[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]You don’t need to wait for Italian citizenship to stay in Italy and enjoy an unlimited right of residence. All family members of Italian citizens have a right to reside in Italy, no matter what their nationality.
Family members – spouse or partner, children up to 21 years old and the partner’s children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents… – have a right to a residence permit. After five years, they have a right to permanent residence.
Which family members are entitled to a Residence Card?
- Spouses and partners
- Children of the couple (until 21 years of age)
- Children of the Italian citizen or of the non-Italian spouse or partner (until 21 years of age)
- Children above 21 years of age, if maintained by the Italian citizen
- Parents, if maintained by the Italian citizen
- Grandchildren and grandparents of the Italian citizen
- The parent’s of the Italian citizen’s spouse (or same-sex registered partner)
Example:
The parents of a Chinese daughter who resides in Italy and is married (or registered in a same-sex partnership) with an Italian citizen have a right to enter (visa-free) and stay in Italy under option #6. If their daughter has children in Italy, the right of said parents to enter and stay in Italy falls additionally under option #5.
Basis: Article 2 of Italian Legislative Decree of February 6th, 2007 no. 30
Did you know that…?
> Since February 2017 Italy has extended the right to citizenship and all residence rights to same-sex spouses/partners.
> The right of residence extends to any other of the 27 states which are part of the European Union. You can take up residence and stay as long as you wish, no matter if you work, study or enjoy your retirement. That is the core of family rights for every Italian (thus European) citizen.
How does it work?
Just move to Italy with your Italian family member.
In some cases, you may need a visa to move to Italy. That depends on your nationality. Find out here how to obtain a visa.
Once in Italy, you will register with the immigration authorities (Questura). I have a tip for you: sometimes the Italian authority grants a temporary “Family Residence Permit” to the family members of Italian citizens.
That is a 2-years residence permit called Permesso di Soggiorno per Motivi Familiari.
This permit is enough for family members to access health care coverage, work, study, and travel visa-free to the other 27 European Union member states.
However, this type of permit has some distinct disadvantages. It doesn’t allow you to:
… stay in any other European Union member state after three months;
… work or study in any other European Union member state, even on a temporary basis;
… enjoy any social/healthcare benefit in any other European Union member state;
… avoid a time-consuming renewal process: every second yearyou must undergo a full review of requirements and documents which takes months.
Is there an alternative?
Yes. My advice is to opt for a RESIDENCE CARD.
In fact, family members to Italian citizens (or to any other European Union citizen) have a right to a long-term residence card. Besides, after 5 years of residence in Italy, you are entitled to a permanent card. In Italian, it is officially called “Permesso di soggiorno per familiari di cittadino comunitario”.
A Residence Card is a special treat for the family members because the family is so important in Italy.
As a family member of an Italian citizen, you are eligible for the 5-years residence card and have free access to work, business, studies, health care, and most rights on a par with Italian citizens.
Italian authorities tend to give a 1 or 2-year “Family Residence Permit” if you don’t insist on a 5-year Residence card. That might have to do with the fact that a Residence Card sets you free from bureacratic renewal procedures for a long time and enjoys benefits for at least five years. But the law is on your part. So it’s up to you to claim your rights and demand a Residence Card.
Residence cards for Italian citizens’ family members are free of charge.
How can you obtain a Residence Card?
You just hand to the local immigration office the following:
A copy of your passport (show the original)
An official certificate proving that you are a family member (e.g. a marriage certificate)
Copy of your Italian family member’s id card
Documents of your income, showing that your family have a sufficient income and do not have to depend on the public security (you don’t ned to have a job for that)
Remember: Residence cards are for families residing in Italy. In order to obtain it, both you and your Italian citizen family member need to move to and reside in Italy.
Alternatively, you can have a similar residence card if you move with your Italian family member to another country within the European Union.
