The elective residence visa Italy is one of the most attractive — and at the same time most misunderstood — long-stay visa options for non-EU nationals wishing to relocate to Italy without working. Often referred to as the Italy Retirement Visa or the Passive Income Visa Italy, Elective Residency Visa Italy or Italian elective residence visa, it is designed for retirees, financially independent individuals, and families who can demonstrate stable passive income and long-term self-sufficiency.

Despite its popularity, many applications for an elective residence visa for Italy are refused. The reasons are rarely formal defects, but rather misunderstandings about income rules, accommodation requirements, and the wide discretionary powers exercised by Italian authorities. Understanding how the Italy elective residence visa requirements are applied in practice is therefore essential before applying.

What Is the Elective Residence Visa in Italy?

The Italy elective residence visa is a national long-stay visa that allows foreign nationals to reside in Italy on a long-term basis without engaging in any work activity. This prohibition is broad and includes employment, self-employment, consultancy, business activity, and remote work, even if carried out online for foreign clients or companies.

The legal rationale behind the elective residency visa Italy is simple: Italy allows residence only to individuals who can support themselves autonomously, without relying on the Italian labour market or public assistance system. For this reason, the visa is strictly linked to the availability of passive, stable, and continuous income.

Who Can Apply for Elective Residence in Italy?

From a legal standpoint, elective residence applies to two distinct situations, which must be clearly distinguished.

Applicants residing outside Italy

Foreign nationals who are not yet in Italy must apply for an elective residence visa Italy at the Italian consulate with jurisdiction over their place of residence. At this stage, applicants must already demonstrate the availability of suitable accommodation in Italy and sufficient financial resources to support themselves on a long-term basis without working.

Within 8 days of entering Italy with the elective residence visa, foreigners must apply for the corresponding residence permit for elective residence.

Applicants already legally residing in Italy

Foreign nationals who are already legally residing in Italy, if they hold a valid residence permit (for employment, self-employment, or family reasons), have ceased all work activity, and can demonstrate full financial autonomy, they may apply for a conversion or renewal of their permit into a residence permit for elective residence (without requesting the relevant visa first) This situation typically concerns individuals receiving pensions or other stable passive income, whether paid in Italy or abroad. In these cases, the assessment is carried out by the Questura.

Legal Insight: Can you apply without a specific visa? While it is commonly believed that an entry visa is always mandatory, Italian administrative case law (including recent 2025 TAR rulings) has confirmed that this is not strictly the case for those already lawfully present in Italy

In specific cases,if you are already in Italy – even if you are not holding an elective residence visa or another type of residence permit – you could apply for a residence permit for elective residence. If you are already in Italy and wish to know if you qualify for this, contact our firm for a preliminary assessment

Key Facts: the elective residence visa Italy at a glance (2026)

To make it easier for those planning a move in 2026, here is a quick summary of the elective resdience visa essentials:

• Where to Apply: At the Italian Consulate in your home country (if you are abroad)
• Minimum Passive Income: At least €31,000 per year for a single applicant.
• Family Additions: Expect to show approximately €38,000–€40,000 for a married couple.
• Income Type: Must be 100% passive (pensions, dividends, rental income, etc.). Any form of work, including remote work, is strictly prohibited.
• Housing Requirement: You must have a registered 1-year lease or own a property before you apply.

Income requirement: why € 31,000 is only the starting point.

Under the current legal framework, the Italy elective residence visa requirements derive from the combined interpretation of Presidential Decree no. 394/1999 and Ministerial Decree no. 850 of 11 May 2011, Annex A, paragraph 13.

To qualify for an Italy elective residency visa, applicants must be able to maintain themselves autonomously in Italy without exercising any work activity. In practice, Italian authorities verify three essential requirements:

• suitable accommodation in Italy
• comprehensive health insurance coverage
• adequate financial resources derived exclusively from passive income

A core element of the elective residence framework is the applicant’s genuine intention to establish stable and long-term residence in Italy, rather than a temporary or occasional stay. This intention must emerge from objective and current elements, such as housing arrangements, family situation, and the overall consistency of the relocation plan.

Italy Elective Residence Visa income requirements

With regard to income, Italian law refers to the subsistence parameters set out in Table A of the Ministry of Interior Directive of 1 March 2000. Financial resources must not be lower than three times the annual amount indicated in that table, which in practice corresponds to approximately €31,000 per year for a single applicant (around €2,580 per month).

This amount represents the minimum admissibility threshold. Applications that do not meet this level are generally rejected. However, meeting the threshold does not automatically guarantee approval

The income requirement does not operate as an automatic condition of approval, but serves as a parameter guiding the discretionary assessment of the authorities. Italian administrations must carry out a prognostic evaluation of whether the applicant is realistically able to support themselves in Italy over time without engaging in any work activity.

For this purpose, income must be autonomous, stable, and regular, and reasonably expected to continue in the future. Accepted income sources include pensions, annuities, rental income from real estate, and returns on investments or other lawful passive income streams. Any income linked to employment, self-employment, business activity, or remote work is incompatible with the Italy elective residence visa income requirement. Savings alone, even if substantial, are insufficient unless supported by ongoing income.

For US citizens, this stable income often comes from Social Security benefits or 401(k) distributions. These are perfectly valid and highly regarded by Italian consulates, as long as they are recurring and can be officially verified through tax returns.

Income requirements for spouses and children

When an elective residence visa Italy is requested for a family unit, financial resources are assessed globally, in relation to the entire household.

