Italy · Passive income
Elective Residence Visa
Open
Last verified July 2026Unconfirmed
Italy's retirement/passive income route. The EUR 31,000–32,000 statutory floor is nominal; consulates apply substantially higher standards in practice and refusal rates on marginal files are high.
The cheapest lawful way for a wealthy family to actually live in Italy — no investment, no contribution, just demonstrable passive income. The absolute prohibition on work is the point most clients underestimate: it bars remote work for a foreign employer too, so a semi-retired principal still taking board fees or consulting income is not eligible, and consulates do check.
Qualifying routes
€32k
Passive income — single applicant
roughly EUR 31,000–32,000 depending on the consulate; pensions, dividends, rents, annuities
€38k
Passive income — couple
plus roughly EUR 6,200 per dependent child
The facts
- Qualifying figure
- €32k
- Total landed cost
- Visa fee of roughly EUR 116 plus permesso di soggiorno costs, health insurance and the accommodation you must secure before applying. The real cost is the Italian property or one-year lease you must hold before the visa is granted.
- Timeline
- 2–6 months — consulate-dependent; some Italian consulates have year-long appointment queues
- Physical presence
- Substantial — this is a genuine relocation visa and long absences undermine renewal
- Family
- spousedependent childrendependent parents in defined circumstances
- Permanent residency
- 5 years of continuous residence for the EU long-term residence permit
- Citizenship
- 10 years of legal residence plus B1 Italian
- Language test
- B1 Italian
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- non-EU nationalsubstantial, stable, regular passive income from outside Italy — pensions, dividends, rents, annuities — of at least roughly EUR 31,000–32,000 for a single applicant, EUR 38,000 for a couple, plus ~EUR 6,200 per childno employment or self-employment, including remote work for foreign employerssuitable accommodation in Italy — owned, or leased for at least one year — in place before the visacomprehensive private health insuranceclean criminal record
What can go wrong
- No work of any kind, including remote work for a foreign employer. This is enforced and is the most common cause of refusal and non-renewal.
- The statutory floor is misleading. Consulates routinely expect multiples of EUR 32,000 and weigh the quality and durability of the income; a two-to-three-year track record is commonly demanded for investment income.
- Accommodation — purchased or leased for at least one year, in your name — must be in place before the visa is issued, so you commit to Italian property before you know you have the visa.
- Discretion is wide and varies enormously between consulates; there is no entitlement even on a compliant file.
- Annual renewal for the first years, each one an opportunity to fail.
- Becoming Italian tax resident without electing 24-bis or 24-ter exposes worldwide income at ~47.2% plus IVIE and IVAFE on foreign assets — the tax consequence dwarfs the visa's simplicity.
- The income figures here come from immigration practitioners rather than a single current published decree; consulate-specific requirements should be confirmed directly.