Italy's Indian community, estimated at approximately 186,833 by the Consulate General of India, Milan (January 2025) -- overwhelmingly Punjabi and rooted in the dairy farms of Italy's "Parmesan Valley" -- relies on the OCI card, not dual citizenship, to maintain a lasting legal connection to India.
A community rooted in Italy's dairy heartland
Italy hosts one of the largest Indian communities in the European Union. The Consulate General of
India, Milan reported approximately 186,833 Indian nationals as of January 2025 -- the 7th largest
foreign community in Italy at 3.25% of the foreign population -- while the Embassy of India, Rome cites a
broader estimate of roughly 200,000 when Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) are included. Over 70% of the
community is Punjabi, and roughly 90 gurdwaras and several Hindu temples operate across the country.
Two distinct migration waves shaped the community: a Punjabi Sikh agricultural and dairy-sector wave
beginning in the early-to-mid 1980s, concentrated in the Agro Pontino (Latina province, Lazio) for field
agriculture and in the Parma-Reggio Emilia-Modena-Mantova-Cremona-Bologna belt of Emilia-Romagna and
Lombardy for Parmigiano-Reggiano and Grana Padano dairy work -- an area informally known as
“Parmesan Valley,” where an estimated 45,000-plus Indians worked across roughly 4,000 farms
and dairies by 2018 -- and a later, more urban IT-sector and skilled-professional wave beginning in the
early-to-mid 1990s, settled more around Milan and Rome. The Gurdwara Sri Guru Kalgidhar Sahib in Pessina
Cremonese (Vescovato, Cremona province), inaugurated in August 2011, was billed at the time as the largest
gurdwara in continental Europe.
Why OCI, not dual citizenship, is the relevant status for India
India does not permit dual citizenship for anyone, so a person of Indian origin who holds Italian
citizenship cannot simultaneously hold Indian citizenship. An Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card is the
applicable route to a lasting Indian legal status: OCI confers lifelong multiple-entry access to India
and parity with NRIs on several economic, financial, and educational matters, without conferring voting
rights, government employment eligibility, or the right to hold agricultural land.
Registering an OCI application from Italy
OCI applications from Italy are processed through the Embassy of India, Rome, or the Consulate General
of India, Milan (or online through the OCI portal, with the physical passport later submitted for the
sticker/booklet), following the same national OCI Rules that apply from any other country, including the
2026 amendments that moved applications further online and clarified that a minor cannot simultaneously
hold both an Indian passport and a foreign passport.
Common mistakes made on this point:
- Assuming Italy's own naturalization rules mean India also permits dual citizenship for a person
of Indian origin who has taken Italian citizenship -- India's law does not allow this.
- Confusing OCI with a visa -- OCI is a distinct, more durable status conferring lifelong
multiple-entry access, not a time-limited visa.
- Not renewing an OCI card's linked new passport details after a passport renewal, which can cause
travel document mismatches.
