As a family member of an Italian citizen, you have a full right to enter and stay in Italy. Depending on your nationality and current residence, you may need an entry visa. The most important information is gathered here in 3 steps.
#1 Check
Are you eligible for residency in Italy? You have such right if you can prove one of the following family relations:
- spouse (or same-sex registered partner)
- children and grandchildren (up to 21 years) of the Italian citizen and those of the spouse
- parents and grandparents of the Italian citizen and those of the spouse
- siblings of the Italian citizen
#2 Prepare
If you are a national of a country listed for visa requirement to Italy/Europe, you need to apply at the closest Italian Consulate for a visa for family members (Visto d’ingresso per familiari di cittadini italiani). Such a visa clears your entry through the border checks upon arrival in Europe (more precisely, in the Schengen area). The terms and requirements for this kind of visa are often not published on the Italian Consulate’s websites. In general, the conditions are more favorable than any other visa, the process is free of charge and shorter. The documents to attach to the application may vary from Consulate to Consulate. Documents required for your visa application: In general, this is what the Italian Consulates require:
- Application form filled in with your data (download here) 1 photo in ICAO format (4.0 x 3.5 cm, color photo with white background, taken within the last 6 months)
- Proof of family relation, e.g. official marriage record. The record must be in full format (i.e. including the names of the parents of each spouse or parents, for birth certificates), legalized/apostilled and translated into Italian. Marriage records must be issued less than 6 months before. That is a requirement, in case the Italian citizen did not register the concerned vital record in Italy as yet (at the municipality in which he is a resident or, if not residing in Italy, at the municipality of Rome);
- Invitation letter signed by the Italian citizen (Dichiarazione di ospitalità, download here) your passport + 2 copies (the passport must be valid for at least 3 months after the planned departure date from the Schengen area and was issued less than 10 years before. The passport must have at least two blank and unmarked visa pages)
- Italian citizen’s passport (copy)
- Flight reservation: The reservation document must indicate the applicant’s name, departure city, and destination. In order to avoid any unnecessary expense, flight ticket confirmation can be done after visa issuance.
- Health care insurance: insurance must be valid for the whole Schengen area. It must cover medical fees, hospitalization and repatriation costs of up to 30,000 euros. The insurance must fully cover the initial period of stay within the Schengen area.
- Letter of authorization for visa application/passport return (in case the applicant does not submit the application in person). For those who choose to submit the application by a representative, it is mandatory to provide a letter of authorization, signed by the applicant, mentioning the name of the representative and his/her contacts. The representative ID must be shown and a copy of the ID must be submitted.
#3 Follow The Process
After submitting your application, you are entitled to obtain a visa within 90 days. This term might be extended one time to 30 more days. Please note that, if your application wasn’t complete from the start, the Consulate can stay the process for the time needed for you to give the missing document (max 90 days).
FAST TRACK: The process goes much faster when the Italian citizen has registered in Italy the document proving the relation. For example, if the Italian citizen has married or had a child outside of Italy, it is very important to register the marriage or birth record at the Italian Consulate (if the Italian citizen resided abroad) or in Italy (at the municipality of residence, office of Stato Civile).
What happens next?
In order to secure your residence in Italy, you are expected to apply for a residence permit or a residence card upon your arrival. The family members within the 1st and 2nd degree (spouse, children up to 21 years, parents, grandparents and grandchildren) can obtain a five-year residence card. The other family members are entitled to obtain a two-year residence permit. You may read here about the differences between the two. It is required to prove that you depend on the Italian citizen for your maintenance and to register your residence at the same address.
Would you like to know more?
Download my Free Guide “4-Step Strategy” to obtain a residence permit for family members, complete with the official forms: Invitation statement by the Italian citizen for the family member to show at the border (or to obtain an entry visa, where applicable): Dichiarazione di alloggio e garanzia
- “Dichiarazione di ospitalità” to be submitted to the immigration police within 48 hours
- “Dichiarazione di presenza” to be submitted to the immigration police within 8 days
+ the list of documents required by the police for the application.
Request your Free Guide here:
Hello.
My child has Italian citizenships and Canadian. My husband does also. I am Canadian. Our child wants to attend university in Italy. Am I legally able to move to Italy with her, if my husband stays in Canada? What documents will I need before leaving Canada? Our marriage is registered in Italy because we applied for our children’s citizenship many years ago. Will I be able to work in Italy?
Thank you in advance.
You can obtain a residence permit for family members (permesso di soggiorno per motivi familiari) in Italy, as a parent to an Italian citizen. You mainly need to prove your family tie by means of your child’s official birth record (apostilled and officially translated into Italian). Your marriage status is not relevant. You can find more information on my blog at this page: Family members of Italian citizens: how to obtain a residence permit. Good luck!
Hi Lara,
I’m Filipino and currently me and my boyfriend Italian citizen living here in Philippines, we are planning to go in Italy for married, I’m just asking if what visa I need to go in Italy for married. And all requirements I need and he need to process in embassy.
Thank you
Italian law does not provide a special fiancé visa. If you are unmarried you can only request a tourist visa, possibly with an invitation letter by your fiancé (see above, document # 3 under “Documents to prepare your application”). Once in Italy, you may extend your stay long term if you have the right documents and marry. For more information, you may check my article “3 Steps to celebrate your wedding in Italy“. Good luck!
Hello Lara
My father has a permanent residence in Italy who has a medical condition which needs a relative care and I’m currently 23 years old. Am I eligible to apply for the visa?
Unfortunately, that kind of permit is provided by the law only for the children and other close relatives of Italian citizens (see our Article “Family members of Italian citizens: how to obtain a residence permit“).
My husband was Italian he died last year. Do I loose my family visa rights ?
Our sincere sympathies for your loss, Kelsey. If you are living in Italy, you may lose your right of residence as a family member, depending on your situation (e.g. if you have children or if you have live more than three years in Italy). However, you can obtain another residence permit depending on what your main activity is or source of income (e.g. a permesso di soggiorno per lavoro). If you live abroad, your right to obtain a visa and residence in Italy may be lost, especially if you have no children or minor children, or no family of Italian citizenship in Italy.
Hi, I’m Thai and was married to an Italian. I have an 11 year old daughter living with her papa near Brescia.. Exclusive custody was granted to him in my absence many years ago. Until now he invited me to get a multiple entry 2 years visa to visit her. Now the relationship is going bad because of his new girlfriend and he threatens me not to support any more visa. Do I have a right to get a visa like before to visit her or even the right to get residency in Italy.
Yes. A parent who has a legal right to visit her child in Italy has also a right to obtain a (multiple entry) visa and even a long-term residence permit. That is so, even if the parent has no custody rights. In the situation that you describe, you don’t need necessarily an agreement with the other parent to obtain a visa and visit your child in Italy. You can obtain such a visa by proving by official documents that you have a child residing in Italy and that you have a right to visit her. Moreover, you may consider that custody decisions are always open for change and should be adapted to new circumstances affecting your daughter or you. If you need help to put together the necessary documents for your visa application or for your residence permit, or to revise the custody decision in Italy, you may consider hiring a good lawyer to help you with that. Let us know if you need help with that.