Moving to Italy

Practical advice for those considering a move to Italy

Visas, working and what to expect from life in Italy.

Do I need a visa?  Can I work in Italy?  What about establishing permanent residence in Italy?

If you are considering moving to Italy and you are a citizen of another EU member state, you require only your passport or ID card to move to Italy or to work in Italy. 

Furthermore, as an EU citizen you are theoretically entitled to remain in the country for as long as you like. 

There is actually a further requirement - you have to register with a questura or police station.  This is a necessity if you wish to establish permanent residence in Italy, and your registration should furnish you with a permesso di soggiorno which roughly translates to ‘permission to remain for a nominated period’.

If you come to Italy from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Switzerland or Japan and wish to visit Italy for up to three months you don’t require a visa, your passport probably won’t be stamped when you enter the country and so this three month rule is often interpreted with a certain flexibility!

If however you are moving to Italy and therefore planning a long stay it is wise to ask for an entry stamp in your passport because without it you can encounter difficulties when it comes time to obtain you permesso di soggiorno.

If you come from a non EU country and a country other than those listed above and you are interested in going to Italy to study, you will need a study visa which can be obtained from an Italian embassy or consulate.

As Italy suffers from fairly high unemployment it can be hard to find work if you are looking for an unskilled job and/or if you can’t speak Italian.  Bear these facts in mind and put a plan in place to learn Italian and seek a firm job offer before you go.  Either that or go with enough money to survive on!

The pace of life in Italy is far more leisurely than that experienced in most other Western countries, and if you move to Italy you get to understand that Italians place far more emphasis on their quality of life and their family life rather than work and money. 

They are stable people, putting great emphasis on ‘a good life’, and Italy’s government and law reinforce these ideals and protect their people.  For example, Italian law makes it virtually impossible for a family to lose their home - whether it’s rented or owned.
 
Also, Italian law makes it very difficult for an employer to sack an employee.  Italy also has a public health care system that covers all of its citizens.

You will find that life in Italy is stable and revolves around the family, and while it is never an easy undertaking to move to a ‘foreign’ country and to learn an entirely new language and culture, chances are if you move to Italy you will find the whole experience highly enjoyable!  And you can rest assured the Italian people, passionate as they are about their beautiful country, will welcome you and help you to enjoy the wealth of beauty that surrounds you.  This will make all the red tape associated with relocation seem wholly insignificant.