Non-EU permanent resident of Italy seeking to settle in another EU country while naturalisation is pending

Question

My father is a non-EU permanent resident in Italy and he's concerned about his PR, since he's waiting for Italian citizenship and the latter is basically necessary for him in order to get this citizenship.

My father fears and thinks that if he moves to another EU country, then he'll have to basically bargain his Italian PR for a temporary one in the other country, and due to that he may lose his Italian citizenship all together, but I'm not sure if he's getting it right, both for the supposed bargain and for the citizenship, because I'm not sure whether

1. Authorities of a country can ask in return papers issued by an other country

2. He may not get Italian citizenship if he gives up is PR card (if that's the case), since his dossier is on process and he's satisfied all conditions pertaining to work and residence (there have been some controversies lastly with his case, because Italian administration oververified his case multiple times and they came out with the excuse that he's been unemployed for several years and then his average income went down, but after that I declared my income in order to stabilize things).

The thing is that his citizenship process will surely take too much time, due to the technicalities and ambiguities that the administration processing his application is up to, so can my father settle in this other EU country without giving up his Italian PR? And if that's the case, does he have to ask for a visa or he can simply go and deal with bureaucracy afterwards?

Answer 1

I will first link to the answer by Relaxed because it addresses your question more thoroughly, in particular the likely fact that having long-term resident status doesn't necessarily count as residing in Italy for the purpose of naturalization.

The purpose of this answer is only to consider your father's belief about the implications of moving to another EU country (at least in the general case).

My father fears and thinks that if he moves to another EU country, then he'll have to basically bargain his Italian PR for a temporary one in the other country.

That is not correct. He retains his status as a "long-term resident" of Italy while he lives temporarily in another member state. This is controlled by Directive 2003/109/EC. Chapter III governs "residence in the other member states," while Article 9 governs "Withdrawal or loss of status." The latter says, in paragraph 4:

4. The long-term resident who has resided in another Member State in accordance with Chapter III shall no longer be entitled to maintain his/her long-term resident status acquired in the first Member State when such a status is granted in another Member State pursuant to Article 23.

   In any case after six years of absence from the territory of the Member State that granted long-term resident status the person concerned shall no longer be entitled to maintain his/her long term resident status in the said Member State.

   By way of derogation from the second subparagraph the Member State concerned may provide that for specific reasons the long-term resident shall maintain his/her status in the said Member State in case of absences for a period exceeding six years.

However, none of this applies if the other country is Denmark, Ireland, or the United Kingdom, because those countries have opted out of the relevant directive.

Answer 2

My father fears and thinks that if he moves to another EU country, then he'll have to basically bargain his Italian PR for a temporary one in the other country

Your father is basically right, at least for the purpose of naturalisation. If he leaves the country and settles in another country, he would quite plainly not fit the residence requirement anymore and could be deemed to have abandoned his application.

EU law facilitates moving between country for long-term residents from third countries but member states are still completely free to define the requirements for citizenship. So he would not automatically be deemed to have resided long enough for that purpose anywhere. But as @phoog explained, he would still be a long-term resident under EU law, which should at least make it possible to come back to Italy.

Authorities of a country can ask in return papers issued by an other country

Do not conflate the document with the status. Another country is not going to ask him to surrender his Italian PR card and he might even be able to hide the fact that he moved from the Italian state for long enough and get away with it. There could also be a grace period during which his absence would not reset the clock for the residence requirement. But if he would effectively not be a resident of Italy anymore and it could backfire badly. That's a simple fact and in principle unrelated to having surrendered the plastic card itself.

He may not get Italian citizenship if he gives up is PR card (if that's the case), since his dossier is on process and he's satisfied all conditions pertaining to work and residence (there have been some controversies lastly with his case, because Italian administration oververified his case multiple times and they came out with the excuse that he's been unemployed for several years and then his average income went down, but after that I declared my income in order to stabilize things).

So it seems he has a weak application and is already under scrutiny. I think your father is right to be careful here. Especially considering the fact that letting this application fail would mean dealing with all these difficulties again.

Note that in some countries, even leaving after obtaining citizenship can be the basis for a procedure to remove it. The point being that the core requirement is not merely to hold this or that card, it's to live in the country and intend to continue to make it your home. I don't know enough about Italian law and practices to know if it's an issue there but going through the formalities to settle elsewhere would constitute prima facie evidence that your father does not intend to live in Italy.