22 May Two-minute Guide: Residency in Italy for citizens not from the EU
Non-Europeans can’t stay in Italy beyond 90 days right?
(This article updated November, 2024).
Unless you’re married to an Italian, or descendant from one, you’re going to require a non-tourist visa.
Whilst millions of people would love to linger longer in Italy, enjoying La Dolce Vita and the best of art and culture to discover anywhere, more and more people are at the same time looking to wind down a little, to escape from a frenzied pace of life elsewhere, and all of you need to know if you can stay in Italy for longer than a tourist visa allows.
It can be done. This is your 2 minute guide.
However this is A) not a tourism advertisement, and B) not an immigration lawyer’s guide or taken from an Italian government website. It’s the down-to-earth, tell it like it is-reality of what it takes to gain the freedom to stay in Italy for longer than an (extended) holiday.
The Elective Residence Visa (ERV) for Italy is the most common route allowing you to stay, and it’s great for those non-Europeans looking especially to retire or semi-retire here (including Brits who weren’t fortunate enough during the brexit transition period to claim their rights to stay). This visa is particularly useful for those people who will not be able to obtain :
*a working visa, or;
*a student visa,
or;
*the Investor Visa, which is available to those who make a capital (lump sum) investment into an Italian startup business or listed investment in Italy (starting at €250,000) – to obtain a visa to stay longer than a tourist visa allows.
The Elective Residence Visa requires you to show your ability to sustain yourself in Italy without work (however after one year on the visa you can also apply for a work permit) by proving a non-employment income stream of €31,000 annually (or €38,000 for a couple), as well as other administration requirements including showing an existing Italian residential address at time of application.
You know, Italy’s current tax incentives to move are great! But you can’t have them if you can’t legally stay!
Aside from the new Digital nomad visa (see below) for freelancers, online consultants, authors and the like, who don’t have Italian residency rights already, you will need to join a sort-of queue, to apply for a self-employment visa to stay, contained within Italy’s self-employment work visa rules. These particular visas are subject to the “Decreto Flussi” which is an Italian regime that allocates employment visas for non-EU nationals under a quota system.
I’ll write more about that later, however as a starting point, the number of visas available that make up the quota for self-employed are quite limited, and change each year. In 2019 approximately 2,500 visas were allocated and in 2020 none were alocated (Covid-affected year).
The digital nomad visa created only recently in 2024, is only available to highly specialized workers whose careers require or exceed the requirements listed in article 27-quater of the Legislative Decree n. 286 of 25 July 1998, and includes those careers that require post-secondary degrees or at least three years’ professional training or experience.
That’s a two minute Guide! For more information, reach out to us via our contact form. Best of luck!