Americans asked for "amulets" for foreign nationalities in the midst of the epidemic
When Covid-19 ravaged the United States and its power passport was devalued, many Americans rushed to find the second "amulet".
Juliana Calistri grew up in Chicago, but life encompasses everything about Italy, like music, food and language. Calistri's grandparents grew up in Bagni di Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, and although her father was born in Chicago, he still spoke Italian before English.
"If you told me to make a cake, I would make a cookie and a lemon cake, not chocolate cake or oat raisins. The Italian identity is always in me," said Calistri, 46, who lives in Nashville. good.
Calistri has always wanted to live abroad, but thought that owning Italian citizenship was impossible. Under Italian law, women can transfer citizenship to their children after 1948, when the current constitution of the country goes into effect. Calistri's father was born in 1947, so he couldn't inherit Italian citizenship from his mother. Calistri's grandfather also renounced his Italian citizenship when naturalized into the US.
In May, Calistri began working with a counselor, who pushed for a review of the law. Calistri discovered that after a landmark ruling was made in 2009, people repeatedly disputed the 1948 lineage law in court and won.
Therefore, she decided to apply for citizenship. "The pandemic really made me understand the basics. You have to consider what you need in life and what's most important. It's my family, not anything else. Identity and culture will. decide who I am and what I am, "she said.
Calistri is one of hundreds of people linked to the Italian Citizenship Assistance, an organization that helps people who want an Italian passport, in the past few months.
"We have seen a fivefold increase in the number of contacts from May to date compared to last year," said Marco Permunian, the organization's founder, adding that his 48-person team is overwhelmed. "We have so many requests that we cannot handle them all."
Mrs. Calistri plans to move to Italy with her 9-year-old daughter and 73-year-old mother as soon as she receives a new passport.
As the pandemic ravaged the United States, many people in the country found a second citizenship or permanent residency in another country as a necessary requirement. "Even the very basics are politicized," said Anjelica Triola, 34, also of Italian origin and the business director of Wethos, a company that helps freelancers develop their careers.
She gives examples of the problem of masks. "My grandparents came here to be free, but a whole generation is looking to return to pursue the same freedom," she said.
Some people see this as free travel insurance in the future. While others in their spare time because of community disparity applied for a second citizenship, which is part of their long-term plan.
Two ways to get a second passport without having to live and work abroad: spend large sums of money to buy or prove country of origin.
Many countries offer investor visas, the program commonly known as a "golden visa". Some countries, like Cyprus, St. Lucia, Grenada, Malta, Turkey and Montenegro, grant citizenship to land buyers or investors.
Each country has its own rules. In Cyprus, it takes the government about 8-12 months to process passport applications through investment, but in Montenegrp it only takes three months, according to Henley & Partners, a UK law firm that advises clients in the upper class had this need.
"The pandemic has had a bad impact in many ways," said Paddy Blewer, director of Henley & Partners, adding that it is a starting point for many of their clients thinking of owning a second passport.
Blewer said requests to Henley & Partners have increased by one and a half from January to April this year compared with the same period last year. Customers of this company usually have to pay about $ 24,000 to nearly $ 600,000 depending on the complexity of each case.
Families must consider affordability, speed of application approval, as well as healthcare and education policy in different countries.
Freedom of movement is also an important factor to consider. US passport holders can now easily go to 87 countries, instead of 171 as in 2019, according to the Passport Index, a page that aggregates passport data.
"The more than 50% drop in freedom of movement of US passports is a wake-up call for many families. American passports are not as powerful as they used to be," said Armand Arton, founder of Arton Capital. apply for citizenship or permanent residence based on investment, based in Canada, assessment.
People born in the US automatically get citizenship. In many other countries, children inherit citizenship from their parents. This means that descendants of immigrants from certain countries may claim citizenship there, if they can prove the relationship has been maintained over a number of generations.
Italians, of whom about 16.5 million are in the US, can restore citizenship through parents, grandparents and even earlier lives.
Applying for nationality based on descent has become quite popular among American immigrant citizens. But in most countries around the world, this kind of citizenship application is difficult to achieve or does not bring much benefit to US citizens. The reason may be that the citizenship is only passed from parent to child, or the country does not allow dual citizenship, or the second passport does not provide additional benefits, such as free education or the ability to travel. freedom in more countries.
The need for a second citizenship has increased over the past few months. "I see how Europeans shake hands together to achieve their goals, like against Covid-19. The pandemic has really affected me a lot," said Susan Periharos, who applied for Greek citizenship. 4 weeks ago, said.
Periharos said she is not giving up on the US, but sees many of the benefits of a second passport. She and her husband could go to Greece even with a future ban on Americans. With a Schengen country passport, her children can live and work in most of Europe.
Greek passport registrations have tripled from the same period last year, according to Christina Mantas & Associates, which is helping to process Periharos's applications. The company added that the costs of getting citizenship in Greece range from $ 700 to over $ 2,300 and can take anywhere from three months to three years to process.
The citizenship application process takes time and requires patience. The registrant usually has to submit a birth certificate, citizenship documents to the US, proof of marriage or divorce.
"Covid-19 made the world stop a bit," said Bianca Ottone, founder of My Italian Family, a company that has provided citizenship services since 2001.
Ottone added that the number of people contacting her company increased by 50% in the past six months. "A lot of people called us saying 'do you remember we discussed it in 2018 or 2019?' This was part of their plan and now is the time to do it, "she said.
Triola, the business director of Wethos and lives in Los Angeles, has been applying for Italian citizenship since 2018 but the plan had to stop because of difficulties in getting a marriage certificate from her grandparents and name mismatch. between records of America and Italy. But recently, Triola decided to apply again.
In addition to benefits in Italy such as affordable health care, paid vacation and many other advantages, Triola said the current political climate in America made her skeptical of being able to "live comfortably".
Dave Gallo, 73, a San Francisco retiree, also applied for Italian citizenship in 2017 and was approved in February this year. Gallo said the pandemic proved his choice was correct.
"The pandemic has brought so much turmoil that no one knows what life will be like in the next 10-15 years. For an elderly person, it's even more difficult. Ask where I want to live my life. Where is left, the answer is Italy, "said Mr Gallo.
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