,848 in Australia; 148,251 in Canada; 116,396 in Venezuela; and 115,658 in Uruguay.
The decree stresses the opportunity to “promote return migration of the descendants of Italian citizens residing in the aforementioned countries”, while specifying that due to the “innovative nature of the measure envisaged in Article 1-bis”, the Government has decided “to limit its application, in an initial phase, to the seven identified countries, postponing any possible extension to additional States to future measures.”
A title which, in itself, deserves special mention for its legal irony: it invokes the “recovery of roots”… after having severed them abruptly by decree, without prior notice to those affected.
The normative core: Article 1-bis of the Tajani Decree
At the heart of this expanded system lies Article 1-bis of Decree 36/2005 (the “Tajani Decree”), which inserts into Article 27 of Legislative Decree 286/1998 the following text:
“Entry and stay for the purpose of subordinate employment shall be permitted—outside the quotas referred to in Article 3, paragraph 4, and pursuant to the procedures set out in Article 22—to foreign nationals residing abroad who are descendants of Italian citizens and hold the citizenship of a State of destination of significant flows of Italian emigration, identified by decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in agreement with the Ministers of the Interior and of Labour and Social Policies.”
Thus, the legal framework authorizes entry for subordinate employment to foreign-resident descendants of Italian citizens, provided they hold citizenship of one of the “selected” countries.
Furthermore, Article 1-bis of the Tajani Decree reduces from three to two years the period of legal residence required to apply for Italian citizenship by residence in the case of descendants of Italians.
At first glance, the measure may appear to be a gesture of openness. However, a closer reading reveals a legal operation that is more cosmetic than substantive.
The structural paradox: those who were Italians by right must now apply as foreigners
The underlying contradiction is unmistakable:
these “oriundi”, prior to the Tajani Decree, were Italians by right of blood (ius sanguinis), original citizens.
The legislature arbitrarily revoked this recognition, relegating them to a legal limbo incompatible with the official narrative on the Italian diaspora. The present decree thus resembles a belated “consolation prize.”
Today, the very same descendants—Italian in identity, culture, and lineage—must enter Italy as foreigners, subject to the same filters imposed on any non-EU worker.
A return to the homeland conditioned on passing through a fully-fledged bureaucratic maze.
A supposedly “facilitated” procedure that appears structured not to function
1. The fiction of the available employer
The alleged “benefit” requires the descendant to first obtain a subordinate employment contract.
The employer must request a nulla osta (authorization) and verify with the Centro per l’Impiego that no Italian worker is registered for that position.
2. Job-seeking… from 12,000 kilometres away
The decree disregards the actual dynamics of the labour market:
How can a candidate demonstrate professional competence while seeking employment from abroad, without in-person interviews or knowledge of the Italian labour context?
Italy is moving increasingly toward self-employment, short-term contracts, and partita IVA arrangements.
Yet descendants may enter only through lavoro subordinato (employment in a dependent capacity).
A basic consequence: liberal professionals—lawyers, physicians, dentists—cannot come to Italy to work.
3. A substantial procedural bottleneck
If the candidate successfully completes the sequence of:
• finding an employer,
• obtaining negative verification from the Centro per l’Impiego,
• having the employer submit the “nulla osta”,
• waiting for the consular visa,
• and receiving final confirmation from the employer,
only then may they enter Italy.
Upon arrival, they must apply for a permesso di soggiorno per lavoro (residence permit for work), an additional bureaucratic step.
To this must be added the temporal and financial costs borne by both employer and worker.
Subsequently, the worker must reside two years legally before applying for citizenship, with a procedure that typically adds three to four more years.
In total, five to six years as a foreigner in Italy, subject to constant legal uncertainty—enough time for:
• the decree to be amended,
• the Tajani Law to be declared unconstitutional,
• or a new parliamentary majority to revise the rules again.
By contrast, a judicial action challenging the law’s constitutionality would take far less time, without requiring travel to Italy.
The “scientific” selection of countries: when roots become statistics
The Government justified the choice of the seven countries based on the “consistenza attuale delle collettività italiane” (current size of Italian communities abroad).
A legal translation: more emigrants = greater eligibility to return.
The recommendation of the Consiglio Generale degli Italiani all’Estero, which proposed including Mexico, Peru, Chile, and South Africa, was ignored.
The measure, as the decree itself acknowledges, is “innovative” and therefore limited “to an initial phase.”
The most striking case is Argentina, which hosts the largest Italian community in the world, where millions grew up—rightly—believing that “we are all a little Italian.”
Now Italy opens its doors… but only after a bureaucratic ritual worthy of magical realism.
A decree that promises roots but delivers paperwork
It is difficult to argue that this decree genuinely promotes the “recupero delle radici italiane.”
If these roots were truly valued, they would have been preserved, not subjected to procedures that exclude rather than integrate.
The decree does not provide a realistic pathway for the return of descendants; rather, it constitutes a legal fiction aimed at mitigating the harm caused by the revocation of citizenship.
A merely formal consolation prize, a race of obstacles that only a few will be willing—or able—to undertake.
Pablo Munini
Lawyer