How to Move to Italy: The Ultimate Guide for Americans (2025)

So, you want to move to Italy? We fully understand.

If you prefer to listen to this as a podcast episode, we have episodes on the Student Visa and Work Visa.

Trulli houses in Puglia.

The first thing to understand is that, as Americans, you will need a visa for moving to Italy. While Italy is the base for a lot of immigration from African and Middle Eastern countries, most of them fall into refugee or economic migrant status, which Americans can't currently apply for. (Our article on that can be found here.) As an American, it's highly unlikely that you'll fall into this protected class.

Likewise, you can't live in Italy on the tourist visa (of course) which is only valid for 90 days (plus, you can't work, earn money, or apply for any protections under the tourist visa).

This means, your only real choice is to apply for a residency visa, later a permanent residency visa, and finally citizenship. If you don't already have family living in Italy, there are five main types of visas that Americans can apply for if they're interested in moving to Italy:

1. Student Visa

2. Work Visa

3. Digital Nomad Visa

4. Applying for Citizenship by Descent (Jure/Jus Sanguinis)

5. Elective Residency Visa (also called the "retirement visa")

6. Golden Visa

The second thing to understand is the "political winds" and where they're blowing. As of early 2025, most countries in the EU are leaning in a more "anti-immigration" direction. And this means immigrants from all countries, United States of America included (also as of right now, a lot of European universities are eyeing-up all of the fired professors, researchers, and scientists and trying to figure out a way to get them a fast-track visa, so this might change if you have a highly-desirable skill).

So, if you have an inkling that you'd like to move to Italy, it's best to start right away since laws (and leadership) often change in Italy, and what's possible one day isn't the next day.

Italy Student Visa

This is probably the easiest way to get a residency visa for Italy as an American. The visa itself is valid for one year, but you can renew it once you're in Italy in a fairly pain-free process. As of writing this in 2025, there's no limit to the amount of time you spend in Italy on the Student Visa, as long as its valid. Additionally, each year you spend in Italy on the Student Visa does count towards the time you will need to spend in Italy before applying for citizenship (you must live in Italy for 10 years before applying for citizenship).

However, if you just need somewhere to be for, say... 4 years? The Student Visa is the easiest way to accomplish this.

Basic Requirements for Italy's Student Visa:

• You must have proof of enrollment in a University.

• You must take at least 20 hours of classes a week.

• You must maintain a 2.5 GPA (on a legal level, the school might have a higher requirement).

• You must have at least €460.28 in your account for each month you'll be in Italy (this is looked at when you apply for the visa, which is only good for 1 year. So you'll need €5,523.36 in your account when you apply. If you don't have this amount, you will need a note from a bank or person (usually a family member) promising to help you cover costs while you're studying (they will also have to prove they have that amount)).

• A filled-out long-term visa application form (PDF linked here, this is to the New York consulate, but it's best to use one from your local consulate (a list of consulates found here). Keep in mind, your "local" consulate might be a few states away.).

• A passport valid for three months longer than your intended stay (so, with the visa being valid for 12 months, you will need 15 months of validity on your passport).

• You must have paid the University tuition.

• You must have proof of accommodation (a rental agreement, pretty much nothing else will suffice this requirement).

• You must have health insurance to cover your stay.

• You must have proof you speak the required language of the degree you're pursuing (many degrees are taught in English).

And that's basically it! Now, there are other requirements, such as paying the visa fee, passports photos, etc., but nothing you can't already get once the ball is rolling.

A woman sits on the famous steps made of books at the Acqua Alta bookshop in Venice. (This is not Darcy.)

Do I Have to Speak Italian to Apply for Italy's Student Visa?

You don't!

In fact, all major Universities in Italy offer at least one degree in English, with the large majority of doctorate degrees being offered in English (typically to international students, like yourself).

So, you don't need to speak Italian to go to University in Italy as long as you speak English.

Can I Work While in Italy on the Student Visa?

Here's the good news, you absolutely can!

