There are several golden visa programs in Europe you can consider when you want to obtain residency, and enjoy all its benefits, in an EU country. One of these is the Italian Investor visa, also known as the Italian Golden Visa. It gives you the right to live and work in a country with a rich culture, exquisite cuisine, world-class attractions, and more.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at Italian Golden Visa, what its eligibility requirements are, how you should apply, and what the minimum investment is.

What Is the Italian Golden Visa?

The Italian Golden Visa, also known as the Italy Investor Visa, is Italy’s residency by investment program. It was introduced in 2017 by the Italian Government to attract foreign investment into the country. The program offers non-EU residents to obtain Italian residency in return for making an investment in the country.

Once you obtain residency in terms of the program, you’ll enjoy several benefits:

• Domicile. Once your residency permit is granted, you’ll be able to live, work, and stay in Italy without restrictions. Also, you’ll be able to apply for permanent residency and, ultimately, citizenship after specified time periods.
• Travel. With your residency permit, you’ll be able to travel freely without restrictions throughout the EU’s Schengen Zone. In addition, once you obtain Italian citizenship, you’ll have access to visa-free travel to 189 countries around the world.
• Tax. Italian residency gives you access to tax incentives that can make your tax affairs more efficient.
• Family. You can add your family, including your spouse, children, parents, and parents in law to your application.
• Education and healthcare. Once you are granted residency, you’ll have the same access to Italy’s healthcare and education systems as any other Italian citizen.

Apart from these benefits, the residency program itself also offers some benefits compared to other, similar programs in the European Union. For example, the visa only takes about 60 days to process, which makes it faster than many other programs in the EU.

In addition, with some of its low investment thresholds, it’s also one of the most affordable programs to attain residency. Moreover, the program offers more flexibility than many other programs and doesn’t require that you move to Italy.

Who Is Eligible for Italy Golden Visa?

In addition to making an investment, the program has other requirements you need to comply with in order to qualify. These include that:

• You should be aged 18 years or older.
• You should be a third country national. In other words, you should be from a country that’s not in the EU, EEA, or Switzerland.
• You should not have a criminal record.
• You should have full private medical insurance for yourself and your family if they are included in your application.

How to Apply For the Italian Golden Visa?

Once you comply with all the eligibility requirements, you can apply for the Italian Golden Visa. We’ll now look at this process in more detail. To successfully apply in terms of the program, you’ll need to go through a few phases.

The first phase is applying for your Italy Investor visa. To do this, you’ll apply for a Nulla Osta in three steps:

• Application. The first step is to create an account on the Italian Investor visa platform and then filling out the forms and uploading the required documents. Once done, you’ll verify the declaration that all the provided information is correct and then submit your application.
• Preliminary check. Once you’ve submitted your application, the Committee Secretariat will check your application and provide feedback within 30 days. Here, you can expect one of three different outcomes. Firstly, if your application form and documents comply with the requirements, your application will be approved and your Nulla Osta will be available on the portal. Secondly, if further documentation or information is needed, you’ll need to provide this within 30 days and the status of your application will show “suspended”. Finally, you can also receive a rejection with reasoned reasons for it.
• Issue. If your application is approved, and you’ve been provided with your Nulla Osta, you’ll need to go to the Italian embassy in your home country within six months of the approval. At the embassy, you’ll need to submit all your documents and the Nulla Osta. The embassy will then issue the Investor visa, and you’ll be entitled to enter Italy with the visa for a period of two years after its date of issue.

When you apply for your Nulla Osta, you’ll need to submit the following documents:

• A clear copy of your passport that shows your name, photo, and passport number.
• Your CV or resume that shows your educational and professional background and experience.
• Bank statements that prove that you’re making the investment or donation with your own funds. In addition, you should also provide a letter from your bank that confirms the legitimacy of the funds.
• A letter with a maximum of 1,000 words that shows the nature of your investment or donation and your previous investment or donation experience.
• A Declaration of Commitment that states how much you’re willing to invest and where you intend to stay in Italy.
• A consent from the recipient of your investment or donation.
• Proof that you have a clear criminal record.

Once you’ve received your Nulla Osta, you’ll need to submit the following documents to the embassy:

• Your passport.
• A passport-size photo.
• A copy of your Nulla Osta.
• The originals of all the documents you’ve previously submitted electronically.
• Proof that you have accommodation in Italy.
• Proof of residence in your home country.
• Proof of your income during the preceding financial year that exceeds €8,500.

While the Investor visa allows you to enter Italy, you’ll need a residence permit to stay in the country. This is where the second phase of the process comes in. Like the first phase, there are also a few steps you’ll need to follow to obtain your residence permit:

• Application. To complete your application, you’ll need to go to a local Italian police station, where you’ll submit your passport and your entry visa. Once you’ve done this, you’ll need to log into the portal and provide information about the date you arrived in Italy, the application date at the police station, and the location of the police station where you’ve made the application. It’s important to remember that you have eight days after you’ve arrived in Italy to submit your application for a residence permit.
• Investment. During this step, you’ll complete your investment. To do this, you’ll make the investment or donation and upload proof thereof on the portal. Here, it’s important to keep in mind that you need to complete your investment or donation within three months after arriving in Italy.

During this phase, you’ll need to submit documents as proof of your investment. The documents necessary will depend on the specific investment or donation you’re making. Also, these documents need to be in English or Italian. If not, you’ll also need to submit a verified translation of these documents.

