Moving to Italy
Why Italy?
Italy offers an exceptional quality of life that is difficult to replicate anywhere else. Its world-renowned cuisine alone can inspire a lifetime of discovery, with each region offering its own distinct traditions, flavors, and culinary heritage. Italy is home to more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country, allowing residents to experience daily the history and beauty that others travel across the world to see.
Italy’s sophisticated universal healthcare system provides peace of mind, ensuring access to high-quality medical care without the burden of overwhelming costs. Education is recognized as a fundamental right, extending through the university level, where students pay modest annual fees to receive a world-class education.
The overall cost of living is lower than in the United States, and the culture places deep value on time spent with family, friends, and community. Perhaps Italy’s greatest gift is its natural beauty. From the dramatic mountain ranges that offer world-class hiking and skiing to its stunning, pristine coastlines, Italy is a place of inspiration in every season. It is not simply a destination, but a way of life.
Italy and the United States both allow dual citizenship.
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Italy is in the European Union and the Schengen Area
Why is that important?
Countries within the European Union (EU) offer an extraordinary level of freedom and mobility. Under the EU’s freedom of movement rules, citizens of one member state can live and work in any other EU country (plus Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland) without the need for a visa. In practical terms, this means that Italian citizens can move seamlessly to France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, or any other EU member state without restriction. For Americans who become EU Long-Term Residents in Italy, moving to another EU country is also possible through a simplified and streamlined process.
Italy is also part of the Schengen Area, a unique region where people, commerce, and capital move freely across borders without passport controls. This openness removes many of the barriers that exist elsewhere, making both everyday life and business significantly easier. It enables effortless travel, deeper integration, and a truly borderless European experience.
How Can I Move to Italy?
You can move to Italy with a Long-Stay Visa
This is the most common pathway for Americans seeking to move to Italy. A visa is official authorization that allows you to live, work, and/or study in another country. Most visas are issued for a period of one (1) year and can be renewed as long as you continue to meet the visa's requirements. Without a visa, U.S. citizens can only visit Italy for tourism for up to 90 days, but cannot remain long-term, establish residency, or work.
How do Long-Stay Visas work?
You must apply for a visa and submit detailed documentation demonstrating that you meet the qualifications for the specific category you are seeking. This process can be time-consuming and complex, which is why many people choose to work with Geostrata so they can remain focused on their careers, families, and daily lives.
Most visas have a shared set of basic requirements. You must have enough income to cover your cost of living during your stay. The amount of income (and what kind of income) differs depending on your situation. You will also need to show proof of accommodation, which may be a leased apartment, a hosting arrangement with family or friends, or a home you own. Finally, everyone must apply for a Permesso di Soggiorno (residence permit) at a post office within eight (8) working days of arrival in Italy.
Geostrata has deep expertise across the full range of visa pathways available to Americans. We carefully evaluate your background, objectives, and timeline to identify the option best suited to your circumstances. Our services are offered in multiple tiers, ranging from focused coaching sessions and customized step-by-step guidance to comprehensive, full-service white-glove relocation support.
Types of Long-Stay Visas
Italy Offers Many Options for Americans
Whether you are looking to work, study, invest, or simply embrace a new chapter, Italy offers a range of visa options to help make your move possible. The following could be eligible for a Long-Stay Visa:
- Digital nomads and remote workers
- Freelancers and self-employed people
- People who are hired to work at an Italian company
- Highly-qualified workers (EU Blue Card)
- Researchers and scientists
- Investors
- Retirees
- Students (university, language school, culinary school, and more)
- Seasonal workers (temporary)
- Au pairs (temporary)
- Volunteers (temporary)
- And more!
Spotlight: Italy's Digital Nomad Visa
For Digital Nomads and Remote Workers
Italy offers a digital nomad visa that allows Americans to work remotely while living in Italy. This visa offers three main benefits:
1. Your income from the United States is likely higher than it would be from an equivalent job in Italy. This allows you to enjoy the lower cost of living in Italy even more.
