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AMERICANS IN ITALY

LISTED: The visa options Americans can apply for to live in Italy

Moving to Italy is a dream for many US nationals who have fallen in love with the country, but which Italian residency visa should Americans opt for depending on their circumstances?

Published: 27 March 2024 16:55 CET
LISTED: The visa options Americans can apply for to live in Italy
What kind of visa will allow you to move to Italy as a US citizen? Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP.

It can be quite confusing for Americans who want to move to Italy as there are a number of different visa options available and a whole raft of requirements in order to be eligible for them. 

US nationals don’t have the automatic right to get a job in Italy or anywhere else in the EU because of their status as third-country nationals within Europe’s single market, but thankfully some visas will allow you to work here. 

Elective residency visa

The elective residency visa, or ERV, is designed for those who want to live in Italy and have the financial means to support themselves without working. Because you can’t work while on the ERV, it’s sometimes referred to as a retirement visa. 

You’ll need to prove you receive an annual passive income of at least €31,000 euros per person or €38,000 for married couples, plus five percent per dependent minor, though some consulates require more.

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

This can be rental income, a pension, annuities, or some other source, but simply having significant savings in the bank doesn’t count: it has to be in the form of a fixed and reliable passive income stream.

Find out more about applying for an Italian elective residency visa.

Family visa

The family visa is available to US dependents of either an Italian citizen or a US citizen with an Italian stay permit. It allows entrance in Italy to the spouse, children or dependent parents.

You will need to provide evidence of your relationship with the person whose dependent you will be, for instance marriage or birth certificates.

Find out more about applying for an Italian family visa.

Employee work permit

This option has the obvious drawback that you need to have received and accepted an offer of a job in Italy in order to be eligible.

The good news is that your employer will then complete most of the visa application process for you – all you need to do is provide them with the relevant paperwork.

Your employer will apply for permission to hire a migrant worker from the immigration desk at their local prefettura (prefecture, the regional office of the central government). Once you get authorisation, the prefettura will inform the Italian consulate or embassy in your home country that your application can go ahead.

Student visa

To apply for a long-stay (type D) student visa, you’ll need to be accepted onto a course that lasts longer than three months.

When applying you should provide a letter of acceptance to your course in Italy, as well as proof of accommodation, sufficient financial means and health insurance.

There is no age limit, and the visa allows you to work up to 20 hours per week and bring family members to live with you.

Find out more about applying for an Italian student visa.

A student visa can be one way to enter Italy on a longer-term basis. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP.

Golden visa

Italy does not technically offer a golden visa, but this is how its investor visa is often referred to. This scheme allows non-EU citizens such as Americans the right to live in Italy if they meet the key requirements, namely a minimum investment of €250,000 to €2 million in certain companies, charities or government bonds.

This visa entitles you two years’ residency, renewable for further three-year periods, and special tax benefits. Investors’ families are eligible to apply for dependent visas.

READ ALSO: Does Italy have a golden visa?

To obtain a visa, US investors must obtain a nulla osta (certificate of no impediment) issued by the Investors Committee for Italy (IV4I); you then have six months from its issuance to make the application for an investor visa.

Other visas

The above visas are the main ones suited to Americans looking to move to Italy longer-term, though there are a number of other visas available, including the internship visa, the startup visa, and the self-employed visa.

These visas all have stringent requirements that make them challenging to obtain.

To successfully apply for the internship visa, you must have been offered a paid vocational training course of between three and 12 months by a host organisation that will commit to paying your food and board and funding your repatriation in case of an emergency.

The self-employed visa might sound like an ideal solution if your job allows you to work from anywhere, and is currently the closest thing Italy has to a digital nomad visa.

In reality, however, experts have told us that successful applications for these visas are extremely rare, so it isn’t an option for most people.

The startup visa requires you to apply through a startup that is headquartered in Italy and less than four years old, and has a team composed of one third PhD students or two thirds MA students, or holds a patent, industrial property right or original software registered with the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers (SIAE).

On arrival

Remember that your visa isn’t the only permission you’ll need if you want to live in Italy. 