For parents:
In case the applicant is the parent of an Italian citizen or of the Italian citizen’s spouse (or same-sex registered partner) as per categories #4 and #6 above, additional documents are required to prove that the applicant is partly or totally maintained by the concerned child (i.e. the Italian citizen or of the Italian citizen’s spouse or same-sex registered partner). This requirement is called “Vivenza a carico”.
Viable documents to this end are bank statements showing that the concerned child sent money to the parent, tax reports, and statements by accountants, as well as any other official statement from Italy or from the authorities of the applicant’s country of origin/residence. Such documents should be translated into Italian and legalized by the Italian Consulate.
Alternatively, the parent may first apply for a residence permit for family reasons and the child should add the parent to the Italian tax report for that year. The following year, the Italian tax report will be accepted as a sufficient document to obtain a 5-year residence card.
In some circumstances, the parents of minors with Italian citizenship can be granted a residence permit, even if they do not live together. In that case, it is important to show the authorities both proof of family tie (the child’s birth record showing parentship) and of the parent’s right of shared custody or visit.
Now it’s your turn…
Let me know with your comment on this page: how does this information work for you?
Which other information would be useful for you to know?
Free compact guide SPECIAL RESIDENCE CARD KEY
Are you interested to know more about some requirements for the residence card?
You can receive more information about sufficient income limit to apply for a residence card, or the conditions to keep or lose your card, or how you can obtain a Residence Card if you settle in another country in Europe.
I put this information together in a compact guide: SPECIAL RESIDENCE CARD KEY. If you want to have it for free, ask for it and I will send it to you shortly by email.
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Special Residence Card Key
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Your blog is very helpful. Thank you, Lara.
I haven’t found the answer to my specific question reading through the comment thread. Perhaps I missed it.
My husband and I recently moved to Italia (from United States) and live in the Imperia province.
My husband has dual citizenship and is using his British passport to apply for Italian residency. His process should be complete within the week. I thought I had all my necessary documents for my permesso di soggiorno but the woman at the questura told me yesterday she needs our marriage certificate to be translated and registered. This is specificallly what she wrote: “Certificato di matrimonio tradotto e registrato al comune di residenza.”
Am I understanding correctly that we simply need to get the document translated and then go to our local comune for their stamp of approval? I ask, because my 90 days will be running out in about 3 weeks. If I need to get our marriage certificate apostilled, I won’t have enough time.
I reached out to a local school for translation service information. Must the translator be recognized by the state authorities? Is this something you do?
I’m grateful for your input.
Grazie mille!
Hello, Kenda! Registering your marriage certificate in Italy is indeed required to all Italian citizens who marry abroad. In order to have such registration, your marriage certificate needs to be in a valid form for the Italian authorities, i.e. stamped with an Apostille by the Secretary of State in the USA, and then to be translated. If the translation is made in the USA, it needs to be Apostilled. If it is made in Italy, the translation needs to be verified by the local Tribunal (asseverazione). Any person can do it. There is no register of official translators in Italy. You may consider that marriage certificates have a validity of six months from the issue date, according to Italian law. You may ask the assistance of our correspondent in the US to obtain the certificate with the Apostille and also the translation with Apostille (check Anna L. Edwards on our webpage). All the best
Ciao Lara,
I am a non-EU citizen and my wife is Italian. If we decided to move to Genova, can we show our savings money in our UK joint bank account to prove income for the 5 years (residence card),
Grazie
Yes. Any document regarding your income is useful to prove your financial independence.
Hi Lara,
Great info here. My partner Laura is an Italian citizen and I’m a NZ citizen. We have both been living together in NZ for 3 years and she has obtained NZ residency through our partnership. We are planning to move to Italy together this year. My question to you is, would I be eligible for the Italian residence card if we are not married?
