Digital nomad visa in Italy

With its sunny and warm weather throughout the year, beautiful views and attractive cities, Italy is one of the most popular travel destinations in Europe. Thanks to technological developments, many foreigners who choose to travel for several months a year can also work while away from home or at work.

This type of activity, in which leisure and work mix while traveling, is called a digital nomad. A digital nomad in Italy can be any person who can carry out their work activities outside the office and uses the time they spend in Italy to travel while they work. For this reason, immigration regulations in numerous countries have begun to change and create a suitable visa for these individuals.

There is no digital nomad program in Italy, but foreigners can obtain various visas that allow them to live in this country for a limited period of time while being a digital nomad.

What is the main Italian visa for digital nomads?

As already mentioned, there is no specific digital nomad program in Italy through which foreigners can obtain a visa for this specific purpose. We mention right from the start that immigration in Italy is only subject to the issuance of a visa for people who are citizens of countries outside the European Union (EU).

As a member state of the EU, Italy grants EU citizens the right to freedom of movement, which means that these citizens do not need to apply for a digital nomad visa (or any other type of visa) upon arrival in Italy. The visa requirement applies to third-country nationals, i.e. H. for most countries outside the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA).

People coming from outside these regions must apply for an appropriate visa depending on the length of stay. Please note that the visas differ between visas for short-term stays and visas for long term A distinction is made between stays (but not permanent). A short-term stay is defined as any entry into this country for a period of 90 days within 180 days, and in most cases foreigners will apply for a tourist visa as this is a common way of coming here for short periods.

This visa has very little impact on the holder, as it does not entail the obligation to apply for a residence permit, nor to register with local institutions for tax purposes or for any other reason. For this reason, coming to Italy as a digital nomad with this visa can be the ideal way.

For those who want to move to Italy for a longer period of time, there is the option of applying for the self-employed visa, which grants the right to live here for a period of up to two years. However, the visa holder must complete various formalities and our immigration lawyer in Italy can provide you with further details.

Why should you apply for a self-employed visa in Italy as a digital nomad?

The self-employed visa can have numerous advantages - you can immigrate to Italy for a longer period of time compared to other visas, and there are also very generous tax benefits. Recently, the law was changed in connection with the pandemic, and the benefits created with this visa were not created specifically for digital nomads, but for remote workers, but digital nomads are a category of remote workers, and they can benefit from the benefits of this in certain situations Benefit from a visa.

The self-employed visa can be used as an Italian digital nomad visa if a foreigner decides to transfer his tax residence to this country for the period for which the visa is issued or for a longer period (even permanently) if the Foreigner decides to stay here longer. The following provisions apply:

• Applicants must prove that they have sufficient financial resources to obtain the visa and the minimum amount is EUR 8,500;
• the number of such visas may be limited - in 2020 the Government only 500 visas issued;
• There is an important tax break for self-employed remote workers that applies from January 1, 2020;
• Successful applicants can claim a tax exemption of 70% on it worldwide receive income when registering residence in Italy;
• the tax exemption is granted for a period of 5 years.

Read a similar post for digital nomads in the USA , in South Africa or Dubai .