New “factory” law of Italian citizenship in Brazil

New “factory” law of Italian citizenship in Brazil

The number of complaints from consumers who have lost the right to nationality grow and fear damage. Cautious consultants paralyze payments and procedures, but others insist on collecting new customers. The limitation of access to Italian citizenship for the descendants of the emigrants has placed a profitable legal and administrative consultative sector in Brazil and Italy. Explrate complaints from Brazilian consumers, often with already partial or fully paid contracts, which are injured by a sector inflated in recent years.




In extreme cases, customers feared tens of thousands of reais or has lost, at least for the moment, the right to citizenship, for not having deposited their judicial proceedings in Italy in time.

This year, the companies on the field saw the bubble that broke out suffering from two consecutive blows from the Italian government, which claims to contain abuses of the citizenship factory. The last law, which limits citizenship to children and grandchildren born in Italy, hit Brazil hard, where 32 million Italian descendants live, most of the fourth or fifth generation.

The complaint of the complaint presented here from January to May 567 complaints, compared to 126 in the same period last year, according to a survey by the company at the request of DW, who considered 50 companies. The most common complaints include violation of the contract or agreement, poor service or delay in the execution of the services.

At Procon de São Paulo, the treatments relating to the Italian citizenship industry increased from 16 to 2024 to 55 in the first five months of this year, in particular for an uninitiated offer, difficulty in changing or canceling the service, difficulty in contact or delay in the service. Among these, 33 occurred in April and May, following the decree.

Crisis announced

The complaints of slowness and the lack of transparency in the preparation of the documentation and in the conduct of the causes were already known in the sector. But in January, the increase in administrative costs for procedures not yet filed for 600 euros (equivalent to about 3.8 thousand reais) for citizenship applicant – and no more 300 euros per family – he played the alarm among customers. Each family process has dozens of candidates.

Therefore, a decree of 28 March prevented the services already taken by pronipotes or mats of emigrants pending, sometimes for several months, their processes were presented by the advice, even after paying and satisfied the necessary waste in Brazil and Italy. The decree would be approved by Congress in May.

In DW, ten customers of three companies mentioned in complaint here at least one hundred times in the last six months have reported difficulty in communicating with companies or obtaining the return of the amounts already paid for the services not rendered. The report had access to contracts, attempts to contact customers and communications with companies this year.

The total investment foreseen in a joint contract for 18 members of the Kerley Paes de Almeida family, residing in Balneário Camboriú (SC), has passed the 65 thousand reais with the global group Áquila, based in Curitiba. The negotiations dragged themselves from March 2023, but they did not become the opening of a cause in Italy, according to the customer. A police report was presented in May to the Civil Police of Santa Catarina.

It reports that neither the reimbursement deriving from the termination of the contract by the family last year, after alleged dissatisfied deadlines, errors in the meeting of evasive or disabled documents and communications. “The communication was already very negative before the new law came out. After everything that happened, we had no longer answered,” says Paes de Almeida.

Lost

Aquila presents itself as a giant in the sector with 10,000 processes to obtain Italian or Portuguese citizenship in progress, as well as over 4,000 already successful. In 2022, the company told the press to take the case of the family of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

In January, another client had already resorted to the Civil Police of Paraná, claiming the non -Crimaby of almost 10,000 reais paid for a service never performed. The case currently takes place in court.

Already in Caxias do Sul, in Rio Grande do Sul, the nutritionist Stephanie Biasio and three relatives have taken on the Italian citizenship of Nostra for 35 thousand reais in October. Now without more right to citizenship, he claims to have been encouraged to conclude agreements at the time of society, which has already mentioned the risk of legislative change in the near future.

He failed the promise to enjoy the most flexible rules of the last minutes, according to Stephanie. “We only entered (with the trial) because they warned that in December it would be filed”, he says.

It is the same that he says to the programmer Cássio Rivadávia, who lives in Lisbon and has taken on the company at the end of last year. “When this decree broke out, I started receiving and -up charging. And then they no longer participated in any channel.”

In the meantime, dozens of consumers who recognize themselves as victims of eagle they mobilize virtually. In total, six of them, who live in different cities in Brazil and abroad, have told the report not to receive answers for weeks or months from official service channels, including E -mail, phone calls and candidacy messages. Or, they only had vacant and inconclusive statements when they questioned the impact of the new rules.

