When Kellen Matwick, his spouse Jacqueline and their two kids boarded a one-way flight to Italy in August 2024, they toasted their new life.
Matwick, whose great-grandparents emigrated from central Italy to Pennsylvania, is a part of the huge Italian diaspora.
He’s additionally one of many tens of millions who noticed his hopes dashed when the Italian authorities modified its legal guidelines round citizenship by descent a yr in the past, on March 28, 2025 — a transfer that was bolstered this month when Italy’s constitutional courtroom gave discover that it will reject the first legal argument in opposition to the legislation.
When it launched the legislation by emergency decree, the federal government cited the spiraling numbers of residents by descent who had by no means lived in Italy.
But for Matwick, the brand new legislation — launched with out warning in March 2025 — hasn’t simply dashed his hopes for the long run. It has additionally torpedoed his day-to-day life.
He is certainly one of many members of the diaspora who had moved to Italy to start the method of reclaiming their citizenship — solely to have the foundations change earlier than the paperwork was accomplished.
And with no grace interval for many who have been already within the nation working by means of preliminary steps of the method that culminates in an official recognition of citizenship, he has discovered himself in limbo in Italy — unable to apply for jobs, journey, or entry healthcare as he waits for his authorized state of affairs to be resolved.
People in Matwick’s state of affairs had two choices when the legislation modified: wait to see what occurred, or surrender and go dwelling.
But for many who give up their jobs, offered their houses and possessions, and purchased one-way flights, going dwelling will not be so easy.
One yr on from the legislation change, they’re stranded in Italy — on unsure authorized floor, with unsure immigration standing, and no manner to earn a dwelling legally of their present circumstances. All as a result of they adopted their dream of returning to the nation of their ancestors — in a manner that Italy used to enable.
For the Matwicks, shifting to Italy was step one in a brand new life.
The couple, who had beforehand lived in New York City, have been elevating their two children in Arizona when they determined to to migrate in 2022. They had two choices: Spain, the place Matwick might get a digital nomad visa as a contract video editor, or Italy, the place he certified for citizenship by descent through his great-grandparents. The couple each converse Spanish fluently, however selected Italy as a result of citizenship meant a extra sure future.
Rather than claiming citizenship by means of a US consulate, which generally takes years, they opted to transfer to Italy and do the paperwork on arrival — a route which has at all times been allowed for Italo-descendants. That manner, they thought, they might combine their children (5 and two when they left) whereas they have been nonetheless younger. “It was an incentive to start our lives quicker,” said Jacqueline. “It didn’t seem like a risk — the process has existed for decades.”
Immigrating as an Italian descendant is a lasagna of bureaucratic layers. First, arrivals should discover a long-term rental contract, then register with an area authority — a 45-day course of. They should purchase a residency allow from the police. Only then can they current their paperwork to the native authorities, who will then “recognize” their citizenship — which, till 2025’s legislation, was thought-about as current from delivery. The whole course of can take something from a couple of months to a number of years.
One workaround is to transfer to a small, rural group the place the method will be sooner. The Matwicks dominated this out, believing it to be an abuse of the system.
“We said, ‘Let’s do it the right way,’” said Kellen. “We treated it like an actual move, chose the city we actually wanted to go to. We said, we’ll get an apartment, have the kids learn Italian, live a real Italian life. We did everything they wanted us to do. Now I feel so stupid — because we did it the right way, we got penalized.”
It took two years to collect the documentation proving Matwick’s descent, and the household arrived in Turin in August 2024. The subsequent day, they emailed town authorities saying their presence and intent to declare citizenship.
“It was August, so nobody responded,” said Jacqueline — most companies in Italy shut for the month. “I messaged again in three weeks, and they told us to come in the middle of October.”
But on October 3, the Italian authorities issued a round that rendered hundreds of Americans ineligible for citizenship. The new rule, dubbed the “minor issue,” said that if a dad or mum of an Italian little one born overseas naturalized whereas their children have been nonetheless underage, that may “cut” the road of descent. There was no grace interval for many who had already began the method.
Kellen Matwick’s great-grandfather naturalized when his daughter was a toddler. He not certified for citizenship.
The household attended their appointment anyway.
“They told us, ‘You guys were already here, so we think you have a really good chance,’” said Jacqueline, who would have acquired citizenship by means of marriage as soon as Kellen had been acknowledged. “But ultimately they rejected us.”
The couple employed a lawyer who advised they pivot to a courtroom case by means of Kellen’s great-grandmother, assuring them that they’d have the option to stay in Turin and put the children by means of faculty as they waited for his or her listening to. Women have been prevented from passing on Italian citizenship till 1948, however since 2009, hundreds have efficiently sued the federal government on civil rights grounds. The Matwicks began gathering the paperwork for Kellen’s great-grandmother.
On March 28, 2025, whereas they have been nonetheless collating the required paperwork, the Italian authorities launched an emergency decree limiting citizenship to two generations. It grandfathered in those that had already filed courtroom circumstances, however for many who have been within the technique of submitting, there was no grace interval.
