Not everyone who dreams of living in Italy can do so through citizenship by descent, either because they have no Italian bloodline or because the recent reforms (upheld by Constitutional Court Judgment No. 63/2026) narrowed the generational reach of jure sanguinis. While we await further clarifications that may reopen certain citizenship routes, the question we hear most often is simple: if not through descent, then how can I legally move to Italy? The Italian Digital Nomad Visa offers one clear answer.
After the Investor Visa, the second visa option worth serious consideration is the Italian Digital Nomad Visa, in effect since April 2024. It allows qualified non-EU professionals to live in Italy on a long-term basis while keeping the same work or clients back home. This briefing covers who qualifies, what it costs in income and paperwork, how renewals work, and a residency route that quietly turns this visa into a path to citizenship.
Read all the way to the end, because for Italian citizenship seekers, a surprise awaits that deserves your attention.
Let’s get to it!
What the Italian Digital Nomad Visa is, and Why It Matters
A national long-stay visa for highly qualified non-EU professionals who work remotely.
The Visto per Nomadi Digitali (Digital Nomad Visa) is a national, long-stay visa created for highly qualified non-EU citizens who can perform their work remotely, using technological tools, for an employer or for clients based outside Italy. Since the government enacted it on 4 April 2024, our firm has helped hundreds of people achieve their Italian dream of living here while keeping their current jobs in their home country.
Digital Nomad Or Remote Worker? The Two Profiles
One legal category, two sub-profiles, with different documentation.
Italian law treats the visa as a single category with two sub-profiles. The distinction matters because it changes the required documents.
A digital nomad is a self-employed professional or freelancer who works remotely for a portfolio of clients (think a consultant, a designer, an independent software developer). A remote worker (lavoratore da remoto) performs subordinate or collaborative work remotely for a company, typically as an employee who keeps the same foreign employer and the same contract while relocating to Italy.
This second scenario is the one we encounter most often with international clients: an employer willing to let someone work remotely, provided the existing contract stays unchanged. Before this visa existed, remote work triggered disproportionate complications, secondments, agreements with local Italian companies, or even setting up a legal presence in Italy. The Digital Nomad Visa solves that problem: the foreign employer keeps the same contract, and the employee simply moves abroad. The employment contract, however, must make clear that the employer authorises remote work.
Who Qualifies for the Italian Digital Nomad Visa: Core Requirements
Five gatekeeping requirements, from qualifications to accommodation.
1. Highly qualified activity. The work must be highly skilled in the sense of Art. 27-quater del Testo Unico Immigrazione. In practice, this is demonstrated in one of three ways: a higher-education qualification (a university degree); a post-secondary professional qualification of at least three years; or substantial professional experience, generally five years in the relevant field, reduced to three years acquired in the previous seven for managers and specialists in the ICT (information and communication technology) sector.
For degrees obtained abroad, the consulate may request a Dichiarazione di Valore (Declaration of Value), a certificate issued by the competent Italian consular office attesting to the validity of the foreign qualification. In our practice, we typically advise clients to obtain their university documents with an Apostille (the international legalisation that certifies authenticity) well in advance, because this is one of the slowest pieces to assemble.
2. Prior experience. Applicants must show at least six months of previous experience in the activity to be carried out remotely. Remote workers evidence this with prior work contracts showing the sector and the remote nature of the engagement; digital nomads with letters of assignment, service agreements, and invoices. A practical note from recent files: Italian consulates have been applying heightened scrutiny to income stability and professional history, so we recommend documenting a longer track record than the bare minimum wherever possible.
3. Minimum income. The applicant must show an annual income of approximately €28,000 to €30,000 per year. Income is evidenced with the prior year’s tax returns, bank statements showing the inflow of funds into the applicant’s personal account, and, for remote workers, the work contract or binding offer. We always advise clients to aim comfortably above the floor, both to satisfy stricter reviewers and to leave a margin for renewal.
4. Health insurance. A private health-insurance policy valid for the entire stay and across the national territory, covering medical care and hospitalisation, is mandatory. The applicant is not initially enrolled in the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (the national health service) but can eventually join the SSN later on. We ask that clients secure cover of a minimum of €30,000 per year, the figure that the Italian consulates we work with have accepted.
5. Suitable accommodation. Proof of housing in Italy is required, typically a registered Contratto di Locazione ad Uso Abitativo (residential lease, registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate), or a property deed. Every time a new client asks for assistance, we encourage them to start looking for a place to rent in their chosen city as the very first task. A short-term hotel booking is generally not accepted; some consulates are stricter than others, and applicants usually must provide a registered lease meeting specific requirements. We work with selected real estate agencies across Italy who help clients find suitable accommodation (sometimes even remotely) within a reasonable time frame. If you have not yet found accommodation, ask us.