While the types of jobs you can get are limited (it can't be anything that Italy classifies as specialized, so think along the lines of working at a café or bar), and the hours are limited to 20 a week, you can actually work in Italy while on the student visa.

This can help offset a lot of the costs, rent, food, and tuition.

Keep in mind, once you've graduated and you want to work in Italy, you will have to go through the same process as someone who hasn't spent the past few years in Italy. There's not currently a Student Visa -> Work Visa pipeline. However, you have a huge advantage, since you can spend that time looking for a job, and once you find one, that business can apply for a work permit on your behalf, skipping the line a bit.

Can I Bring my Family to Italy on the Student Visa?

Yes, you can!

The applicant can bring:

• their partner.

• their children under the age of 18.

• children over the age of 18, but only if fully dependent on the applicant (this almost always has to include a medical condition, it can't simply be financial support).

• parents, if they are fully dependent on the applicant, over the age of 65, have no other children in their home country, or no other children who can financially support them.

You will need to essentially double the amount of money you must prove that you have for each additional person that your bring over.

Italy's Work Visa

I'm going to go ahead and tell you the bad news now, at the top of this section. Getting a work visa for Italy is pretty difficult. Not impossible, but very close.

Here's how it works.

Applying for Italy's Work Visa

First things first, the Decreto Flussi (or, Flow Decree) has to be open. This doesn't happen every year (though it has happened in the past few years consistently). The Decreto Flussi only opens when an Italian company can't find someone already in Italy who is Italian or who has a valid work visa. They will then tell the Italian government that they need someone from outside the EU (since anyone who is a citizen of the EU can already work in Italy) to fill that position.

As you can imagine, this leans heavily into the agriculture/hospitality space.

Then, your employer will have to apply for your work permit (called Nulla Osta al lavoro).

And that's it! You have a work permit which is valid for one year (but can be renewed without going through the same process).

Or, is it?

How to Actually Get a Work Permit in Italy

I did say there was bad news! Well, not directly, but pretty close.

The Decreto Flussi only has a limited amount of spots. For 2025, there are 70,720 openings for non-seasonal jobs (bus drivers, pharmacists, lawyers, etc. If it's done year-round, it's non-seasonal), 110,000 openings for seasonal work (a mix of agriculture, hospitality, and construction with 30% of the hospitality openings not being filled until October 1st (for the ski/winter season), and a whopping 730 self-employment openings (this includes freelancers, entrepreneurs, and start-ups).

This means there are a total of 181,450 job openings in Italy for 2025.

In 2024, there were 151,000~ openings with just over 690,000~ applications submitted. Honestly, not great odds.

An image of ducks in a row to illustrate the point and because they're cute.

Then, there's "Click Day".

The Italian government will typically release the amount of openings during the previous year, which gives applicants time to fill out all of the necessary paperwork, get their ducks in a row, and get ready to apply.

Last year, from November 1st to November 30th, you could "pre-file" the paperwork, which is to upload it and get it ready to submit.

And then, February 5th, 7th, and 12th of 2025 (this year) were "click days" or, "the day you click submit on the application page". If you miss Click Day, you miss your chance to submit.

Applying for Jobs in Italy

Just like any job hunt, you can start online with Indeed, LinkedIn, or any other site you typically use.

As mentioned above, any company you find can sponsor your work permit/visa.

I will add that, in all the time I've spent asking people questions about the work visa and researching it on the deepest pages of the Italian State Department website, there doesn't seem to be a way around the Decreto Flussi except for transferring from an American company in America to their branch in Italy (or, a company in any country to their branch in Italy). In this case, you're an Intra-Corporate Transferee.

As far as I'm aware, and for what I've found, an American applying for a position in an American company that's located in Italy (such as Intel), if you aren't already employed by Intel, you'll have to go through the Decreto Flussi program.

