Moving to Italy: A Glass of Wine Is Not Enough

Have you ever wondered if you can just pick up your life and move to sunny Italia? It’s a common question and so many people want to know how it’s possible. If the vineyards, mountains, beaches and ancient, sun-soaked towns are calling your name, here are some key things to keep in mind.

I share my Italian experience below with the disclaimer that I am far from an Italian legal professional. If you are seriously considering a move to Italy, buying Italian property or even lengthy European travel, I strongly recommend consulting a legal professional and accountant (learn from my mistakes!)

Italian Living for Non-EU Passport Holders

If you have an EU passport, baby you’re in luck and probably already know you’ve hit the jackpot! For the rest of us not cool enough to have a parent or grandparent with Italian roots, the process of extended travel or moving to Italy is much more complicated. 

Extended European Travel

Italy is part of the Schengen Area countries, 27 nations that have a common visa program meaning if you are from these awesome places, you can travel freely to the other regions. This includes most EU countries and a few bonus countries like Norway and Iceland.

If you are from one of the countries requiring a Schengen visa to travel, you’ll need to apply for this in your home country first. Those of us from Canada, the US or the UK can travel to any country in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days in a 180-day period. In practical terms, this means you can stay for 3 months, then you need to get out of the Schengen region altogether for 3 months before you can return. This free  calculator can help you plan your stay so you are legally compliant.

Moving to Italy

Three months is a long time, but what if you want to stay in Italy longer? Totally possible but you need to plan well in advance. You cannot apply for a permit to stay once you have left your home country. Italy, like many countries, has a whole host of visas for which you can apply to work, study, invest in Italian companies, join family, pursue self-employment or retire (I’m sure there are others I’m missing).

The process requires two critical steps, plus approximately a hundred tiny steps in between to get you across the Italian bureaucratic finish line. First, you to apply for a long-term stay visa from your Italian Embassy in your home country/city. Second, you enter Italy with your visa in hand and apply for your resident permit (called a permesso di soggiorno). These permits need to be renewed frequently, usually every year. 

After 5 years of being a legally registered temporary resident of Italy, you can apply to become a permanent resident – yipee, an end to yearly permit applications! After 10 years of residency in Italy, you are permitted to apply for citizenship. There are also a bunch of requirements applicable after gaining legal residency, for example, you cannot leave Italy for more than 6 months and you must register with the local commune (Ufficio Anagrafe). There is also a language requirement. A small percentage of Italians speak English, so you had better learn the language anyway.

Obtaining a Long-Stay Visa

My experience is with the Italy visa process through a Consulate in Canada, but the process, as I understand, is quite similar in other countries. That said, here’s an early lesson on Italian bureaucracy: the requirements will depend on where you apply and who assesses your application. Much like crossing an international border – the agent can overlook that extra bottle of wine you’re bringing in or confiscate it and make you pay the fine – get ready for inconsistency!

Your local Italian Consulate will be able to provide you with details on the requirements for your visa of choice. In our case, this was emailed to us in a random Word document, unformatted and almost in English (bonus!). 

Retirees or those who can support themselves on passive income alone, typically apply for an elective residence visa, which, you guessed it, will get you an elective residence permit once in Italy. This type of visa usually requires:

• Proof of long-term accommodation (e.g. a registered lease or proof of property ownership)
• Medical insurance covering a certain total amount (at the time we applied, the value needed to be at a minimum 60,000 Euros)
• Proof of significant financial resources sufficient to sustain you without active employment (the amount varies, but at the time of writing the rule of thumb is 38,000 Euros per annum for a couple)
• Your flight itinerary showing transit to Italy (one-way though some Consulates require a return airfare itinerary)
• Your valid passport and passport photos
• Proof of residence in the consular jurisdiction and completed application form
• A hefty application fee for each person applying

Some consulates require an in-person appointment to file an application, ours preferred mail so we also had to include a courier envelope for our passports to be returned.

The consulate decision makes or breaks your ability to stay in Italy past the 3 month tourist allowance, so follow the instructions closely and when they change said instructions, follow the new instructions closely. Be adaptable – you’ll need it when you land in Italy anyway.

Code Fiscale or Italian Tax Code

While you’re applying for a visa, you may want to submit an application for a Code Fiscale (like a SIN for Canadians or Social Security Number for Americans) to your consulate. You’ll need the tax number in Italy for a variety of things including your residence permit, it’s free to obtain and so much easier than what you just went through with the visa. I promise. Details on how to apply should be on the consulate website. Strangely, our visas were returned much quicker than the Code Fiscale document.

Obtaining a Temporary Resident Permit

Step number two (obtaining a temporary permit or permesso di soggiorno) has nearly the same requirements as step number one (the visa) but now you’re on Italian soil so the bureaucratic fun commences which means way more tiny steps to the finish line!

