Are you thinking of moving to Italy this year? You will have to make a plan before you do so. Moving to a different country requires time. You will have to make your paperwork which is the most important requirement for such a huge decision.
You will need an Italian residence permit, irrespective of your reason for a long stay. It does not matter if you are moving to Italy with family, for studying, for retiring or for career purposes if you obtain the permit after your arrival you can have a long stay.
Obtaining an Italian long-stay visa
As a non-EU resident if you have decided to stay in Italy for more than 90 days you must apply for a long-stay visa, but that won’t be enough. The visa will let you enter Italy; you will have to apply for a residence permit in Italy which can be done easily within the time you start moving to Italy with family using the long-stay visa.
Obtaining an Italian residence permit
As has been mentioned earlier, you will need a permit to stay in Italy as a resident. On the 8th day of moving to Italy with family, you will need to visit the police station of the province you are staying in and apply for the residence permit. You will need to fill in some paperwork specific to the declaration of residence. As it is a police station you will need to give your fingerprints too.
After this, you will need to visit a post office and ask them for “the kit”. The kit is nothing but a bunch of other paperwork and a list of documents you will need to apply for residence in Italy. The post office or Patronato officials will help you and guide you through the paperwork. They are a nonprofit government organization, so they ask for a €20 donation. This donation is recommended since the paperwork might have Italian terms that you are not familiar with, so you will require them to help you do the paperwork. After you finish the paperwork you will have to mail it to the post office and in return, you will get an appointment slip for the police station, with the appointment date and time on it.
This appointment is usually dated within 60 days of the submission of the kit but it can also take up to a maximum of six months. While moving to Italy with family, remember to keep both the receipt and the appointment slip you got from the post office, you will need to present at your appointment. It is advised to have a copy of the documents and to have them scanned as saved as soft copies. After you have obtained the residence permit, you will have to renew it every year or every 2 years. If you have a work permit the residence permit will be renewable as long as your contract lasts.
After 5 years of moving to Italy with family and renewing the residence permit, you will be allowed to apply for a 5 years residence permit and finally, after 10 years have passed you can apply for the citizenship of Italy. As a citizen of Italy, you will become an official EU citizen that will allow you to move to any country across the EU.
Conclusion
Now you know how you can make a plan to move to Italy. Moving to Italy with the family will need a lot of internal family planning too. If you face any problems feel free to share in the comments section.