Italy

ITA

Italy now offers a mature Digital Nomad visa pathway alongside its long-standing Investor visa program, both increasingly used by remote workers and HNWIs seeking EU access. The flat-tax regime for new resident HNWIs remains available but has seen its annual substitute-tax cap raised, reducing its relative attractiveness compared to earlier years. Naturalisation timelines remain among the longest in the EU, with residency-based routes still requiring a decade of continuous stay for most applicants.

Naturalisation: 10 years
Tax system: Residence Based
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Dual citizenship: Allowed
Capital: Rome
Region: europe
Population: 59,240,000
Cost-of-living: 60 /100

→ If you hold a Italy passport, see the Italy nationality guide

Passport Rank

Visa-Free

190

destinations

Visa-free travel

A Italy passport has visa-free access to 157 destinations. See the full Italy passport breakdown →

Passports that enter Italy without a prior visa (91)

Visa-free, visa on arrival, or on an eTA.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia+73 more

Community-sourced (passport-index, synced 2026-08-18) — verify with the embassy before travel.

Country Details

Capital: Rome
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Languages: Italian
Population: 59,240,000
Tax System: Residence Based
Dual Citizenship: Allowed
Naturalisation: 10 years
Schengen / EU: Schengen / EU
Climate: Mediterranean / Alpine
English Proficiency Rank: #36

Italy's Regime dei Neo-Residenti offers new tax residents a flat annual substitute tax on all foreign-source income regardless of amount, valid for up to 15 years. The charge depends on when residence is transferred: €300,000/year from 1 January 2026 (Budget Law 2026), €200,000/year for 10 August 2024–31 December 2025, and €100,000/year before 10 August 2024 — each grandfathered for the life of the election.

Indices

Cost of Living

Safety

Healthcare

Quality of Life

175

Tax Summary

Tax System: Residence Based
Territorial Taxation: No — worldwide income taxed for residents
Naturalisation: 10 years of legal residency
Dual Citizenship: Allowed
Special Tax Regime: Italy's Regime dei Neo-Residenti offers new tax residents a flat annual substitute tax on all foreign-source income regardless of amount, valid for up to 15 years. The charge depends on when residence is transferred: €300,000/year from 1 January 2026 (Budget Law 2026), €200,000/year for 10 August 2024–31 December 2025, and €100,000/year before 10 August 2024 — each grandfathered for the life of the election.

Cost of Living by City

← scroll the table →

Monthly cost of living per major city in USD: rent, groceries, utilities, transit pass
City	Rent 1BR centre	Rent outside	Groceries	Utilities	Transit pass
Milan	$1,800	$1,200	$380	$175	$42
Rome	$1,400	$950	$350	$160	$38
Florence	$1,300	$880	$330	$155	$35
Naples	$850	$550	$280	$140	$30

Monthly USD figures. Typical central 1-bedroom rent, grocery basket for one, household utilities, monthly transit pass.

Climate

Rome

11°J

12°F

15°M

18°A

23°M

27°J

30°J

30°A

26°S

21°O

15°N

12°D

Rainfall range: 15–116 mm/month · Daylight 9h (winter) to 15h (summer)

Milan

4°J

7°F

12°M

17°A

21°M

26°J

28°J

27°A

23°S

17°O

10°N

5°D

Rainfall range: 58–97 mm/month · Daylight 8h (winter) to 15h (summer)

Palermo

14°J

15°F

17°M

20°A

24°M

28°J

31°J

31°A

28°S

23°O

18°N

15°D

Rainfall range: 3–90 mm/month · Daylight 9h (winter) to 14h (summer)

Visa Categories & Immigration Authority

Major Visa Categories

Schengen short-stay visa (type C)
Elective Residence visa (Residenza Elettiva)
Investor visa (Visto per Investitori)
Digital Nomad / Remote Worker visa
Self-Employed / Lavoro Autonomo visa
Subordinate Work visa (Lavoro Subordinato)
Student visa
Family Reunification visa
EU Blue Card
Scientific Research visa
Intracompany Transfer visa

Authority: Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale / Polizia di Stato (Sportello Unico Immigrazione)
Official Portal: vistoperitalia.esteri.it

Naturalisation Details

Residence Years: 10
Language Test: Yes (B1)
Civic Test: No
Oath Required: Yes
Dual Allowed: Yes
Fee: $250
Processing: ~48 months

Real Estate

Avg price/sqm (capital): $4,000
Transaction taxes: 9%

Foreign buyers: No restrictions for EU nationals; non-EU buyers subject to reciprocity principle — most Western nationals face no practical barrier.

