Expatriate Checklist: going to Italy
Moving to a new country means a bucket-load of things to worry about – which is why we have prepared a checklist to help you prepare and make sure that nothing is forgotten before your big move!.
Visa requierements
EU citizen and members of the Schengen Agreement countries
Italy is a member of the European Union (Austria, Italy, Belgium, Latvia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Croatia, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Malta, Czechia, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Portugal, Finland, Romania, France, Slovakia, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Ireland, United Kingdom) and the Schengen Agreement countries (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) meaning if you happen to have a passport from any of those 2 countries groups, then you're free to live and work in Italy without any additional visa.
Other region
You must apply for a visa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the nearest Italian Embassy or Consulate. Remember to allow enough time for your application to be processed and take care of this long before entering the country. In fact, Italy passed a law in 2009 that makes it a crime to enter or stay in Italy without the legal authorisation. Illegal immigration is punishable by a fine (5 – 10 thousand euro) and you would be repatriated (you get sent back to your home country).
The residence permit may or may not be granted within 120 days — although it’s rare that it will be rejected if you have a job lined up for you. If you’re staying for up to three months, you’ll need to provide the nearest police station with a declaration of presence (dichiarazione di presenza sul territorio nazionale). If your stay is going to be any longer, you’ll need a certificate which will grant you residency for five years. Apply for your attestato d’iscrizione anagrafica at the nearest town hall, or Comune-Ufficio Anagrafe. After five years, you can apply for permanent residency.
Living in Italy
Tax code
Now that you are authorised to live in italy, one of the first document that you should be looking for is you tax code (Codice Fiscale), there isn’t a deadline set by Italian Government but! You will it to open a bank account get a SIM/Mobile phone contract, online shopping, enroll in the Italian health care system/coverage.
If you are still in your homeland, you can apply at any Italian diplomatic or consular representative/office; however, if you are in Italy, feel free to file the application form to any Revenue Agency office.
Healthcare system
Once in Italy, you should register with the SSN (Servicio Sanitario Nacional - The Italian national medical system is managed by the SSN) at the ASL (Aziende Sanitarie Locali - the agency in charge of health insurance) agency in your area. In order to do so, you will need the following documents:
Permit of stay or the receipt issued by the Post office at the moment of the application
Passport with visa if non-EU citizen
Tax identification number (Codice Fiscale)
Self certification of your domicile (the same address you have written in your permit of stay) or certificate of residence
if necessary: Receipt of payment ‘Bollitino’ from the post office.
This is how we assist you
We understand the need to minimize the administration and financial burdens at the time of medical necessity: Then, we designed a Cover card that will give you cashless access to all our medical partners, for Inpatient, Outpatient treatment, but also pharmacies and dental care. For more information about this service, drop us a line.