Email Us About The Digital Nomad Visa: if you are unsure which of the two profiles fits your situation, or whether your qualifications and income clear the bar, a direct reply is often the fastest way to find out.
Email Us About the Italian Digital Nomad Visa
Entry Into Italy and the Permit Process
The Italian consulate issues the Italian digital nomad visa; the Questura in Italy issues the permit in person.
After the Italian digital nomad visa is obtained via the Italian consulate in your home country, we help you secure your appointment at the Questura (provincial police headquarters) within eight working days to declare your presence and provide your photo identification and fingerprints.
A practical point confirmed repeatedly in our own files: for this visa, the permit is handled through a direct appointment with the Questura, not a packet-by-mail procedure like many other work permits. We obtain the appointment directly with the Police Department on your behalf. After the initial meeting, you will receive a receipt confirming compliance with the immigration requirements until the actual Permesso di Soggiorno (Permit to Stay card) is granted. The card is issued bearing the wording nomade digitale, lavoratore da remoto.
Fiscal setup. If you plan to stay in Italy for more than six months as a self-employed digital nomad, you must open a Partita IVA (VAT number) to invoice and manage your tax position. Anyone staying more than 183 days generally becomes an Italian tax resident. Social security contributions are, as a rule, due in Italy unless a bilateral agreement with the country of origin provides otherwise. Depending on the individual situation, new tax residents may also explore Italy’s favourable regimes for inbound workers, but the eligibility and mechanics are fact-specific and should be assessed on a case-by-case basis with a tax adviser before relying on them.
Duration, Renewal and the Road to Long-Term Residence
One year renewable, with a five-year horizon to permanent residence and beyond.
The permit is issued for a maximum of one year and is renewable annually for as long as the underlying conditions continue to be met. The renewal is requested from within Italy; there is no need to return to the consulate.
Here, our hands-on experience adds something the official guides omit: just like the first issuance, the renewal is handled through a direct, in-person appointment at the same Questura, not by postal kit. We request your renewal appointment well before the permit expires, because Questura calendars are congested and the appointment itself can require persistent follow-up. The documentation requested at renewal mirrors, in leaner form, the set originally lodged with the consulate (passport, expiring permit, proof of continuing income, insurance, and accommodation), but updated.
Three further horizons are worth keeping in view.
1. Family cohesion is permitted. A spouse and minor children may enter Italy together with the applicant, join the holder, and receive a permesso di soggiorno for family reasons of the same duration as the principal’s. Note that, at least under current practice, adult children and dependent parents are generally outside this scope.
2. EU long-term residence after five years. After five years of regular, continuous stay, it becomes possible to apply for the EU long-term residence permit, and in the longer arc, the years of legal residence count toward an eventual application for citizenship by residence.
3. The welcome surprise for citizenship seekers. If your parents or grandparents were born in Italy (even if you do not qualify for citizenship by descent because of their naturalisation), you can still qualify for citizenship by residency after just two full years in Italy, instead of the normal ten-year residency. It does not matter that they lost their Italian citizenship. What matters is that they were born in Italy.
Even if you are disqualified from citizenship by descent because of your parents’ or grandparents’ naturalization, two years of residency in Italy can open the door to citizenship, provided they were born here.
One caveat we always flag: the Ministry of the Interior’s current orientation is that this permit is generally not convertible into other categories of stay, so it should be chosen as a coherent long-term strategy, not a temporary bridge.
If you recognise your own family history in that third point, map the line of descent before you commit.
Get Personalised Advice On Your Case
The Italian Digital Nomad Visa is a Work Visa: You Must Earn and File Taxes
The legal essence of the permit is work, not passive residency.
It is easy to be seduced by the lifestyle promise and forget the legal essence of this permit: the Italian Digital Nomad visa is a work visa, not a passive-residency permit. The holder is expected to genuinely work, generate income, and document it, and this matters most when you intend to renew in the following years. We have had to be blunt with clients on this point: if you want to keep renewing, you must keep producing roughly the same level of income that qualified you in the first place. In practice, we advise invoicing personally at least €30,000 per year, regardless of who your clients are.
One financial point catches many applicants off guard. For the first renewal, a foreign tax return (for example, a US tax return) may still be accepted as proof of income, because in that first year, the applicant typically spent the majority of the calendar and fiscal year abroad. But once you become an Italian tax resident, which generally happens after more than 183 days in Italy, you must report your worldwide income here through the dichiarazione dei redditi (Italian income tax return). From that point on, it is the Italian return, not the foreign one, that evidences your income at renewal. For self-employed nomads, this also means opening a Partita IVA and invoicing under it.