Again, the household had misplaced their path to citizenship.
“We felt we were constantly hit by waves,” said Jacqueline. “We kept making the logical choice based on the advice we were given in the moment, but each time it turned out to be the wrong choice.”
Nineteen months on from their arrival, the Matwicks are nonetheless in Italy. Over the previous yr for the reason that new legislation was introduced in, they say that they have been given permission to stay, then had it rescinded. Jacqueline has had a 3rd little one throughout this limbo — and though that meant going through an unsure future whereas pregnant, it entitled her to a brief visa, protecting her and the children. It expires subsequent month.
Meanwhile Kellen Matwick has not but been granted a allow to stay. His authorized limbo implies that he’s been unable to journey to go to his household within the States — he seemingly wouldn’t be allowed again into the EU. He’s working as a freelancer, however paying taxes to the US, not Italy as he had deliberate — as a result of he isn’t a resident. And he doesn’t qualify for healthcare. The household are holding their breath till their courtroom date in January 2027.
“We have kids in school. We shipped all our furniture and had to sign a four-year lease as part of the process. We didn’t have the financial resources to move back immediately. I don’t know what they expect people to do — it seems they didn’t think about the impact,” said Jacqueline.
The couple try to elevate their children — who already attend faculty in Turin — with out passing on their stress. School workers and their fellow mother and father are a supply of help, even accompanying them to visa appointments.
“We’re doing all we can to integrate,” said Jacqueline, including that they love life in Turin. “If we have to move the kids it’ll make me really sad that they have to break off these relationships.”
The Matwicks aren’t alone. Erica Galbreath had put her South Dakota dwelling up on the market and was mid-purchase of a property in Tuscany, intending to transfer along with her husband and three children, when the “minor issue” hit.
Like the Matwicks, Galbreath pivoted to a courtroom case by means of her great-great grandmother (initially she and her dad have been making use of by means of his grandfather). Luckily for her, she acquired the documentation in time to file the case 9 days earlier than the shock legislation change. Her citizenship was confirmed earlier this yr.
In the meantime, she jumped by means of authorized hurdles to transfer to Italy. She and her husband utilized for scholar visas to research Italian, which enabled them to convey the children.
“We always planned to move, and I knew getting appointments at the consulates was a nightmare — I spoke to people who tried for seven years,” she said of their leap of religion.
“The kids were 10, seven and five at the time of the move. We wanted to come when they could be fully immersed in the language. They’d have been teenagers if we’d waited for an appointment.”
Galbreath’s pivot was profitable, however she says that she is aware of of no less than 5 households in comparable conditions to the Matwicks. “They’re stuck in this weird limbo,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking for people who uprooted their entire lives, wanted to be in Italy, to pay taxes, learn the language and contribute, and they’re locked out.”
NCS additionally spoke to a Italo-descendant who offered all their possessions to transfer to Italy, arriving two days after the decree. Having completed their financial savings, they are actually dwelling within the nation illegally, working cash-in-hand, as they await their courtroom date. NCS will not be figuring out them, in order not to put them in danger.
While some have stayed, different would-be immigrants have reluctantly gone dwelling. Jackie Wang spent 5 years attempting to get an appointment at Italy’s consulates in Boston and Los Angeles earlier than shifting to Turin after a good friend efficiently claimed her citizenship within the metropolis.
A poet and tutorial, she signed a four-year rental contract, as required by the authorities, and arrived on October 1, 2025. Two days later, the “minor issue” hit. “It was the worst possible timing,” she said.
Wang — who speaks Italian at a B2, or higher intermediate degree, and has 4 great-grandparents from Sicily — had already made an appointment to acknowledge her citizenship, so hoped she is likely to be handled as a case in progress.
“He wouldn’t even take my documents,” she said. “He said, ‘Why did you even come here?’ But I’d moved earlier than the legislation modified. I didn’t know this was going to occur.
“I started crying in the office. I’d uprooted my life. I had a lease and bills. I’d prepaid for Italian classes. He said, ‘Oh well, since you don’t have a family it’ll be easier for you to go back to the US.”
But Wang had nowhere to return to — she’d ended her US rental contract and had already accepted a job as a visiting scholar on the University of Turin. She went again to the US, staying at a good friend’s house whereas she utilized for a analysis visa, earlier than returning to Turin. In the meantime, she, too, pivoted to a courtroom case, however the generational restrict hit earlier than she might collate the paperwork. In December 2025 her visa expired, and he or she had to return dwelling.
“I was totally traumatized by this experience,” she said, describing the sudden adjustments as “whiplash.”
Wang is now assistant professor of literary arts at Brown University, however nonetheless goals of a life in Italy. She is even nonetheless paying her Turin lease. “I wanted to live there part-time, and eventually settle full-time,” she said. “If anything changes, I still want to do it. Turin has an amazing literary history, I fell in love with the city.” She hopes to purchase an house there.