The pendants remain requests for termination of contracts, return of original documents or clarifications on the feasibility of their processes.

“I am no longer sure of the guaranteed law, which I had when the legislation has not been approved,” says Felipe Almeida, from Taubaté. A contract established the payment of 20 thousand reais in 2023 for the recognition of the citizenship of his wife and son, the great of grandson, and the Italian emigrated stem, with the necessary documentation collected until December.

Chain problems

Aquila also accumulates 219 complaints in the last six months of complaint here, compared to 209 last year. Procon Do Paraná also received four complaints against the company from the decree, added to the previous three in 2025 and three others in 2024 and 2023.

“Many of the candidates are paying for bank nonsense, 36 times. People pay for something that we most likely no longer have,” says Vinícius da Rós, one of the customers who mobilize virtually.

Cons against Nostra, there were 26 complaints in Procon do Paraná, the same day of February and by different people. Consumers claimed to have been charged unwell rates, a non -profitable service and misleading advertising. In complaint here, the company brings together 121 complaints, of which 99 open in the last six months, often citing the loss of communication with the representatives.

In contact with the relationship, the Italian citizenship of Nostrai did not comment. Already the global group Aquila has attributed, in a declaration, the growing difficulties in the slowness of Italian public agencies, the recent legislative change and the nature of its activity.

“The delays have a direct impact on the entire production chain, generating more operational works, increasing complaints and requests for clarifications and potentially affect the institutional image, with consequent loss of revenue and need for adaptations in the staff”, says the note.

The advice also stated that most of the complaints refers to customers who have already recognized citizenship, without commenting on the cases determined by the report. And also that it works to accelerate the service and adopt appropriate legal measures against “untreated, calumnous or defamatory events”.

Other companies in the sector targeted by similar complaints include in Europe, Citizenship4U and Citizenship Já. Together, they have a total of 369 complaints in the last six months of complaint here. Nobody responded to requests for comment.

Sell

It continues, however, the capture of customers in part of the Italian citizenship factory. The bet to maintain the wheel of the sector’s steering wheel is to sell the successful promise of the contestation of the judicial level of the constitutionality of the new Italian legislation. However, the legal thesis has yet to be tested and there is no guarantee of approval in front of the magistrate.

In May and June, DW contacted the customer service channels of eight legal consultancy companies, expressing interest in the services currently available for large grandchildren. Seven of them indicated, at the first contact, to accept new fourth generation customers, despite the current legislation, including Aquila and Nostrai.

On the other hand, during the investigation, DW discovered that at least one company blocked payments and two others do not recommend the closure of new contracts while the legal uncertainty lasts.

The Procon of San Paolo explains that the change in legislation offers the consumer the right to put an end to contracts with the sector. The services actually carried out until the time of the decree can be deducted from the payments to be repaid.

“The fact that today, with the contract in force, the rules are completely altered by factors that are not in the responsibility of the consumer cannot be an element for the company to assign the responsibility, including the consumer”, explains Patrícia Alvarez, director of the procon-sp legal affairs. According to her, the legislative change is part of the risk of activities of the service provider.

Fight in the Constitutional Court

The recognition of Italo-Desndants will be an audition at the Italian Constitutional Court on June 24th. In a game there will be questions about the constitutionality of citizenship Jus Sanguinis (by the offspring) without limits, raised by four courts in which they manage cases for the recognition of citizenship.

The causes concern 23 Brazilians and 12 Uruguayan, explains the Italian lawyer Marco Mellone, which represents 31 of the 35 candidates. The decision should serve as a topic to maintain or overturn the restrictions introduced by the new legislation.

“In my opinion, there are many reasons why this law must not be considered in agreement with the Italian Constitution,” says Mellone. “First of all, the fact that he intends to take the right that the previous law establishes from birth and the law cannot be retroactive.”

Observers claim that, in the face of the scenario of uncertainty, it is a moment of caution for Italian descendants who consider themselves engaged in new investments to obtain citizenship.

“I told people who are waiting for this process. I see the advertisements of those who are exploiting and telling customers who do not give up,” says Walter Petruzziello, member of the Council of the Presidency of the General Council of Italians abroad, an institution that represents the Italian descendants. “There are many companies that are not known as they are serious or not.”

For now, an online petition against the modification of the rules has already accumulated signatures from 133 countries, being Brazil the first of them, with over 63,000 signatures, according to the Change.org platform.

Source: Terra

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