This is where a good commercialista (Italian chartered accountant) becomes indispensable: how to declare the income, how to coordinate it with any foreign filing, and how to optimise the position are matters to handle with the accountant, ideally before the end of the fiscal year rather than after.
When working for more than one client or employer, the legislation is flexible. You are free to work for several clients or employers, and the income that counts toward the threshold can come from any of them, provided the prevailing nature of the work remains remote and performed in Italy. What the authorities expect to see is continuity: an ongoing, documented remote activity that genuinely sustains you. One practical detail we flag to clients structured through their own company: in Italy, you cannot treat the company’s bank account as your personal wallet, so it helps to show that money actually flows into your personal account as well, not only into the company’s.
Key Takeaways
The four points to carry away from this briefing.
| Takeaway | What It Means For You |
|---|---|
| A real Plan B | For those without an Italian bloodline, or now outside the tightened reach of jure sanguinis, this is a concrete, lawful way to live in Italy while keeping your existing work. If your parents or grandparents were born in Italy, residency here can lead to citizenship after just two years. |
| Income and qualifications are the gatekeepers | Plan for roughly €28,000 to €30,000 in documented annual income, a degree or solid professional track record, and at least six months of remote-work history. Aim above the minimum. |
| Two in-person appointments | The consulate (booked via Prenot@Mi, often a one- to two-month wait) issues the visa; the Questura issues and later renews the permit through a direct appointment that we request for you. |
| One-year renewable, five-year horizon | The permit lasts a year, renews annually from within Italy as long as conditions hold, allows family reunification, and after five years opens the door to EU long-term residence. |
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions clients ask us most often about this visa.
Can I work for my current foreign employer without changing my contract? Yes. This is one of the visa’s main attractions. A remote worker can keep the same employer and the same contract, provided the contract (or an addendum) makes clear that remote work from Italy is authorised. This avoids the secondments or local-company arrangements that used to be necessary, and it triggers no Nulla Osta.
How long does the whole process take, and how long can I ultimately stay? Budget realistically for the consular appointment first: booking through Prenot@Mi can take one to two months, and the consulate then reviews the file before issuing the visa. Once in Italy, you have eight working days to apply for the permesso di soggiorno, which is valid for one year. There is no fixed ceiling on your stay: the permit renews annually from within Italy for as long as you meet the requirements, and after five years of continuous residence, you may apply for EU long-term residence.
Is the renewal complicated, and where is it done? We help you with this, so do not worry. The renewal is done in Italy, not at the consulate, and like the first issuance, through a direct in-person appointment at your Questura, not by postal kit. The documents requested broadly mirror the original set. In our experience, the practical challenge is timing, because Questura calendars are busy, so we begin requesting the renewal appointment before the current permit expires and follow up until it is fixed. Just remind us two to three months ahead of your expiry date.
Can my spouse and children come with me? Yes. The spouse and minor children may join you through family reunification and receive a permesso di soggiorno for family reasons of the same duration as yours.
Will I have to pay taxes in Italy? If you stay more than 183 days in a year, you generally become an Italian tax resident and are taxed accordingly; self-employed nomads also open a Partita IVA, your business tax code. Social security contributions are usually due in Italy unless a bilateral totalisation agreement applies. New residents may, depending on circumstances, qualify for favourable Italian tax regimes, but these are fact-specific and should be confirmed with a tax adviser before you rely on them. We would rather give you an honest “it depends, let’s check” than an attractive figure that does not fit your situation.
Can I work for several clients, and must I keep earning to renew? Yes, you may work for several clients or employers, and the income counting toward the threshold can come from any of them, provided the prevailing nature of your work remains remote and carried out from Italy. And yes, you must keep genuinely earning: this is a work visa, so to renew, you need to keep producing income (we typically advise documenting at least €30,000 per year). Once you are an Italian tax resident, that income must be proved through your dichiarazione dei redditi (Italian tax return), which is why we recommend working with an Italian commercialista to manage the filing and coordinate it with any foreign obligations.
How We Can Help
We guide international clients through the Italian digital nomad visa from start to finish.
At Studio Legale Capecchi we regularly guide international clients through the Digital Nomad and Remote Worker Visa from start to finish: assessing whether it is the right pathway for you, assembling and reviewing the documentation, refining employment contracts so they expressly permit remote work, coordinating the consular appointment (and, where bookings stall, helping to find a workable slot), and accompanying you in person to the Questura for both the first permit and its renewals. If Italy is your destination and citizenship is not (yet) your route, we would be glad to map out the best plan for your situation.
Know someone shut out of citizenship by descent who still dreams of living in Italy? Share this article with them. The clearer the picture, the better the decisions they can make.
This briefing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please contact us for advice specific to your situation.
