Hi everyone. I think this message will be helpful for those wanting to move here. I know most of my readers won’t care, or won’t need to know, but you might still be interested in the process.
I am primarily writing this to help the new bunch of people trying to come to live here who are seeking/or already have the Digital Nomad Visa. I hope they think of it as information sharing, not negativity. Seems they are not getting the information about the things they need to do to stay in Italy legally. This information is the same for all Visas. And if a person wants a path to staying long term, this information is vital (see last paragraph).
I know Nomads are by definition moving around, but in Italy the nature of the Visa means you’ll need at least a years lease before you come. You need to stay put at your leased address until you’ve gotten through all the paperwork. It is a fact of life here. Some people are fine with that and want to stay long term. If so they need to plan ahead.
There are a number of things to do once you arrive in Italy to live after you receive your Visa.
Step 1. First and foremost is apply for the Permesso di Soggiorno (PdS) which is your permit to stay. The Visa is your ticket in, the PdS is your permit to stay. You must apply for this within 8 days of arrival. Your Visa never needs renewing, but the PdS is an annual or bi-annual renewal. Depends on your region .
To get this permit, you go to the Poste Italiene and pick up the yellow packet for stranieri (foreigners). Fill it in (Google that) buy a €16 tax stamp (bollo) at your local tabaccheria and go back to the Poste with copies of all the documentation you used to get the Visa. You will pay a fee to have this packet processed and a postal fee. Google that for amount. You will receive a receipt for this — DO NOT LOSE IT. You may get an appointment at the Questura then, but probably not. You’ll review it by SMS (you’ll need an Italian number) or mail. This appointment can be a year away.
You must go to the appointment. Bring copies of your documents and the receipt. Also photos. And be prepared to be fingerprinted. Then you wait for notification the card is ready. This can be a few months.
As you can see, things move slowly here.
Step 2. Once you’ve got the PdS then you can become a resident. You’ll do this in the Anagrafe in your Comune. You will get a visit by the police to ascertain you live there.
I am telling you all this so you’ll be informed how to get the Permanent Residency (Permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo) after five years here if you want. This is if you plan to live here long term. You will have needed to prepare for this over the previous five years. You will apply just like you do to renew your PdS but you’ll need to check a box for this Permesso. Most important you’ll need to prove you have been paying your income taxes to Italy. You will also need to pass the A2 certification of Italian proficiency. During these five years you cannot have traveled outside of Italy for more that ten months total. There are several other qualifications but they are obtainable when you’re ready to apply. The aforementioned must be done over time.
I hope any new Visa holders, or those pursuing a Visa, find this useful information!
In Boca al Lupo!
Hi Rebecca. I have my own thoughts about WV. My parents lived there after retirement. To each their own!
Thanks, but I guess I will stay in WV, already a foreign country…
Hi Louann, I hope I didn’t give the impression you need to go to your town. You need to go to the Poste first to apply. Then the questura for the fingerprinting and card. Finally the comune for the Carta d’identità. A town is a frazione of a comune. So all legal stuff is done in the comune, not the town. And everyone I know gets a one year permesso first. Then possible to get two, but only if your region allows it. Which ours does not. Thanks for the comment
Hi Michelle, so happy this helped!
Hi Rose, I advise you get your passports stamped when you cross the border if possible, if not, no big deal. You will use your Italian passport. And no, he must apply for the Permesso in your Comune. You, as the citizen, will need to register as a resident in your comune first. Once you get that THEN he will apply for the Permesso. The eight days don’t apply in your case. Please feel free to email me. My mail is on the contact page of this page.
I’m glad it helped Susan!
Thank you so much for the information, Nancy. The way you explained it took something that’s confusing and made it easy to understand and implement. Thanks again for taking the time to explain this process (including where, when and what to get) on the path to residency in Italy.
Thanks Nancy. You might need to note that when the embassy you are applying through says on their site you must go to the “Anagraffe in your local commune”, it may not be possible if your town is small! That’s how we lost our visas because we didn’t know we had to go to Lecce to renew. These small towns in the South don’t have experience or certification to do this. Ugento does not have an Anagrafe office any more (closed permanently) so that’s how we ended up at their city offices. Of course we did have the police come to our house so we did that right! We spoke to an attorney in Bari who specializes in help with visas and he said our local commune had no business renewing our visas even though they pretended to do it (gave us a form from the commune with the stamp from the tabacchio store) and said we didn’t need to come back for 5 years!! I was immediately suspicious as I knew the embassy said every year for 3 years, then can skip to year 5. . Instead, we should have gone to Lecce to get fingerprinted and have a personal interview. The embassy on-line site does NOT explain this. Thanks again. It turns out since we don’t plan to live in Italy permanently, we are spending 3 months at a time now which works better for us than dealing with all the paperwork!
I have a question Nancy. By the way, I’ve been reading your blog for a long time. Thank you for all that you do. My husband and I just sold our house in Texas and we drove to NJ to catch a K9 jet flight to France with 3 dogs. We are here in France now driving to our new home in Puglia. My question for you about the PdS application. I have my Italian citizenship. My husband does not. He needs to apply within 8 days of entry into Italy? We are traveling slow. What if we take 10 or 12 days to get to our town where we rent a house? Should he pick up the kit as soon as we get into Italy and file it there? I know we have to get our passports stamped somewhere. Or do we have to wait until we get to our comune where we will live to apply? Thank you so much for your help. This question has been tormenting me. I am so happy you brought it up.
Rose Marie Belforti
Thank you for the information! As always, very clear and helpful!