Applying for the Blue Card in Italy

Just like the Green Card in the United States, the Blue Card allows you to work and live throughout the EU, rather than just Italy. It has the same requirements as the Italian Work Visa, but it's valid for 2 years instead of 1, and it allows you to work anywhere in Europe rather than just Italy.

You can find more information and apply for it here. Yes, this is the scammiest-looking website on the Internet, but that's classic European government for ya.

Applying for Italy's Self-Employment Visa

As you can tell from the 2024 numbers, 730 "job" openings in Italy for someone who is self-employed isn't very many.

Self-employment visas tend to be offered as a two-year visas (as opposed to the work visa's one-year visa) with the option to renew.

As mentioned above, this falls into three categories: freelancer, start-up, and entrepreneurs.

For start-ups, you will need a business plan, financing, and a reason this business has to start in Italy (for example, you want to do something with tourism in southern Italy). I won't go into much detail for this one because there are tons of great resources out there (I'm imagining) and this is such a complicated way to get a work visa for Italy.

Entrepreneurs are in a similar boat. Even if you already own a company, you'll have to get a business license, a fiscal code, figure out your tax bracket, etc. There are resources out there, but because this is such a complicated approach, it's honestly better to either become an Italian citizen before starting (where there's a lot of grants and loans that can help) or be really dedicated to your business.

Instead, I'm going to focus more on the freelancer side of things.

To apply for the Self-Employment Visa as a freelancer, you'll need a few things:

• Proof of available accommodation (this means a rental contract. Any other agreement usually isn't sufficient.).

• A provable yearly gross income of at least €8,500.

• Health insurance to cover at least the first 30 days of the applicants time in Italy.

• A certificate of "no impediment" issued by the Chamber of Commerce for your chosen field.

On the surface, it's pretty straightforward. However, as you can see from the number examples above, you might be in fierce competition for those few spots.

However, if you are a freelancer, as of 2024, there's another option for you.

Italy's Digital Nomad Visa

I will warn you now, this visa is still super new. A lot of people think it's half-baked and no one really understands exactly how it works or the ins-and-outs of it (like some of the more-established visas).

In either case, this is Italy's attempt to be more "21st century" and compete with countries that are attempting to woo digital nomads.

That being said, I'm going to walk you through it as best I understand it.

First off, this visa is designed to attract what Italy calls "highly-skilled" workers and is only valid for the people who fall into this category (more on this later). It's valid for one year (with the option to renew) and will give you all of the same benefits as the other residency visas.

It's divided into two categories: digital nomads (freelancers, consultants, other independent workers who can work from a computer) and remote workers (people who are employed by a company in another country but are allowed to do that work from anywhere).

Basic Requirements for the Digital Nomad Visa

• Either proof of a three-year degree (minimum, can be longer) or five years of professional experience (three if you're in the IT field).

• A minimum of 6 months of work experience (this is really only important if you fulfill the "degree" obligation but not the five years obligation). This has to be reinforced with pay slips, invoices, order forms, or anything that shows your history.

• Older than 18 years old.

• No criminal record.

• A valid lease for the duration of your stay (only has to be one year, since your visa will only be valid for one year).

• Must meet minimum income requirements (for the Digital Nomad Visa this is €24,789 a year or €2,066 a month. If you bring a partner, it increases to €34,087 a year, increasing by €1,550 a year per every child, which makes me think that Italy really underestimates how expensive it is to have a child).

• Proof of employment (they ask for client contracts, but I imagine a history of consistent work could also work, for those of you who don't have the same clients over and over again).

And if you're applying for the Remote Worker side of the Digital Nomad Visa you'll also need:

• Proof of employment (the contract suffices here).

• Employer's criminal record check (Italy wants to make sure you aren't employed by a company that has broken child labor laws, labor laws, or immigration laws in their home country).

If you're not exhausted from reading all of those requirements, I applaud you.

What Does Italy Consider a "Highly-Skilled Worker"

In general, if a profession in Italy requires some kind of specialization or certification (if not also a degree), Italy considers that to be "Highly-Skilled". For a fairly complete list, you can find it here (in Italian, but you can use the in-browser translator to translate it).

