Italy

Italy's current government is squarely in the populist-far-right mainstream, making it a less-than-lovely place to live.

Birthright citizenship in Italy is offered through a relatively straightforward process, for anyone who can document direct lineage to someone born in Italy. This consists of every birth certificate and wedding certificate between the applicant and an Italian-born citizen whose birth certificate was registered in that citizen's governing "Comuna" (city hall). The process can be initiated from any Italian consulate, which received and notarizes all the documentation and forwards it to the Comuna to validate the birth certificate of the ancestor. If the ancestor's birth certificate is NOT recorded in the Comuna records or if the Comuna has disbanded without records being inherited by a neighboring one, the process gets less straightforward. Italian citizens can live and work visa-free anywhere in the EU, but be warned that Italy charges additional income tax on its citizens working in other EU countries, which require double-filing of annual income taxes.