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:
Is my brother-in-law considered as an immediate family member? They need to attend our church wedding.
Brothers in-law are not regarded as immediate family by Italian immigration law. Please note that the visas considered in the article on this page are meant for a longer stay than 90 days. So that may not be of your interest for the purpose of short visits. Depending on the nationality of your brother-in-law and of the country of his official residence, he may be required to obtain a visa even for a shorter stay than 90 days. He may want to check the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website for visa requirements: https://vistoperitalia.esteri.it/
My brother is an Italian Citizen. As a brother, Can he sponsor me for 5 years or 2 years residence permit???
or
Can i get 2 years or 5 years residence permit by the relation of my brother who is citizen in any way???
Can you help me in this perspective????
Waiting for your answer….
Regards,
Suleman Ali Khan
Hello, Suleiman! As a brother to an Italian citizen, you can obtain a 2 years residence permit (renewable). Not a 5-years residence card. Please find more information here.
If my mother marry an Italian citizen then can I go to Italy with her?
Yes, if you are 21 or younger. For more information, you can check the articles “Is your family member an Italian Citizen? Get your 5 years residence card” ?
HI! My father is an Italian citizen he already invites my mother and my unmarried siblings to Italy without me. they are living with him now. I am in Bangladesh and married for 1 year. now my father can apply for me too? am I eligible to apply for Italian residence through my father?
You may. As a child to an Italian citizen, you are a first-degree family member, thus you can obtain a residence permit as a family member (up to the second-degree). But you have to prove to the Italian authorities that you are all living under the same roof in Italy. Check this article for more information: Family members of Italian citizens: how to obtain a residence permit for siblings, adult children and other family members
You may consider that there have been problems with local immigration police to obtain a residence permit for the spouses of family members since the law is not explicit in this regard.
When the intention is to arrive and get the residency card, how long do you apply for a visa for? With which purpose for the visit?
That would be a visa for family members (Visto d’ingresso per familiari di cittadini italiani) type D. The period of validity is not referred to a window of 90 days or similar because family members have a right to stay longer. You may state the length of stay depending on your needs.