This means, if you are any of these professions, you will need a certification from an Italian Authority that says you're qualified to do that kind of work in Italy.

Benefits of the Digital Nomad Visa

Just like the other Residency Visas, there are a myriad of benefits that come along with the Digital Nomad Visa which include:

• You can bring close family (partner, children, parents).

• Any years spent in Italy on the Digital Nomad Visa count towards the 10 years needed for Italian citizenship.

• Tax benefits solely for digital nomads in Italy.

• ETIAS-exemption, which is cool, but only saves you a few euros and a tiny headache.

• Access to healthcare (and need I even say more?).

If you want to learn more about the Digital Nomad Visa, the New York Consulate website has some good information, but like all Italian websites, it does also have some pretty glaring holes.

How to Apply for Citizenship by Descent in Italy (Jure/Jus Sanguinis)

Are you someone who grew up hearing that you are 1/12 Italian, or that somewhere down the line you have an Italian grandparent?

Well, believe it or not, you can "reapply" for your Italian citizenship.

Unless your ancestor sat down in front of a consul general, ambassador, or some other face of the Italian government and renounced their citizenship (more likely than you think), the Italian government still views you as Italian.

Also important to note, unlike some other European countries, Italy explicitly allows for a citizen to hold multiple citizenships as of 1992. This is unlike America where there isn't a law that allows it or forbids it.

Important Note as of 2024: Even if you're reading this in 2025 or later, this is still super important. If the person who is from Italy originally (let's say, your great-grandfather) naturalized before their child turned 18, then Italy now considers that child's citizenship to be "interrupted" and will no longer accept applications from people whose ancestors were children when their parents naturalized.

BIG UPDATE MARCH 28th, 2025: On March 28th of 2025, Decree-Law No. 36/2025 came into effect, essentially limiting who could apply for citizenship through Jure Sanguinis. The revised group of people who can apply are:

• You have an Italian parent or adoptive parent who was born in Italy.

• You have an Italian parent or adoptive parent who lived (resided) in Italy for two consecutive years prior to your birth or adoption.

• You have an Italian grandparent who was born in Italy.

• Or, you submitted the paperwork discussed below before March 27th, 2025.

Now, before we all start panicking (trust me, panic was a big part of finding this all out), this is just a decree.

Which means, this is a temporary measure that's only valid for 60 days from when it was enacted (March 28th, 2025). So by the end of May, this either needs to be a law, or it will disappear.

If you have the time and money, I would recommend continuing to put together the papers that you need because there are a number of legal impediments to this becoming a law, and most people don't see it as likely. However, there's always a chance it could happen, and all of your work will be for nothing.

In my very humble opinion, I would get all of my paperwork together as soon as possible, hope that the decree ends without it turning into a law, and submit it as soon as the decree ends, in case someone wants to be funny and push another similar decree. This way, when your paperwork is submitted, you can't be disallowed from submitting.

Basic Requirements for Jure Sanguinis in Italy

First things first, if you have the money, I highly recommend that you find a service in Italy that will do a bulk of this work for you. Both the translations of the documents you'll be collecting and the finding of the documents. My mom, who went through the process, is a bit like a bloodhound, so she enjoyed the year-and-a-half she spent poring over ship's manifests, immigration records, censuses, and church birth records. However, I can't say it's for the faint of heart.

The most important piece of information you will need to find—the make-or-break piece of information—is the date your ancestor naturalized in the United States and as a close second, the year they were born.

The basic, bare-bones requirements that must be filled are:

• You must have someone in your family line who was Italian (obviously). This person must have been born after March 17, 1861 (the day Italy unified and became a country). If they were born before that, they weren't born into Italy, but a Kingdom within Italy, and are ineligible to pass on citizenship to Italy (and, unfortunately, the Kingdoms of Two Sicilies, or Venice, no longer exist).

