Applying for residency
Feb 23rd 2019, 8:56 am
#1
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Joined: Feb 2019
Location: London
Posts: 4
Applying for residency
Hi,
Im grateful for any help/advice people can provide, as I'm starting to get anxious and have nightmares.
I am moving to Florence on 1 March, for at least a year. Obviously in light of Brexit, I'd like to apply for residency as soon as possible. I've tried contacting the Comune in Florence, but their email address on their website doesn't work.
Am super grateful if anyone can help with the below?
How easy/quick is the process? (I've heard it can take months to get an appointment, is that true?)
Does an Airbnb reservation/receipt count as proof of residence?
Are my UK bank statements ok to show sufficient economic income, or do I need to open an Italian bank account first?
Is there a language test for those applying for residency or is that just for those applying for citizenship?
I am thinking of setting myself up as a freelance writer. But as this is a new venture, I wouldn't be able to prove expected income. Not sure if that would be an issue? A commercialisa has offered to help with this and tax returns for a 1000 euros a year, no idea if that's too costly?!?
Would I be able to later do part time work or no work (as I have enough savings), if that venture doesn't work?
sorry for all the questions. Are there people/services that can help with this stuff?
thanks!
Im grateful for any help/advice people can provide, as I'm starting to get anxious and have nightmares.
I am moving to Florence on 1 March, for at least a year. Obviously in light of Brexit, I'd like to apply for residency as soon as possible. I've tried contacting the Comune in Florence, but their email address on their website doesn't work.
Am super grateful if anyone can help with the below?
How easy/quick is the process? (I've heard it can take months to get an appointment, is that true?)
Does an Airbnb reservation/receipt count as proof of residence?
Are my UK bank statements ok to show sufficient economic income, or do I need to open an Italian bank account first?
Is there a language test for those applying for residency or is that just for those applying for citizenship?
I am thinking of setting myself up as a freelance writer. But as this is a new venture, I wouldn't be able to prove expected income. Not sure if that would be an issue? A commercialisa has offered to help with this and tax returns for a 1000 euros a year, no idea if that's too costly?!?
Would I be able to later do part time work or no work (as I have enough savings), if that venture doesn't work?
sorry for all the questions. Are there people/services that can help with this stuff?
thanks!
Feb 23rd 2019, 9:43 am
#2
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Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Province of Vicenza
Posts: 19,035
Re: Applying for residency
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Right now, ie pre-Brexit .... you don't need to take any kind of language test for residency.
Most 'comune' will accept recent bank statements as proof of funds.
You will need to show them that you have a private health care insurance policy.
They usually want to see a rental contract of the address you will be living at. Never heard of a hotel or B&B being used.
What normally happens is that you go to Ufficio Anagrafe in the commune with your passport and the other papers. They fill out some forms and the comune police come out to see if you really are the person living where you say you are. This could be the next day in a small town. I doubt it will be in Florence.
As for freelance writing ..... I am not sure that you will need an accountant unless you are earning from the writing. If for example you are writing a book and it takes 15 months, you will be living off your savings for 15 months, not earning and not filling out any tax returns at all.
Hope that helps a little.
P.S. I found this email address for the ufficio anagrafe on the Florence comune website: [email protected]
Right now, ie pre-Brexit .... you don't need to take any kind of language test for residency.
Most 'comune' will accept recent bank statements as proof of funds.
You will need to show them that you have a private health care insurance policy.
They usually want to see a rental contract of the address you will be living at. Never heard of a hotel or B&B being used.
What normally happens is that you go to Ufficio Anagrafe in the commune with your passport and the other papers. They fill out some forms and the comune police come out to see if you really are the person living where you say you are. This could be the next day in a small town. I doubt it will be in Florence.
As for freelance writing ..... I am not sure that you will need an accountant unless you are earning from the writing. If for example you are writing a book and it takes 15 months, you will be living off your savings for 15 months, not earning and not filling out any tax returns at all.
Hope that helps a little.
P.S. I found this email address for the ufficio anagrafe on the Florence comune website: [email protected]
Last edited by Lorna at Vicenza; Feb 23rd 2019 at 9:46 am. Reason: add email.
Feb 24th 2019, 5:48 am
#3
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,512
Re: Applying for residency
AnAirBnB contract will not be not good enough - you will need a rental with a contract registered at the Tax Office. As regards bank statements, where I live they have decided it must be an Italian bank account and will no longer accept a Uk statement, which I suspect is them not knowing the law rather than applying it to the letter.
Feb 26th 2019, 6:42 pm
#5
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Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 404
Re: Applying for residency
If you are claiming residence, you will have to either provide a contract of employment (seems unlikely in this case) or will have to register as self-employed, which will mean opening a partita IVA (VAT number) and therefore having to submit a tax return regardless of the amount actually earned in a given tax year (Jan-Dec). The third option is to claim residence in the same circumstances as retirees do which involves taking out a private health insurance policy, in which case no partita IVA would be required but it could be expensive to get the health insurance, depending on the your circumstances.
