Italy immigration rule changes

Italy Flat Tax Regime for High-Net-Worth New Residents: Budget Law 2026 (Legge di Bilancio 2026, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale on 30 December 2025) raised the Art. 24-bis annual flat substitute tax from €200,000 to €300,000, and the per-family-member surcharge from €25,000 to €50,000, for individuals who transfer their tax residence to Italy from 1 January 2026. Those who transferred residence by 31 December 2025 keep their €200,000 (or grandfathered €100,000) rate, and the €25,000 family surcharge, for the life of the election.

Italy Investor Visa (Visto per Investitori): Budget Law 2026 (Legge di Bilancio 2026, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale on 30 December 2025) raised the Art. 24-bis annual flat substitute tax from €200,000 to €300,000, and the per-family-member surcharge from €25,000 to €50,000, for individuals who transfer their tax residence to Italy from 1 January 2026. Those who transferred residence by 31 December 2025 keep their €200,000 (or grandfathered €100,000) rate, and the €25,000 family surcharge, for the life of the election.

Italian Citizenship by Descent (Jure Sanguinis): Law 74/2025 (converting Law Decree 36/2025 of 27 March 2025) imposed a two-generation limit on jure sanguinis: automatic recognition now requires a parent or grandparent born in Italy. Applications filed before 27 March 2025 are grandfathered under the prior no-generational-limit rules. The Constitutional Court upheld the reform on 12 March 2026.

Italy Flat Tax Regime for High-Net-Worth New Residents: Budget-Law decree doubled the annual flat substitute tax under Art. 24-bis from €100,000 to €200,000 for new elections made on or after this date; individuals who had already validly elected the regime before this date retained the €100,000 rate.

Italy Investor Visa (Visto per Investitori): Legge di bilancio amendment — HNWI flat tax raised from €100,000 to €200,000 per year for new regime entrants from 10 August 2024. Existing beneficiaries grandfathered at €100,000.

Italy Digital Nomad Visa: Italy Digital Nomad Visa became operational after 2+ year delay from law passage.

Italian Citizenship by Descent (Jure Sanguinis): The Italian Ministry of Interior issued a circular tightening interpretation of jure sanguinis: children born to Italian parents who had already naturalized as adults in a foreign country may be denied recognition at some consulates. This "minor issue" interpretation has created inconsistency across consular posts and has been challenged by applicant advocates.

Italy EU Blue Card: EU member states, including Italy, were required to transpose the recast EU Blue Card Directive (EU) 2021/1883 by this date, which lowered salary thresholds relative to the original 2009 Blue Card Directive, shortened minimum contract-length requirements, eased family reunification, and allowed limited accumulation of qualifying residence periods across member states. Italy's specific national transposition decree details were not independently confirmed.

Italy Elective Residence Visa: Italy tightened documentation of passive income source; consulates increased scrutiny of "active" income disguised as passive.

Italy Self-Employment Visa: Decreto flussi 2023-2025 adopted multi-year framework increasing visibility but quotas remain small

Italian Citizenship by Descent (Jure Sanguinis): Italy ended visa-free access for applicants during consular proceedings; waiting periods for consular appointments in the US reached 5–10 years in high-demand districts (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles), accelerating use of the Italian court route.