Thanks,
Tyler
A non-Italian unmarried partner has no full right to a 5 residence card or to a family residence permit because the authority (Questura) has no obligation to give such permit under Italian hard law. However, the law strongly recommends it. The local authority in charge of granting residence permits has an obligation to carefully examine the applicant’s family situation and can give a family residence permit. That is a two-years renewable residence permit and no five-years residence card. But it gives the possibility to work, study and stay as long as the Italian partner stays in Italy. There is also a possibility to convert such permit into an independent residence permit (e.g. for work).
Article 7 section 2 of Decreto legislativo no. 30/2007 states that the local authority (Questura) shall, in accordance with European Union legislation, facilitate entry and residence of any other family members of EU citizens, irrespective of their nationality,including the partner with whom the EU citizen has a durable relationship, duly attested. In fact, a recent Italy law derives rights from a de facto partnership when the two partners are tied by “uno stabile legame affettivo” (a stable emotional bond) and register their residence at the same address at the Anagrafe of the municipality (Italian Partnership Act of 20 May 2016, no. 76, Article 1, section 36 and following). These rules apply to the partners of Italian and EU citizens, no matter what their nationality is, according to article 23 of the same Decreto legislativo no. 30/2007 (“Le disposizioni del presente decreto legislativo, se piu’ favorevoli, si applicano ai familiari di cittadini italiani non aventi la cittadinanza italiana”).
In conclusion, although it is not easy to obtain a residence permit for family reasons for a de facto partner (under article 7 section 2 of Decreto legislativo no. 30/2007), it is worth trying and insisting (possibly with the help of a local legal operator to mediate with the authority). Several Questure issued such permits to the partners of EU citizens and to those of Italian citizens. I hope that works for you.
Wow Lara thank you very much for the reply! That sounds quite hopeful, I’ll let you know how we get on.
Hello Lara am married to EU citizen we live in Italy I want to apply for EU family residence card in Italy as my wife is not working are much amount do we need to declare before I can apply in qestura thanks my name is fred.
There is no fixed amount set by the law. The Questura evaluates the financial situation in order to exclude that your family in Italy is financially independent.
I have a brother who is an Italian national, owns an afrobar or african bar and he applied for a visa for me since Feb 7 in Italy, to come help him in his business. Is it possible to secure a visa for me and residence.
Italian law provides that family members to Italian citizens within the second degree (siblings included) cannot be removed from the country as long as they reside in Italy with the Italian citizen (articolo 19 comma 2 C del decreto legislativo 286/98). So, once you have entered Italy with any visa (even a tourist visa issued by the Consulate of any EU country), you can apply for a family residence permit by proving by official records that you are the brother of an Italian citizen (e.g. by submitting your birth record which shows that you have the same parents). Such residence permit has a duration of 2 years and is renewable. There is no income requirement.
Hi lara,my husband is Italian citizen and we register our marriage in commune.i want to know if the letter of invitation is need to be authenticate before I bring through italian consulate??
No, the signature of your husband and a copy of his Italian ID or passport are enough.
Hello Lara.
My father is an Italian citizen and very shortly i will have my first permesso di soggiorno i have an appointment in 20 days.i love italy but a really love sweden i would like to live and work there.i have a friend there he will help me apply for a work permit and find a house but i am concerned if i can do all this without loosing the right to renew my permesso di soggiorno after 2 years when it is requiered in italy?
I have not found answers online and is really important for me to keep my permesso di soggiorno i would not want to loose this because my father sister live in italy and i want to be able to go visit and stay close to them from time to time.thank you so much for your time.
According to Italian law, you cannot be registered as a resident at the same time in other countries. That raised also taxation issues. However, Italian law provides that you can have your official residence in Italy and stay abroad for extended periods of time (e.g. to study or work). The main requirement is that you keep your home in Italy (i.e. receive your mail, pay rent or somebody pays for you, etc…). Also, you may consider that, once you have a work permit and residence permit in Sweden, you are entitled to move and stay in any other EU member state (including Italy) for up to 90 days each time, So you may not need to keep your residence in Italy, after all. If you need more information on residence and immigration in Italy or Sweden, you are welcome to request a private consultation.