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OPINION: Brits in Italy aren’t victims of a ‘hostile environment’ but of a bureaucratic system that wasn’t ready for Brexit

Brits living in Italy have found themselves facing pressing and sometimes serious problems after Brexit. They're not looking for loopholes, just workable solutions to a bureaucratic bind, says citizens' rights group Beyond Brexit.

Published: 23 March 2021 12:29 CET
OPINION: Brits in Italy aren't victims of a 'hostile environment' but of a bureaucratic system that wasn't ready for Brexit
Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP

Thank you very much for giving prominence to the various post-Brexit issues. Sadly, the problem of being “required” to have a residency card for all manner of normal activities – but not having one yet – is still ongoing.

We are in the awkward position of being a new category of third country national. Some call it a special status, but we have another status… as guests in Italy, not special but with obligations just like all other citizens.

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We are very conscious that implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement creates work, at a time when the country is still in the midst of the pandemic. 

We are not looking for “loopholes” or “sneaky” ways to play the system, just workable solutions to address immediate, sometimes serious problems. We do not feel we are victims of a “hostile environment” but of a highly devolved bureaucratic system, that wasn’t ready for us.

The new residency card is not in sight yet and there has been no clear across-the-board communication to indicate that our rights do not depend on it. This is tricky in a society which is used to documenting its residents! There will certainly be fewer headaches all round if we have it.

We understand the technical problems are being resolved and it should be a matter of weeks now before seeing the first cards. But that is for those who have already applied. The message needs to get out to everyone who hasn’t started the process yet.

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In the meantime, we are grateful to the Ministero del Lavoro for providing a workaround (not, by the way, a “cheat” or a “hack” but a legitimate interim measure).

It is important to make it clear also that this is not a general panacea for the myriad of problems arising. It is specifically for registering work contracts, to work around systems requiring residency card details. And unfortunately, even then, it is not working in all cases. News of it is not always getting through or even being accepted.

Understanding of our rights remains patchy, and in our group we hear of new problems every day. They could be serious, such as one employer’s refusal to give a new work contract which may result in loss of residency for that individual. A circular to notaries on March 15th came too late for another who could not complete on a house purchase. Yet another person cannot proceed with her citizenship application.

Being asked to produce a residency document now pervades all aspects of our lives, practically everything that requires a contract and even things that don’t. At the end of transition, all eyes were just on getting in and out of Schengen and which piece of paper to carry. How little we knew.

We in Beyond Brexit, British in Italy, the Embassy, IOM are all working extremely hard to raise awareness, share information, provide support and get speedy solutions for UK nationals covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. 

by Clarissa Killwick, Penelope Phillips McIntyre, Carole-Anne Richards
Co-founders/admins of Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy

Further information on the new residency card for Brits in Italy can be found on the UK government’s website here, on the British in Italy website and Beyond Brexit page.

If you need help applying, you can contact the International Organisation for Migration by emailing UKnationalsIT@iom.int or calling 800 684 884.

Anyone who faces difficulties in accessing services in Italy is advised to contact the British Embassy via their Living in Italy website.

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OPINION AND ANALYSIS

OPINION: Family is sacrosanct to us Italians – even if it means you can’t get away

Foreigners living in Italy are often left baffled by how much 'la famiglia' is intrinsic to the Italian way of life. Silvia Marchetti explains why families in Italy "stick together like glue", even if it means your relatives are a constant presence in your life.

Published: 13 September 2024 16:24 CEST
Updated: 16 September 2024 12:17 CEST
OPINION: Family is sacrosanct to us Italians – even if it means you can't get away

Family in Italy is considered the building block of society, and it is sacrosanct.

Most Italians give so much importance to it that it is hard for some to believe. Family is far more important in Italy than in other European and western countries where I have lived such as the Netherlands or Switzerland. 

We tend to stick together like glue. 

Talking to several expat friends of mine, I realise this is something that often baffles many foreigners, who are used to leaving the family ‘nest’ at an early stage in life. And it’s not just an impression outsiders to Italian culture get by attending huge flashy weddings, religious celebrations such as baptisms, and birthdays, where family members come in dozens. 

La famiglia is our daily reality, for better or worse. 

I’ve had a hard time dealing with family myself. When I was a kid, until I started to say basta to my parents, each weekend and festivity was spent at my grandparents or with my cousins, uncles and aunts. We even all went skiing together or holidaying at our beach homes. My father and his brothers had bought attached studios so we could all always be together.

In Italy, no matter how old one gets, parents, siblings, relatives of all degrees and grandparents are always present. And sometimes, I think, they’re even too present and may tend to often ‘intrude’ in one’s private life. 

In Italy extended families are considered a blessing and youths can’t seem to leave their parents home until they’re very, very old (hence the denigratory term of ‘mammoni’, meaning ‘mama’s boy or girl’). 

Up until after the Second World War, when a new child was born, families in rural areas and on small islands would build an annexed dwelling so everyone could stick together in future. 

When I first visited the island of Ponza, off Rome’s coast, it struck me how huge cave labyrinths had been carved from cliffs into several annexed grotto homes for the entire extended family. 

One could think that it all comes down to a matter of religion: as the majority of Italians are Catholic, and also quite religious, the Church preaches the importance of family as both a key spiritual and material entity that accompanies people throughout their entire lives.

But that’s not enough to explain it. 

I believe the importance of family is part of a typical Italian lifestyle and mindset, a belief in certain values that having family is like an investment for the future, a safety net in hard times. 

READ ALSO: Why are Italians both so religious and so superstitious?

This traces its roots back centuries. Even though Italian society has always been officially patriarchal on the outside, with the husband-father who decided over the fate of everyone, in reality it was the woman (wife and mother) the lady of the household. Usually, kids tend to stick around their mums more than their dads. 

Across history, family members have always stood up for each other, both in aristocratic and poor families. 

It is crucial to keep in mind that we are a relatively young nation when compared to France and the UK. Italian national unity was reached only in 1861 and the Republic was created in 1946; up until then, Italy did not exist. 

It was a mosaic of bickering city-states and fiefdoms ruled by powerful aristocratic families who were constantly at war with each other. Family was the seat of power, and affiliation was more than just identity and belonging. It meant survival.

Likewise, peasants could solely rely on their own family members to survive, keep the harvests going and the land fertile. Each newborn was considered additional labour force to add to the family, a pair of ‘extra hands’ (as my granny would say) to plough, feed the animals and run the farm activities. 

When society went from rural to modern, and people started abandoning villages to move to larger towns and abroad, family was still seen as a pillar. Immigrant Italian families that have flourished across the world, building, for instance, ice cream and pizza empires that still survive to this day, are proof. 

“La famiglia è tutto” (family is everything) is my dad’s favourite motto. 

I believe that, no matter how Italian society will evolve in the near future, spending a lot of time with close family and extended family members will still be a common trait of most Italians. It’s innate.

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