Post Office Take One

First, go to the post office. Ugh. Bring a snack, water, something to read and take a look at my ode to the Poste Italiane. If you have the Italian gutsiness already and any Italian language skills you can jump ahead of the queue and ask for a “kit” for the permesso di soggiorno. If you are a rule follower like yours truly, get a number and wait your turn to approach a window. Request one kit per person applying for a permit. So, if you are a couple, while you have to include your spouse’s information on the forms, they also need a separate kit, separate application fee, separate appointment. 

Complete Your Kit

Module 1 and Module 2 (needed if you are applying for a work permit and have an income). You likely need an Italian buddy or get your Google Translate app out. CAF Patronato offices in Italy will also help foreigners complete the form and they are FREE. Woah. If you have a grasp of the Italian language, you may want to go this route. Really if you have any significant questions about your application, you should seek legal advice as mistakes will cost you in the long run. With the Modules are a bunch of appendices with codes for countries, gender, Italian provinces, type of visa, etc. You’ll play a game of match (boxes to codes) and you’re done!

Not so fast, don’t forget the tiny half form in the kit which is a payment slip (bollettino). This needs to be completed too and the post office will process payment when you return (ugh, yes, you have to go back). The bollettino amount must be written out for the amount of the application fee – the post office does not know this amount, strangely, so make sure you know it in advance. And, hilarious challenge, you must spell out the amount of the application fee in Italian words (so 130 Euros and 46 cents is “centatrenta/46”) like you would when making out an old school bank cheque. I’m not making this up, this is Amazing Race-level confusing! 

You also need to include all the documentation you sent in for your visa in the kit – there are a few additional things to include (e.g. 4 passport photos, copies of all stamps pages of your passport) and some you can remove (e.g. your flight itinerary) but generally it’s the same. 

Buy a Stamp

Next, go to a tabaccheria and buy a duty stamp (marca da bollo) for the amount indicated on the top of Module 1 in the kit. At this time, it was 16 Euros. A stamp is required on each person’s Module 1. That was probably the easiest step. It gets more fun!

Post Office Take Two

Go back to the post office to file your kit. Yes, I know, you were so fond of your first visit, but you have to go back for round 2. Bring another snack and maybe have a glass of wine first. You’ll need it. You need to file your kit within 8 days of arrival in Italy so better to get this over with so you can get on with enjoying your dolce vita. Take a number, wait your turn. Once they call your letter/number combo, bingo – you’re in business!

The clerk will need to see your passport and will dissect your application, take your bolletino payment, take an additional 30 Euros for the post office fee and close up your envelope to mail it (sometimes a block away) to your local police headquarters / immigration office. They will either print you a super old looking piece of dot matrix paper with a date on it (Italians write dates as DD/MM/YY so be sure you record it correctly) and a specific time for your appointment at the police headquarters / immigration office (also called questura) or mail you an appointment date later. The paper you receive is your receipt of application and you will then have to sign under the word “firma”. My appointment time was 8:51. So precise, but spoiler alert, it means nothing in the end.

If you are given a form, guard it (and the proof of payment) with your life. Keep a copy with your passport and take a photo to have on your phone. This, plus your passport showing the entry visa demonstrate you have a legal right to be in Italy past the typical 90 day tourist timeframe. Look at you go, you’ve come so far!

Fingerprinting Appointment

Appointment day, go to the questura address indicated on your paper receipt from the post office. Bring the receipt, receipt of payment, your passport and 4 passport photos, plus it might be helpful to have a copy of what you submitted, and any original documents in case they want to see them. Also, if you can, I’d suggest bribing an Italian friend with a good meal so they can attend with you to translate or alternatively, get your Italian skills in order so you can understand what’s happening. Your appointment time may be observed or may be a mere suggestion and you’ll wait a while to be called up. An agent will take a million fingerprints and give you an even smaller receipt, basically a ¼ strip of letter paper with your photo stapled to the back and a small code which is your file number (numero pratica) on the front stamped by the questura. Another mission critical piece of paper. So tiny, so easy to lose, but don’t lose it. And take a photo of it for heaven’s sake!

If you are lucky, someone at the questura will explain what happens next. More likely, you will just leave with this tiny slip of paper when the agent says “finito”. Next steps, check your application using your file number on the portal and go pick it up when it’s ready. It says they will text or call you when it’s ready, but in practice, this seldom happens, if ever.

While you are waiting, you may be visited at your home residence by the local police to check you are living at the address and the home is habitable.

So Much Waiting – How Much Longer? 

Well friends, the wait time all depends on the office where you apply, but it is usually a few months before you receive your appointment for fingerprinting and another 3 months at least for the permit to be ready for pick up, although many have reported much longer wait times. Just stay the course, stay in Italy and keep checking on the status. There are great Facebook groups about the elusive permesso di soggiorno who can offer approximations and current wait times and, let’s face it, a support group. Misery loves company, right? Buona fortuna!