I want to live in Italy temporarily when I am older. How can I make this happen?

Question

I am just a junior in high school right now but I want to live in Italy for a while after college. Someone told me that in order for someone to move to Italy, you have to have a visa through your work or live their through college and you can't just live there to live there. Is this true? Also, if I wanted to live in Italy for say, a year or so then would I have to gain Italian citizenship and is this a hard thing to accomplish?

Answer 1

The first thing to do would be to research your family's history and find out if you can obtain EU citizenship.  I managed to do this because my grandparents WERE citizens of a European country at the time my father was born.  It didn't matter that my father had never been to Europe and didn't speak the language of his parents' country.  Some countries are pretty relaxed about this stuff.

If you can't get EU citizenship, you would need to get a skilled worker visa.  First, you would have to find a job that could not be filled by any EU citizen.  This can be difficult.  Stuff like teaching English and working in bars can easily be done by people from the UK.  If you're a neurosurgeon who speaks Italian... well you've got a much better chance.  Once you found this job and your employer agreed to sponsor you, it's a fairly simple paperwork process.

Alternately, you could live there illegally and hope you never need health care or the services of the police (a baby could be bleeding on the sidewalk and they would check your immigration documents before they helped the baby... they're that grumpy about immigration over there).  You know the way Americans feel about illegal immigrants?  That's the way Italians feel about illegal immigrants as well.  You decide if you want to be on the receiving end of the hostility (I once saw a "Youth Against Immigration" rally in Torino).  

Citizenship would be out the question unless you were a skilled worker who had resided in the country for 10+ years, or unless you married an Italian citizen.

Answer 2

no it's not true. you can live in italy for a short period but if you are not a citizen of the european community you must have a sort of "green card" ...we call it "permesso di soggiorno" in alternative, if you search for a job you can stay for a long time, the same if you study in italy....

ciao

Silvia

Answer 3

No, it's not true what they said to you and by the way in order to gain Italian citizenship you have to stay here for ten years :-) (would be easier for some specific circumstances); anyway here, official site of Italian foreign ministry http://www.esteri.it/visti/home_eng.asp you can select the reason you want to stay and reading about what is needed.

Also here http://www.esteri.it/visti/index_eng.asp and here http://www.esteri.it/eng/5_32_183.asp

You have to choose "Elective residence":

"Type of visa foreseen for foreign citizens who intend to reside in Italy without working"

   1. visa application form

   2. recent passport-style photo

   3. passport or travel document valid for at least three   months after visa expiry date

   4. documented and detailed guarantee of substantial and steady private income private income (pensions or annuities) from property, stable economic and commercial activities or from other sources

   5. availability of adeguate lodgings in Italy"

So, yes, you definitely can. Not only George Clooney :)