• You must be in direct lineage to the Italian who emigrated to the United States and that Italian-born relative did not first naturalize as a citizen of another country (in this case, United States) before their children were born. So, to clarify, if your great-grandfather emigrated from Italy and naturalized as an American before his children were born, the line is broken. And, as of 2024, throwing a major wrench into everyone's plans, this has been expanded to establish that the child must not just be born, but over the age of 18 (as in, they're an adult).

• Also, they must not have naturalized to any country before July 1, 1912 (which includes United States).

• Finally, and most confusingly, if your direct-line ancestor was a woman and born before January 1st, 1948 then citizenship cannot be claimed through her. So, even if this woman was Italian, you still can't claim citizenship through her if she was born before 1948. (This is anecdotal, but even though your application will be denied, you can still ask for the courts to hear your argument and be granted citizenship, some lawyers specialize in this. However, almost all consulates (including the ones in the United States) will deny the case outright, the case has to be taken to Italy, not a consulate in the United States.)

Remember when I said it helps to find someone who can do this work for you?

So, let's try and simplify.

Your direct-line ancestor has to be born after 1861 and naturalized (became an American) after 1912. They naturalized after their children were 18 years old, because their children are your most recent ancestor. And if you're using a woman born before 1948, you're either out of luck, or you have to bring it to court for a judge to hear.

So, let's say that you're pretty sure you can qualify.

You will need:

• The birth certificate of the person who first left Italy for the United States (this will probably be registered at their local church, unless their church had a fire, in which case you're out of luck) and their death certificate.

• Their children's birth certificates and death certificates.

• The marriage certificates of everyone in that familial line.

• Your birth certificate.

• If these aren't already in Italian, they must be translated and apostilled.

And then, it gets hard. As if it wasn't already!

If you're in the States and you would really like to be in the States for the entirety of the application process, then you will need to submit all of your paperwork (the records, translations, application forms, etc.) to your local embassy (again, your local embassy might be a few states away). The embassy will give you an appointment date for when your paperwork is to be reviewed by a judge. In some embassies (like New York and San Francisco) this might be roughly 10-15 years away (no, that isn't a typo). During 2016, the wait times exploded from a few years to more than a decade. Even smaller/less trafficked embassies like the one in Miami suddenly found itself with a years-long waiting list.

So, what can you do?

Come to Italy!

There are different genealogical services in Italy that will also help you reclaim your citizenship. The difference being, you do have to physically be in Italy for the process, which takes about 3 months (yes, months, not years!) on average. Each town has their own "waiting list", and because people aren't always applying for citizenship in all the towns all the time, you will have a much better chance of having you application accepted sooner.

From there, you can either stay in Italy, or move back home and register as an Italian living abroad with AIRE.

A family looks out over the valley of Val Veny in the province of Aosta.

If I become Italian, does my spouse gain my citizenship? What about my kids?

Here's where Italy likes to be funny with their definitions. They like to say that "you've been Italian this entire time, you just have to prove it", giving you the impression that, when you got married, you unwittingly started the timer for your partner to apply for citizenship as well.

However, that's not the case.

After being married for 5 years (after you've become an Italian citizen), your partner can apply for Italian citizenship. This goes down to 2 years if you're living in Italy, and 1 year if you're living in Italy with children.

As for your children, if they are under 18 when you're granted citizenship, they should also be granted citizenship (I say "should" because this is Italy, and you never know!). However, if your children are over the age of 18, they're totally out of luck, and have to go through the entire process again. To be clear, they can't just prove that they're related to you (a newly-minted Italian citizen), but they have to prove they're related to someone who was born in Italy, just like you did.

Italy's Elective Residency Visa (also called Italy's Retirement Visa)

Like most, if not all, European countries, Italy also has a "retirement visa" but it's not just for retirees; it's for anyone who meets the income requirements.

The idea behind this visa is to allow anyone who is not already an EU citizen to move to Italy as long as they can financially support themselves without working while in Italy (so, you can't even work a little on the side like you can with the student visa).