Modicasa - your point about bank statements raises a potentially Catch 22 situation given that a lot of banks won't allow you to open an account without first obtaining residence!
€1000/year is significantly more than I pay for my tax return. It depends on the complexity of your situation, of course, but I'd have thought half of thought might be reasonable.
Modicasa - your point about bank statements raises a potentially Catch 22 situation given that a lot of banks won't allow you to open an account without first obtaining residence!
€1000/year is significantly more than I pay for my tax return. It depends on the complexity of your situation, of course, but I'd have thought half of thought might be reasonable.
Mar 5th 2019, 4:54 pm
#7
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 201
Mar 6th 2019, 6:17 am
#10
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Joined: Mar 2011
Location: Milan, Italy
Posts: 709
Re: Applying for residency
Months to get an appointment? I hope not for your sake. It sems that my warning about getting residence before 29 March has come a bit late for some. But keep moving, we might not have a no-deal or it could be delayed, giving you more time. All the best!
Apr 18th 2019, 7:15 pm
#11
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Joined: Feb 2019
Location: London
Posts: 4
Re: Applying for residency
Thanks for everyone’s help. I managed to get a rental contract & cheap local private health insurance. They said they’d accept my UK bank statements as evidence. Fingers crossed my residency application goes through ok...thank goodness for the extension!
Decided not to set myself up as a freelancer till I need to, so tax return fee should be cheaper.
Decided not to set myself up as a freelancer till I need to, so tax return fee should be cheaper.
May 18th 2019, 7:33 am
#12
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Joined: May 2019
Posts: 3
Re: Applying for residency
Thanks for everyone’s help. I managed to get a rental contract & cheap local private health insurance. They said they’d accept my UK bank statements as evidence. Fingers crossed my residency application goes through ok...thank goodness for the extension!
Decided not to set myself up as a freelancer till I need to, so tax return fee should be cheaper.
Decided not to set myself up as a freelancer till I need to, so tax return fee should be cheaper.
May 21st 2019, 10:12 am
#13
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Joined: Aug 2010
Location: Palermo Sicily
Posts: 375
Re: Applying for residency
Hope your residency application is going OK.
Just to add to the advice of others:
Your commercialista was going to charge you 1000 Euros as this is the the normal price for someone starting out with a Partita IVA. However in your case as a creative writer you don't want to start out with this.
You should go for the regime agevolato forfettario as this will simplify everything for you and bring down accountancy costs.
However think very carefully about getting any official status and even residency if you are only going to stay for one year or even two. I would just get private health insurance for one year and bring a car over from the UK.
Getting involved in Italy is only worth it if you definitely intend to stay. For residency if you have no employment they may ask you to have €3000 in a non-resident bank account in Italy which is a complete rip off.
I would first work out the job situation and go and ask for residency once you think you can get a job or start out as a creative writer here.
In Italy on top of taxes you have an obligatory 27% pension contribution charge and if you stay for a short period this is worthless.
Also if you become a resident you will normally have to make a tax declaration here and pay a charge on all you English bank accounts and any property if you have any.
Just to add to the advice of others:
Your commercialista was going to charge you 1000 Euros as this is the the normal price for someone starting out with a Partita IVA. However in your case as a creative writer you don't want to start out with this.
You should go for the regime agevolato forfettario as this will simplify everything for you and bring down accountancy costs.
However think very carefully about getting any official status and even residency if you are only going to stay for one year or even two. I would just get private health insurance for one year and bring a car over from the UK.
Getting involved in Italy is only worth it if you definitely intend to stay. For residency if you have no employment they may ask you to have €3000 in a non-resident bank account in Italy which is a complete rip off.
I would first work out the job situation and go and ask for residency once you think you can get a job or start out as a creative writer here.
In Italy on top of taxes you have an obligatory 27% pension contribution charge and if you stay for a short period this is worthless.
Also if you become a resident you will normally have to make a tax declaration here and pay a charge on all you English bank accounts and any property if you have any.
Last edited by nicktonight; May 21st 2019 at 10:27 am. Reason: more info
Jun 26th 2019, 10:19 pm
#14
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Joined: May 2019
Posts: 3
Re: Applying for residency
My family and I (wife and 2 children) have just found the property we are looking at renting about 40 minutes south of Rome.
Could anyone please give us some advice on how we would apply for a residence permit and what paperwork we would need to take with us.
We are kicking ourselves we have left it so late in the day to make the move to Italy but it is one we are committing too so all help would be much appreciated.
Thank you kindly.
Could anyone please give us some advice on how we would apply for a residence permit and what paperwork we would need to take with us.
We are kicking ourselves we have left it so late in the day to make the move to Italy but it is one we are committing too so all help would be much appreciated.
Thank you kindly.
Jun 27th 2019, 5:00 am
#15
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,512
Re: Applying for residency
Assuming you do not have a work contract and you and your family are EU nationals - you will need your registered rental contract, bank statements to show you hvae more than 10.000 euro in the bank or will have over the course of a year, health insurance, and a certificato di stato di famiglia, which will show who you all are That should get you started.