‘We did everything they wanted’: The American families caught in Italy’s citizenship crackdown

Kellen Matwick, his wife Jacqueline, and their two children made a one-way flight to Italy in August 2024, anticipating a fresh start. Matwick, whose great-grandparents migrated from central Italy to Pennsylvania, belongs to the large Italian diaspora. However, his hopes were shattered when Italy altered its citizenship-by-descent policies a year earlier, on March 28, 2025. This shift was recently solidified by Italy’s constitutional court, which will reject the initial legal challenge to the law. The policy change, implemented via emergency decree, cited the growing number of individuals claiming citizenship through ancestry who had never resided in Italy. Yet for Matwick, the new rules have disrupted not only his aspirations but also his everyday existence. He is among many descendants who relocated to Italy to pursue citizenship—only to face sudden legal hurdles before finalizing their paperwork. With no transitional period for those already in the process, Matwick now lives in uncertainty, unable to secure employment, travel freely, or access healthcare.

A dream turned legal limbo

The Matwicks, who had previously called New York City home, decided to move to Italy in 2022. They had two paths: Spain, where Matwick could obtain a digital nomad visa as a freelance video editor, or Italy, which offered citizenship by descent through their great-grandparents. Though both spoke Spanish fluently, the couple chose Italy for its promise of stability. Rather than applying for citizenship through a U.S. consulate—a process that often spans years—they opted to move to Italy and complete the paperwork upon arrival, a method still permitted for Italo-descendants. Their goal was to immerse their children in Italian culture while they were young. “It was a way to begin our lives more quickly,” Jacqueline remarked. “It felt like a low-risk choice—the process had been in place for decades.”

“We said, ‘Let’s do it the right way,’” Kellen added. “We treated it like an actual move, chose the city we wanted, got an apartment, and planned for the kids to learn Italian. We did everything they wanted us to do. Now I feel so stupid—because we did it the right way, we got penalized.”

The journey to citizenship involved multiple bureaucratic steps. Upon arrival, families had to secure a long-term rental, register with local authorities—a procedure taking up to 45 days—and obtain a residency permit from the police. Only after these steps could they submit their documents to claim recognition of their heritage-based citizenship, which previously was automatic at birth. The entire process could take months or years, depending on administrative delays. To expedite matters, some chose smaller towns, where the system was less burdensome. The Matwicks rejected this strategy, believing it was a manipulation of the rules. They had spent two years compiling the necessary paperwork before arriving in Turin in August 2024. The next day, they emailed city officials to announce their presence and intent to apply. “No one responded in August,” Jacqueline said, noting that many businesses shut down for the month. A follow-up message three weeks later led to an invitation to submit their case in mid-October. But by October 3, the Italian government issued a circular that invalidated thousands of American claims.

Italy’s decision has left families like the Matwicks stranded, their legal status unclear and their ability to work or live in the country compromised. For them, the dream of reconnecting with their ancestral homeland has turned into a bureaucratic nightmare, highlighting the challenges faced by millions of diaspora members who once relied on Italy’s inclusive citizenship policies.