Moving to Italy from the US, Canada or the UK

For retirees with steady passive income, qualified remote workers and people with Italian roots. The main visas, the figures consulates use, and the 2025 citizenship law that changed the descent route.

Italy has a visa for people who live on pensions and other passive income, and a visa for qualified people who work remotely. It also has an investor visa and work routes through an Italian employer. In 2025, Italy narrowed citizenship by descent, which used to be the best-known way in for Americans with Italian roots. This guide covers the routes most people use and what changed.

How it works: consulate first, then the Questura

US, Canadian and UK citizens follow the same steps. You apply for a national visa at the Italian consulate that covers where you live. After you arrive, you apply for a residence permit (permesso di soggiorno) at the Questura, the local police immigration office. The law gives you eight working days from entry to do this.

Most routes ask for a lease or deed in your name before the consulate will issue the visa. A rental must be registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate, the tax agency. Sort out housing early.

The main ways in

Elective Residence Visa. This fits retirees and people who live on pensions, annuities, rental income or investments. The New York consulate says applicants typically need around EUR 31,000 a year per person. The Paris consulate calls that figure only one parameter, for applicants with high means. The Toronto consulate describes about EUR 32,000 as a minimum starting value. The income must be in your own name and cannot come from work. A dependent spouse and children can be included if your income covers them. The Paris consulate charges a EUR 116 visa fee and says processing can take up to 90 days.

Digital Nomad / Remote Worker Visa. This fits remote employees and freelancers who work for employers or clients outside Italy. The New York consulate sets a floor of EUR 24,789 a year in income from work. Pensions, rent and investment income do not count. You also need a degree, a licensed profession, or a higher professional qualification plus five years’ experience. You need at least six months of prior remote work and health insurance of at least EUR 30,000. The residence permit lasts one year and can be renewed while you keep the job, the home and the insurance. A spouse and children under 18 can join you after you arrive.

Investor Visa. The options are EUR 2 million in Italian government bonds, EUR 500,000 in an Italian company, EUR 250,000 in an innovative startup, or a EUR 1 million donation to a public-interest project. Bonds and company shares must be held for at least two years. Property purchases are not on the list. You first apply online to the Investor Visa Committee for clearance (nulla osta), then apply for the visa.

Work visa through an Italian employer and the EU Blue Card. For most jobs, your employer applies for clearance within Italy’s annual quotas. The Blue Card is outside the quotas. Its salary floor is tied to Italy’s average gross salary, and we have not found an official euro figure for 2026.

Work visa for descendants of Italians (US and Canadian citizens). Since late 2025, descendants of Italian citizens from seven countries can enter for a job outside the quotas. The decree of 17 November 2025 lists Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Australia, Canada, Venezuela and Uruguay. The UK is not on the list. You still need an Italian employer to apply for clearance.

Self-employment visa. Freelancers and founders with Italian work can apply, but places sit inside a small annual quota. You need clearance from the Questura before you apply.

Citizenship by descent. This route still exists, but far fewer people now meet its terms. See the next section.

See every route below for the full rules on each.

What changed recently

• Citizenship by descent narrowed in 2025. People born abroad who hold another citizenship are now treated as never having acquired Italian citizenship, with three exceptions. You applied, or had a confirmed appointment, by 11:59 pm Rome time on 27 March 2025. Or a parent or grandparent holds, or held at death, only Italian citizenship. Or an Italian parent lived in Italy for two continuous years before you were born. Many US lines through a grandparent who became a US citizen no longer qualify. The New York consulate charges EUR 600 per adult application. Read our guide to Italian citizenship by descent for the detail. Court challenges continue, so our table marks this route as changing.
• A faster citizenship path for some descendants. Law 74/2025 lets a person whose parent or grandparent is or was an Italian citizen by birth apply to naturalise after two years of legal residence in Italy. Naturalisation is discretionary and needs B1 Italian. Americans and Canadians can pair it with the descendants’ work visa above.
• The flat tax for wealthy new residents went up. For people who move their tax residence to Italy from 2026, the optional flat tax on foreign income is EUR 300,000 a year. It was EUR 200,000 for moves up to 31 December 2025.
• More towns qualify for the pensioners’ 7% regime. Since 7 April 2026, towns of up to 30,000 residents qualify, up from 20,000. Details are in the tax section below.

Money, tax and health care

Visa fees are small next to the income tests. Use our visa cost calculator to add up fees for your family. Our cost of living in Italy page compares national averages with home, and the cost of living calculator prices your own spending.

Italy has three tax regimes for newcomers. Each has conditions, so speak to a tax adviser before you choose where to live.

• Pensioners’ 7% regime. People with foreign pensions who move to a town of up to 30,000 residents in Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia, Campania, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise or Puglia can opt for a flat 7% tax on all foreign income. Some towns hit by the 2009 and 2016 earthquakes also qualify. The option lasts nine tax years.
• Impatriate regime. Workers who move to Italy pay tax on 50% of their Italian employment or self-employment income, up to EUR 600,000 a year. It lasts for the year of the move and the next four. You must not have been Italian tax resident in the previous three years, must commit to four years, and must meet high-qualification rules.
• Flat tax for new residents. EUR 300,000 a year replaces income tax on foreign income. It suits very high earners only.

US citizens still file US tax returns wherever they live.

Timeline and your first weeks

1. Secure housing. Sign a lease or buy a home and register the contract. Most consulates want it before they issue the visa.
2. Gather your evidence. That means income proof, insurance and, for the remote worker visa, qualifications and work history.
3. Apply at your consulate. Consulates differ on document lists and figures, so follow your own consulate’s page.
4. Apply for your permesso within eight working days. You file at the Questura where you live.

What catches people out

• The Elective Residence Visa means no work at all. The New York consulate says it does not allow any work activities in Italy. Remote workers need the digital nomad visa instead.
• Consulates use different income figures. None of the elective residence figures is fixed in law. Expect your consulate to look at your whole financial picture.
• Citizenship by residence takes ten years. Non-EU citizens can apply after ten years of residence. You also need B1 Italian. The two-year rule for children and grandchildren of Italians by birth is the main exception.
• UK citizens are not on the descendants’ list. Britons with Italian grandparents need another route unless a later decree adds the UK.

This is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Confirm each requirement with your Italian consulate or the Questura before you apply.