International Schools

← scroll the table →

International schools by city, curriculum, and annual tuition
School	City	Curriculum	Tuition (USD/yr)
St Stephen's School Rome	Rome	American	$20,000–$32,000
International School of Milan (ICS Milan)	Milan	IB	$18,000–$28,000
Florence International School	Florence	IB	$14,000–$22,000

Daily Life Logistics

Internet

100 Mbps median

75% fibre coverage

eSIM: TIM, Vodafone IT, WindTre, Iliad IT

Driving

IDP required

Exchange eligible: EU member states, UK, Switzerland +1 more

Pet Relocation

Quarantine: none

Rabies titre not required

EU pet passport: accepted

Safety

GPI Rank

#33

Global Peace Index ranking (lower is safer)

Common Risks

⚠Tourist overcharging at colosseum cafes
⚠bracelet trick (Rome/Florence)
⚠taxi meter fraud
⚠distraction theft on trains

Examples of areas to avoid: Napoli Stazione Centrale periphery, Tor Bella Monaca (Rome), San Siro periphery late night (Milan)

LGBTQ+ Legal Status

Same-Sex Marriage: Not legal
Civil Partnerships: Recognised
Anti-Discrimination Law: Yes
ILGA Rank: #35

Religious Life

Halal Food: Widely available
Kosher Food: Widely available
Prayer Facilities: Limited

Sample Citizenship Test Questions

Q1. What does the Italian Constitution guarantee as inviolable rights?

Answer: Inviolable rights of the person both as individual and in social groups

Source: Italian Constitution Art. 2; Ministero dell'Interno test guidelines

Q2. Who is the head of state in Italy?

Answer: The President of the Republic

Source: Italian Constitution; Ministero dell'Interno test guidelines

Q3. How many chambers does the Italian parliament have?

Answer: Two

Source: Italian Constitution Art. 55; Ministero dell'Interno test guidelines

Related Guides

Fastest paths to an EU passport in 2025

A sourced comparison of the shortest EU naturalisation timelines, from 2-year descent fast-tracks to 5-year residency routes — plus the hidden requirements that extend them in practice.

Zero and low-tax residencies: the real list

Countries with zero personal income tax, territorial-only taxation, or special expatriate regimes — and what each one actually requires from you to qualify as a resident.

Exit tax: countries that charge you to leave

Country-by-country reference of departure taxes, deemed-disposition rules, and wealth-locking regimes that trigger when tax residency ends.

Related on The Citizenship Desk

$3,270/mo

Citizenship

10y

Verified 2026-07-24

Cities in Italy

Milan

Milan is Italy's business and finance capital, home to the Borsa Italiana exchange and the densest concentration of corporate headquarters, banking, and fashion employment — a different profile from Rome's government- and tourism-weighted base. For migrants without an Italian employer, the Elective Residence Visa offers a passive-income route requiring substantial non-employment income, while the newer Digital Nomad Visa targets remote workers for firms outside Italy meeting an income threshold. The Self-Employment Visa serves freelancers under an annual quota, and the Investor Visa offers a fast-track for qualifying investment. High earners may also qualify for Italy's flat-tax regime for new residents, replacing progressive tax on foreign income with a fixed levy. Cost of living sits below London, Paris, or Zurich but has risen since the early 2020s as finance- and fashion-sector demand pushed into a constrained housing stock, particularly the compact core. The grid is dense and walkable, with an expanding metro network reducing car-dependency. Milan's professional culture runs closer to the pan-European corporate norm than Rome's more bureaucratic rhythm, and English is more commonly used in business here than almost anywhere else in Italy. It remains a genuinely Italian city administratively, and settlement benefits from conversational Italian.

Rome

Rome draws a distinctly different foreign population than Milan: as Italy's political capital and host to major UN agencies (FAO, WFP, IFAD), plus a dense concentration of foreign embassies, Rome's expat base skews toward diplomats, civil servants, academics, and retirees rather than finance professionals. The same national visa framework applies — Elective Residence for passive income, Digital Nomad for remote workers, Self-Employment for freelancers within Italy's annual quota, and Investor Visa for qualifying capital — but Rome's slower rhythm and lower sponsorship volume mean fewer arrivals come via employer routes than in Milan. Housing is generally cheaper than Milan's for comparable space, though the historic centre (centro storico) commands a real premium and sits inside a limited-traffic zone (ZTL) restricting vehicle access for much of the day. The ancient substructure has slowed metro expansion, since tunnelling routinely uncovers archaeological remains requiring excavation first, leaving a network limited for the city's size. What Rome offers that Milan cannot is institutional gravity — the seat of Italian government, the Vatican as a sovereign enclave, and a concentration of embassies and agencies giving it a genuinely international layer atop the tourism economy. For those whose work centres on relations or academia, Rome remains the more natural base.