2. Since you are not competing with Italians for a job, it is significantly easier to move to Italy as a digital nomad than by obtaining employment in Italy.
3. After five (5) years living in Italy a a digital nomad, you become eligible for EU Long-Term Residency (similar to permanent residency in the United States). As an EU Long-Term Resident, you can live in Italy without any restrictions, apply for any job, study at any institution, and move to another EU country through a streamlined procedure.
Spotlight: European Union Blue Card
For Highly-Qualified Workers
The EU Blue Card is one of the most powerful and flexible visas in Italy and for the entire European Union. It is specifically designed for highly skilled professionals. If you obtain an EU Blue Card, your family can accompany you and enjoy free movement rights within the EU.
The key to obtaining this sought-after visa is education, highly skilled work experience, and a job offer for a company in Italy. You need to have a bachelor’s degree and at least five (5) years of relevant professional experience. IT professionals only need to have three (3) years of relevant experience.
As a Blue Card holder, you will have full rights to social security, healthcare, and benefits. After 18 months of holding a Blue Card in Italy, you can move to another EU member state and work at another highly-skilled job. The card transfers to the new member state through a simplified procedure.
Spotlight: Italy's "Golden Visa" (Investor Visa)
For Investors and High-Net-Worth Individuals
Italy has a "golden visa" which allows Americans to live in Italy through a financial investment. Italy's Investor Visa has a unique benefit: investors do not need to live in Italy full-time to keep their visa.
To qualify for Italy's Investor Visa, you must:
- Invest €250,000 in an Italian innovative startup or
- Purchase €500,000 of shares of an active Italian company or
- Purchase €2,000,000 of Italian government bonds or
- Invest €1,000,000 in a public interest project
Italy's investor visa is not a practical option for most, but it offers high-net-worth individuals a unique way to contribute to the Italian economy while gaining mobility in the European Union.
EU Long-Term Residency and Citizenship
EU Long-Term Residency
EU Long-Term Residency
EU Long-Term Residency
EU Long-Term Residency is the next step for most Americans after living in Italy for five (5) years. EU Long-Term Residency allows you to live in Italy permanently without any restrictions. You can apply for any job, attend any university, and utilize social benefits like Italy's universal healthcare system. Your immediate family can accompany you and enjoy these benefits as well. If you want to move to another EU country, you can do so through a simplified procedure designed exclusively for EU Long-Term Residents.
Italian Citizenship
EU Long-Term Residency
EU Long-Term Residency
Italian citizenship is the ultimate goal of many of Geostrata's clients. Italian citizenship guarantees you access to healthcare, education, and other personal freedoms as basic human rights. Italian citizenship is also EU citizenship, so you can live and work in 27 European countries with no restrictions. The Italian passport is one of the most powerful on earth, ranked at number five, six positions higher than the US passport. To become eligible to be naturalized as an Italian citizen, you need to live in Italy for 10 years (typically five years as a visa holder and five years as an EU Long-Term Resident).
Ways to Obtain Italian Citizenship
Naturalization, Ancestry, and Marriage.
Americans typically obtain Italian citizenship by naturalization, ancestry, or marriage.
We mentioned naturalization above. To be eligible, you must live in Italy for a period of at least ten years, pass an Italian language test, and demonstrate that you are financially stable.
Obtaining Italian citizenship through ancestry has been wildly popular in the United States for the past decade. Unfortunately, this method is more complicated than social media posts make it out to be, and the Italian government recently raised the threshold to be eligible. You might be eligible for Italian citizenship through ancestry if your parents or grandparents were Italian citizens at the time of your birth.
Obtaining Italian citizenship through marriage is straightforward. If you are married to an Italian citizen, than you are entitled to citizenship after a waiting period. If you already live in Italy, than you are eligible for citizenship two years after the marriage was registered with the Italian government. This is reduced to one year if you have children with your Italian spouse. If you live with your Italian spouse outside of Italy, then you are eligible for Italian citizenship thee years after the marriage was registered with the Italian government. This is reduced to 1.5 years if you have children with your Italian spouse.