So, lets cut to the chase.

How much money do I need to make every year to live in Italy on the retirement visa?

For a single person, you need a minimum of €31,000 a year (this is euros, not dollars, so keep your eye on the exchange rate!).

For a couple, this is €38,000 a year. And for every additional family member (usually children, in this case, though sometimes parents), it's 20% more.

This means, if you have no way of making money while abroad (no passive income through renting, social security checks, retirement funds, disability, etc.), then you have to have all of the money as one lump sum (so, €31,000 a year for however many years you plan on living in Italy, which is either going to be 5 years (where you can then apply for the permanent residency visa) or 10 years (when you can apply for citizenship)). Of course, this is fairly limiting for most people.

If you're thinking about running a business that's based in the States while in Italy, this is where it gets sticky.

Italy will really want you to be on some other kind of visa for that, either a self-employment visa, or the digital nomad visa—in other words, a visa in which you're paying taxes on money you make while in Italy.

This brings us to one of those "we don't care as long as it's not obvious" situations Italy is famous for.

If you were, for instance, coming to Italy for a vacation and you happen to make money from your online business while in Italy, they technically want a slice of that in terms of taxes because, as they see it, any money made in Italy is subject to their tax laws, regardless of where you're based, live, or actually work.

However, in actuality, this is basically impossible to enforce, and if it ever were, people would stop visiting. According to most digital nomads, this is a common practice to prevent people from just staying in a country as long as the tourist visa allows them to and make money without paying taxes.

The reason this is related to the elective residency/retirement visa is this: it's going to look incredibly suspicious if you're young, you have no rental property, no social security, no pension, no nothing that comes in every month, but you're claiming that you're able to make the €31,000 a year without having to work online. This will raise red flags and make it likely that your application is rejected.

So, if you're looking at Italy for the elective residency visa and you aren't making a steady $32,000-$34,000 a year without working, then this might not be the best visa for you.

However, if you (or you and your partner) do clear the income requirements (keeping in mind that with two people you only need to make €19,000 a year each instead of the €31,000 a year by yourself), then this is also a path to citizenship after 10 years of living in Italy.

Italy's Golden Visa

Last, but not least, the famed Golden Visa. Most countries' responses to the '07 crash and their attempts to figure out how to inject some cash into their economies and it sorta, kinda worked where it didn't totally backfire (as in, Portugal is now realizing that handing out visas/passports in exchange for money is ruining their local economy and housing market).

So, Italy has a very similar program. A "if you have the money, we have the goods" type of situation.

Basic financial requirements for Italy's Golden Visa

To clear the minimum financial requirements, you must meet one of the following conditions:

Startup Investment: You must purchase €250,000 in shares in an Italian start-up. This is a lot like gambling. You're going to lose money, the question is: when?

Equity Investments (or, regular investments): You must purchase €500,000 worth of shares of an Italian company.

Italian Government Bonds: €2,000,000 in government bonds (with a minimum of a 2-year maturity). So, this is clearly the "we have your money, good luck leaving if you change your mind" option.

Philanthropic Donation: €1,000,000 donation for a public-interest project (school, park, culture, etc. not wildlife apparently).

How long is Italy's Golden Visa good for?

The first issue of your visa is good for 2 years, with an option to renew it for 3 more. After that, the Italian government wants you to apply for the permanent residency visa.

Your investment must stay locked up in the Italian financial system if you wish to renew your visa, but once the 5 years are up, you can take it out (as long as it wasn't a donation) and do whatever you would like with it.

Closing Thoughts

As two people who were lucky enough to move to Italy back in 2019, and who were able to do so through the Jus Sanguinis process, we've been incredibly fortunate. During that tenuous time before I (Nathaniel) was granted citizenship, we looked into all of the options above (apart from the Digital Nomad visa which didn't exist) and kept coming back with the fact that the Student Visa is the easiest, and cheapest, way to move to Italy.