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MOVING TO ITALY

Did you know…? You need at least €31,000 to get a visa to retire in Italy

Many foreigners dream of retiring in Italy - but you'll need a solid and reliable income to be eligible for the country's 'retirement' visa.

Published: 3 April 2024 09:50 CEST

Did you know...? You need at least €31,000 to get a visa to retire in Italy

Retiring in Italy is a dream for many couples. Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP.

With its sunny climate, slow pace of life and Mediterranean diet, Italy is a top choice for retirees looking for the ideal base for their sunset years.

If you want to make the move, though, you’ll need an annual income of at least €31,000 – in addition to buying a property or signing a long-term rental contract and putting plenty of time and effort into your application.

Italy’s elective residency visa, or ERV, isn’t technically a retirement visa – people of any age can apply – but because you can’t work on it, it’s mostly retirees who take advantage of the scheme.

The minimum ‘passive income’ requirement is €31,000 per person per year or €38,000 for married couples, plus five percent per dependent minor. Some Italian consulates, however, require as much as three or four times this amount.

And having plenty of savings stashed away doesn’t count: it must be in the form of a regular income stream such as a pension, annuity, or rent.

READ ALSO: Five expert tips for getting your Italian elective residency visa approved

You’ll also need to write a convincing cover letter explaining to the consular official why you’re committed to making Italy your new home.

Once you’ve done all this and finally received your visa, though, you’re on the home straight.

Although it’s only valid for one year in the first instance, you can renew your ERV on a regular basis until you secure permanent residency – living out the rest of your years in Mediterranean bliss.

We have a detailed guide to the process here, as well as specific advice for UK applicants.

See more in The Local’s Italian visa section.

Member comments

Anonymous - 3 April 2024 at 09:55 CEST

Many of the consulates are now requesting €31,000 per person even as a couple.

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'The visa process was painful': How easy is it to move to Italy for retirement?

Moreish food, a mild climate and a multitude of art and history are just a few of the reasons people choose to retire to Italy. Plus, there’s the relatively low cost of living and potential tax breaks retirees can benefit from.

But some who have made the move to Italy for retirement tell The Local it hasn’t all been smooth sailing, particularly for those coming from outside the European Union.

READ MORE: Five big reasons people choose to retire to Italy

When we asked in The Local’s Living in Italy Facebook group for readers’ experiences, we had an overwhelming response from retirees who told us that bureaucratic issues and other practical hurdles had made things less than straightforward in their experience.

Steve Knowles, a British citizen residing in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, said the visa process almost prevented his move to Italy.

“The visa process was quite painful,” he told us. “Getting an appointment in the UK at [visa application portal] VFS Global took ages because their website was faulty which took a whole month to be fixed, so we lost time.”

Steve applied for an elective residency visa, which is the Italian visa most aspiring international retirees will need to get, after the Brexit transition period.

He tells us everything was time-consuming, especially as he had to provide two copies of relevant documents as he applied as part of a couple.

“Our first application was rejected due to issues over our ‘passive income’. This, in my opinion, was due to a lack of common sense on the part of the consulate,” Steve continues.

READ ALSO: Retirement in Italy: What you need to know about visas and residency

Luckily for him, he was granted another appointment three months later and got his visa issued – but more of Italy’s long-winded bureaucratic processes awaited him when he arrived.

“When we got here, we had the joys of Italian bureaucracy to navigate with regards to getting a permesso di soggiorno. We now have this and our identification cards, but getting the permesso di soggiorno renewed is an annual joy,” he writes sarcastically.

Mary Hanson, a United States citizen living in Italy, also ran into visa-related issues.

“The consulate can deny any visa application with no further indication of why or how to correct errors,” she says.

READ ALSO:

She applied for her elective residency visa three times before getting it accepted. She cites an unsuitable letter of hospitality and financial documents in the improper format being the reasons why her first two attempts were rejected.

“All decisions are at the discretion of the consulate and each one has different interpretations,” she adds.

“It’s frustrating. I am going to bet that every single US expat will report similar experiences although we have now formed large enough communities on social media to help each other through that particular version of bureaucracy hell.”

Better weather is one of the major draws of a new life in Italy. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)

She concludes that nowadays consulates seem to be friendlier than they were five years ago when she applied.

“They’re simply kindergarten compared to the Questura.”

Carl Lobitz, a US national resident in Chieti, commented he had to deal with the Texas state bureaucracy before getting his visa, because the Italian consulate requested his place of birth on his marriage certificate.

Mark Hinshaw, a retired architect also from the States and resident in Marche, said it took him four months to collect all the documents required by the consulate for the elective residency visa and then another three months to receive it.

“It was nothing compared to the insanity of the bureaucratic complexity, confusion, and craziness here,” he writes.

READ ALSO: How and why Italy’s elective residency visa rules are getting stricter

“I tell newcomers they must learn to laugh. Laugh a lot. After you finish crying of course.”

British citizen Margaret Tyler arrived in Italy before Brexit and has a half-Italian spouse, so visas were not the issue. The problem for her is the lack of financial clarity.

“The tax we have to pay is very high, more than the UK. It seems the government will tax anything and everything. There is no complaint process if you receive bad service which does happen,” she says.

“Nothing is properly explained and if you are given the wrong information and if you make a mistake it’s your fault.

“Sometimes I feel we are taken advantage of because we are not Italian, which is sad.”

As well as bureaucracy, assimilating into another community and culture was another common theme.

READ ALSO: Five essential things you need to do when you move to Italy

Briton Linda Baker, an artist retired in Veneto, writes: “Probably the most important thing I have learnt is that a community is needed if you are to survive, at least at the outset to cushion the difficulties. To be honest it was terrifying in the beginning.”

Mary Hanson added that the pandemic hindered her chances of assimilation.

“Originally we were ‘the Americans’ but by the time we crawled out from under our masks? The ship had sailed,” she says.

Dual Italian-American citizen Scott Fabbri said it’s the everyday tasks which were difficult at first, such as getting keys cut or finding an electrician.

However, all of the respondents, when asked, were more than content with the decision to retire in Italy, with the majority saying they would never return home. Perhaps, in all the bureaucratic confusion, there’s a silver lining after all.

Have you moved to Italy for retirement or are you in the process of doing so? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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