After you enter Italy with a long-stay visa, you have eight days to apply for a residence permit (permesso di soggiorno). The length of time this document will remain valid depends on the type of visa you have.

You’ll also need to apply for a tax code and register as resident with your local comune, or town hall.

Find out more about what you’ll need to do once you land in Italy here.

Please note The Local is unable to advise on individual cases. For more information on whether you are eligible to apply for a visa, contact the Italian consulate in your country or consult an immigration law specialist.

Read out more about applying for a visa in our Italian visa section.

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AMERICANS IN ITALY

‘Everything shuts down for hours’: Shocks Americans get when they first move to Italy

You might have read up on Italian values and customs before moving here, but not everything is written down. We asked Americans what they found most surprising when they first arrived.

Published: 10 May 2024 09:48 CEST
‘Everything shuts down for hours’: Shocks Americans get when they first move to Italy

Americans are often drawn to Italy by its extensive art scene, wealth of food and quality of life. But living in the country can bring surprises for all new residents, including for statiunitesi, who often find things are very different to what they’re used to back home.

We asked Americans on The Local’s Living in Italy Facebook group, you told us mealtimes, paying bills and taking out the trash were amongst the most unexpected hurdles.

Mealtimes were one surprising factor for Kathleen Canape, a Foligno resident by way of New York.

“So lunch is crazy. Everything shuts down, for like three hours. In New York City, we eat at our desk,” she writes. 

She continues: “When I was growing up we ate dinner at 5pm, I usually had dinner at 7pm back in Long Island and that was considered late.

“Now I go to dinner at 9pm.”

Kathleen, who worked in fashion, finance and real estate in Manhattan and Long Island, found life couldn’t be more different when she moved to Foligno two years ago to be with her husband. 

She also found working on a Sunday is a big no-no in Italy, whereas she was used to it back in New York.

MAP: Where do all the Americans live in Italy?

“It’s a five-hour lunch that goes right into dinner.”

She finds it “wild” that some bills you have to pay at the tobacco shop or post office, rather than online. 

“That’s definitely a pain,” she adds.

Debbie Dexter, who lives in Umbria, notes the issues she had with recycling when she first arrived in Italy. 

She says the Umbria region has locked bins and that trash collectors would not pick up certain types of rubbish.

READ ALSO: Ten positives to focus on if you move to Italy from the US

“Out of desperation, I drove around trying to find an unlocked bin when I came across a large white box,” Debbie comments.

“I couldn’t read Italian yet but set about depositing my trash inside, only to learn that it was a collection box for donated clothes and other items. I felt SO bad!”

She relied on the help of her neighbours, who made her a copy of a key for the bins so she could deposit her waste. She was then caught by the collectors and was told  that, because she owned a house, she should have a set of sanctioned bins. In total, it took her a year to get the bin situation sorted. 

Debbie also had an unpleasant surprise when she entered her new home – all of the light sockets and the thermostat had disappeared.

“I already knew Italians tend to take the whole kitchen with them,” Debbie says. “But I didn’t expect to see open wires hanging out of the wall.”

“I had to fix everything. I am still shocked to this day that we did not get electrocuted.”

As a single woman living in Italy, she also says she gets weird looks when dining out alone.

READ ALSO: Ice to AC: Nine of the most common American misconceptions about Italy

“When a single woman walks in looking for a table on a Sunday, you almost get laughed at by the audacity of this request.  So, Sundays I make a nice little lunch for myself, open a bottle of wine and eat out on my terrace,” she adds. 

Manuela Rumsey, a real estate agent from California who lives in Vicenza, had an issue that many foreigners moving to Italy will have experienced:

“When I first arrived, I tried to get a phone number and bank account,” she writes. “The bank told me that I needed a phone number first, and the phone company told me that I needed a bank account first.

“It was over a month before I had both.”

Kathleen did however have a nice surprise when she adopted her dog.

She tells us: “It was completely free. In the States they charge you at least a $200 adoption fee.”

It just goes to show, not all surprises make life harder. 

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