During the final phase of the process, your proof of investment will be assessed by the committee. During this phase, you can also expect one of three outcomes:

• Firstly, if your investment is approved, your residence permit will continue to be valid if it’s already been issued. If it’s not been issued at this stage, it will be as soon as the application process is completed.
• Secondly, if the committee needs further documentation or information, you’ll be required to submit these within 30 days. During these 30 days, you’ll still be obliged to show that you’ve made the investment or donation within 30 days after arriving in Italy.
• Finally, if the committee is not satisfied with your investment, your residence permit will either be revoked or not be released if the application process is still pending.

Minimum Investment Amount of Italy Investor Visa

You’ve now seen what the Italian Golden Visa is, what requirements you need to meet to be eligible, and the process of applying for the program. Let’s now look at the different investment options in more detail. Here, you can choose to invest in:

An innovative startup

This is the most affordable option for obtaining the Italian Golden Visa and requires that you make a minimum investment of €250,000 in innovative Italian startups. It’s important to remember that this investment can only be in one of the startups on the official list of eligible startups that is maintained and updated by the Italian Chamber of Commerce.

Shares in an Italian limited company

If you would rather not invest in an Italian startup, you can also invest in an Italian limited company by buying shares in the company. However, when you do so, the minimum investment required increases to an amount of €500,000. Moreover, for an investment to be eligible, the company must be incorporated and based in Italy, and it must be active. The company can be privately held or publicly traded, though.

Italian government bonds

If you want to avoid investing in any company, you can also choose to invest in Italian government bonds. In this case, the minimum investment required is €2 million, which makes it the most expensive option. When using this option, you can invest in Treasure Certificates, Zero-coupon Treasury Bonds, Long-Term Treasury Bonds, or Long-Term Treasury Bonds index-linked to Eurozone inflation.

Philanthropic Donation 

Apart from these options, you can also obtain the Italian golden visa by donating to an Italian charity or NGO. When using this option, you can choose to donate a minimum of €1 million to a public initiative in culture, education, immigration control, scientific studies, and natural heritage protection. Understandably, because this is a donation to a charity, you won’t earn any returns on your money when making use of this option.

As you might have noticed, the Italian Golden Visa program doesn’t have the option, like many other programs, to invest in real estate. As a result, you’ll need to, in addition to your investment, buy or rent a property to stay in. This is one of the major disadvantages of the program and could deter some investors from applying.

Validity of Italy Golden Visa

If your application is successful, your Italian Investor visa will be issued. Once this is done, you can enter Italy within two years and apply for a residence permit using your visa. When your residence permit is approved, it will also be valid for a period of two years from the date on which you arrived in Italy.

How to Renew Your Italy Golden Visa?

As mentioned, your residence permit is valid for a period of two years. You’ll be able to apply for a three-year renewal at least 60 days before your residence permit expires. The renewal, however, is subject to certain requirements.

Firstly, you need to keep your investment for the entire two-year period that your residence permit is valid. In addition, to apply for the renewal, you’ll need to have a new Nulla Osta, and you’ll need to submit an application form for the renewal, certified copies of your and your dependents’ passports, proof of medical insurance, and a copy of your Italian residence card.

As is the case with your initial application, your application for renewal will be considered by the Committee, who can either approve or reject it.

Does Italy Allow Dual Citizenship?

Italy allows dual citizenship. This means that, once you’ve stayed in the country for 10 years in terms of your residence permit, you can apply for Italian citizenship without giving up your original citizenship.

Conclusion

The Italy Investor Visa program is not only one of the most affordable golden visa programs in Europe, but it’s also one that could have the fastest turnaround time. As such, through the program, you’ll be able to obtain a residency permit in as little as 60 days. Hopefully, this post gave you all the details you need about Italy’s residency by investment program.

If you want to know more about the program, about similar programs around the world, and our range of services, schedule a meeting with Smart Citizenship today.

FAQ

Apart from the information provided above, we’ve also compiled a list of frequently asked questions that people often have when it comes to the Italian investor visa.

Can I buy a property to live in Italy?

Yes, you can buy a property to live in Italy, but because the investor visa doesn’t have the option to invest in real estate, your purchase alone won’t make you eligible for the program. As a result, you’ll need to apply for a residence permit separately. However, your property purchase might make you eligible for certain other visas.

For this reason, it’s advisable to consult the Italian authorities before you commit to buying a property and to consider all your options.

Can I get Italian citizenship if I invest in Italy?

The Italian investor visa is a residency by investment program and not a citizenship by investment program. As such, the program is not a direct route to citizenship. The program enables you to obtain temporary residency in Italy, and you can apply for permanent residency if you’ve complied with the stay requirements after five years.

You can also apply for Italian citizenship if you’ve stayed in Italy for a minimum of ten years. Once granted, you’ll receive your Italian passport.

Can I make use of the program if I’m an EU/EEA citizen?

The program is only available to non-EU/EEA citizens as EU citizen already have most of the benefits offered by the program, such as freedom of movement in the EU Schengen Area.

How much does it cost to get the Italian investor visa?

Unlike most other European residency by investment programs, the Italian Investor visa has no prescribed fees. As such, it’s completely free to apply to the program. This means the only cost related to the program is the investment you need to make, of which the minimum is €250,000.

Are there any alternatives to the Italian investor visa?

One of the major benefits of the Italian investor visa is that it has a fast turnaround time. In addition, it’s also one of the cheapest golden visa programs in Europe. However, the lack of a real estate investment option might be a drawback for some. If this is a drawback for you, there are fortunately other alternatives.

For one, the Portugal Golden Visa is an excellent option. It offers several investment options, including the ability to purchase real estate. And, like Italy’s program, you can also apply for citizenship later on.

Another alternative is the Greece Golden Visa. It’s just as affordable, but the difference is that you can qualify by investing in real estate for a minimum of €250,000. Also, if you’ve stayed in Greece for a minimum of seven years in terms of the program, you’ll be able to apply for Greek citizenship.