“I was very committed to having a life in Italy,” she provides. “That’s what’s frustrating about the way the rules were written. There’s a way to account for allowing people who want to create a connection to stay — maybe a time-limited residency. If they were afraid people were just trying to get an EU passport, why not write the law to account for that? What was shocking was there was no phase-in period. It left everyone who’d moved to Italy screwed.”
Lea Black can be maintaining the dream alive. She was raised in Connecticut by her late grandfather, whose mother and father have been from Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily. Partly to honor him, and partly to join along with her roots, she booked a one-way ticket to Italy in February 2025.
Now, she’s lodging with a good friend in Atlanta, licking her wounds and searching for a brand new job, after giving up all the things to comply with her Italian dream.
“I’m back in the US with no home, no job, no car, no furniture. And it’s because I did exactly what they told me to do,” she said.
Black, who had tried for 3 years to get an appointment at Italy’s Miami consulate to have her citizenship acknowledged, give up her job in gross sales, ended her lease, and offered her possessions to transfer.
“My grandfather used to talk about Sicily with such happiness, and I didn’t realize until I was in Cattolica Eraclea how deep it would touch me,” she said.
“I saw a street sign with my grandfather’s last name on it, stopped to take a photo and met my first friend. The Sicilians embraced me in such a way that I felt my grandfather was guiding me.”
Black arrived on March 8, along with her paperwork so as — not like the others, she wasn’t affected by October’s ruling as her line wasn’t affected by the “minor issue.” She made an appointment for April 4 to get an Italian social safety quantity — one thing which she had requested from the consulate three months earlier than the transfer. But on March 28, the generational limits torpedoed her goals.
“I felt like a horse kicked me in the chest,” she said. “I was looking at my suitcases, thinking, ‘Holy sh*t.’ This road is just riddled with landmines — whichever way you turn, you’re screwed.”
She’d put apart sufficient cash for her first yr in Italy, planning to ramp up her facet hustle to a full-time gig. Instead, she used her financial savings to file a lawsuit. But after 90 days — the utmost time a non-EU citizen can spend within the EU with out a visa — she was no additional ahead.
Stalling for time, she moved to Albania, which is outdoors the EU. After three months there, she returned to Italy. After one other 90 days, she flew to Pennsylvania, the place she had a job supply — nevertheless it promptly fell by means of.
Staying with a good friend, Black’s remaining possessions slot in 4 suitcases; she has no medical insurance, and remains to be job-hunting. “If it wasn’t for the kindness of my friends I don’t know what I’d do,” she said. “The last year has been so draining. I feel very alone.”
Black’s courtroom case was heard in March however she has but to be taught the end result. “I’m holding on for dear life,” she said.
Black additionally qualifies for Polish citizenship by means of the opposite facet of her household, however said that it was at all times Italy that she wished. So far, she says she’s spent over $20,000 following her goals.
Italy’s Interior Ministry, which is answerable for immigration and citizenship, declined a request for touch upon the problems raised by NCS’s interviewees. When introducing the legislation in 2025, overseas minister Antonio Tajani said: “Being an Italian citizen is a serious matter, the granting of citizenship is a serious matter. Unfortunately over the years there have been abuses and requests for citizenship that went a bit beyond the true interest in our country.”
The nation’s citizenship legal guidelines have lengthy been controversial. While the diaspora has loved ius sanguinis, or citizenship by descent, it’s much less standard in Italy itself, the place it’s usually seen as a straightforward route to a coveted EU passport, with out generational limits (so long as no one misplaced citizenship, together with by naturalization) and with out the necessity for linguistic or cultural ties. By comparability, kids born in Italy to immigrant mother and father can’t apply for citizenship till they are 18 (earlier if their parents naturalize), usually leaving younger individuals who have been born, raised and schooled as Italians, foreigners. Black calls this “insane”; Wang “can’t even imagine” what it’s like.
“We’re fully aware we don’t have the hardest immigrant story,” said Jacqueline Matwick. “I don’t want to seem tone deaf. We’re safe. We won’t get picked up outside our kids’ school and put in a detention center.”
And but, their lives have all been upended.
All say that if Italy have been to introduce a residency requirement for the diaspora to have their citizenship acknowledged, they would leap on the probability.
“If they said ‘Live here for two years first,’ I’d be on the next plane over,” said Black. “I wanted to live here forever.”
They cling on within the hope that the upcoming hearings in regards to the generational limits on the Constitutional Court, and an April listening to in regards to the “minor issue” on the Corte di Cassazione, Italy’s supreme courtroom, may convey higher information. Marco Mellone, one of many legal professionals concerned within the latter, has already told NCS that he hopes to tackle the generational limits throughout proceedings.
In the meantime, these caught in limbo take issues daily. “Every time we have a glimmer of hope it gets shot down,” said Jacqueline Matwick. “I feel like I’m in the ocean and the waves keep coming.”