While no fixed amounts are established by law, current administrative practice applies proportional increases over the base threshold of approximately €31,000 per year:

• the presence of a spouse generally requires an increase of around 20%
• each dependent child, whether minor or adult and financially dependent, usually requires an additional increase between 5% and 20%, depending on the overall family composition

As a result, a married couple is typically expected to demonstrate an annual income in the range of €38,000–40,000, with higher amounts required for families with children. Italian authorities do not distinguish between minor children and adult children who are cohabiting and financially dependent.

Accommodation requirements

Another fundamental aspect of the Italy elective residence visa requirements is the availability of accommodation. Applicants must demonstrate that they have secured suitable housing in Italy before applying.

Accommodation may be proven through property ownership or a registered lease agreement, generally with a minimum duration of one year. Importantly, accommodation is assessed not only on a formal level, but also on a substantive and credibility-based level.

Does buying a property in Italy guarantee residency? 

A common misconception is that purchasing a home in Italy automatically grants an elective residence visa. While owning a property satisfies the “suitable accommodation” requirement and strongly demonstrates your intention to settle, you must still meet all the passive income criteria.

Are you planning to buy? Check our legal guide on How to Buy a House in Italy to understand the steps, taxes, and how it fits into your residency application.

Health insurance and healthcare access

Health coverage is mandatory for the Italian elective residence visa. Applicants must hold private health insurance covering at least €30,000 per year, valid throughout Italy and the Schengen Area. The insurance policy must also include coverage for the repatriation of remains in the event of death.

Alternatively, once in Italy, holders of a residence permit for elective residence may voluntarily enroll in the Italian National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale). The annual contribution is calculated as a percentage of worldwide income, generally applying a rate of 7.5% up to a certain threshold and 4% on the excess, with a minimum annual contribution of €2,000.

Duration, renewal, and long-term residence

Once landed in Italy, within 8 days the applicant must apply for the residence permit for elective residence. Typically issued for one year, it may be renewed annually, provided that all original conditions continue to be met.

After five years of continuous legal residence, holders of an elective residency permit may apply for EU long-term residence permit, which has a duration of 5 years. Italian citizenship may be requested after ten years of legal residence, subject to additional legal requirements (for example: income).

Common Mistake #1: Relying on Savings Instead of Stable Income

Italian administrative courts have repeatedly clarified that meeting the minimum income threshold is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the grant of an elective residence visa.

In T.A.R. Lazio, Rome, Sez. V quater, judgment no. 14142/2025, the court confirmed that the availability of approximately €31,000 per year per person merely renders an application admissible. The administration must still verify whether the income is tangible, autonomous, stable, and regular, and whether its continuity over time can be reasonably presumed.

In that case, the applicants relied mainly on bank balances resulting from the sale of real estate. The court held that one-off capital gains do not replace stable income streams and that income must be clearly verifiable, typically through tax returns ( T.A.R. Lazio, Rome, Sez. III, no. 8614/2020; no. 19551/2023).

Common mistake #2: submitting accommodation that is only formal

Accommodation is also subject to substantive scrutiny. In T.A.R. Lazio, Rome, Sez. III, judgment no. 23836/2024, the court upheld the refusal of an elective residence visa despite the presence of formal accommodation documents.

The applicants had submitted free-of-charge loan agreements (comodato d’uso gratuito). However, the same property owner had signed similar agreements for multiple applicants. The authorities considered this situation economically implausible and concluded that the accommodation was not genuinely and exclusively available.

The court confirmed that, under the Italy elective residence visa requirements, housing must be credible and consistent with ordinary economic logic. Accommodation arrangements that appear artificial or systematically replicated may independently justify refusal.

Common Mistake #3: failing to prove a genuine intention to settle permanently in Italy

One of the most underestimated aspects of the elective residence visa Italy is the requirement to demonstrate a genuine intention to establish stable and long-term residence in Italy. Many applicants focus exclusively on income and accommodation, overlooking the fact that Italian authorities must also assess whether the relocation plan is real, coherent, and credible.

Under Italian law and consolidated case law, the intention to reside in Italy is not assessed on the basis of declarations of intent alone. It must be supported by objective, concrete, and current elements, and cannot rely on future, hypothetical, or conditional plans.

Italian administrative courts have clarified that this assessment involves a prognostic judgment by the administration on whether the applicant genuinely intends to settle in Italy on a stable basis, rather than merely spending extended periods in the country.

In T.A.R. Lazio, Rome, Sez. III, judgment no. 1772/2024, the court upheld the refusal of an elective residence visa where the applicants had failed to demonstrate a coherent plan of permanent settlement. In that case, the authorities noted that the applicants had not submitted visa applications for their two minor children, a circumstance considered incompatible with a genuine intention to establish stable family residence in Italy.

The court confirmed that the intention to settle must be inferred from objective conduct, such as the unity of the family relocation plan, housing arrangements suitable for the entire household, and consistency between the applicant’s declared intentions and their actual behavior. Arguments based on the possibility of transferring family members at a later stage were considered insufficient, as they referred to future and uncertain events.

Myth vs. Reality 

You may have seen news claiming that Italy pays $33,000 to new residents. Please note that this does not apply to the Elective Residence scheme. In fact, to obtain this visa, you must demonstrate your own financial independence and stable passive income

Final Considerations

The elective residence visa Italy remains an excellent option for those seeking long-term residence in Italy without working. It is not, however, automatic. Successful applications require stable passive income, credible accommodation, coherent documentation, and a genuine plan to establish stable residence in Italy.

Under the rules currently applied by Italian authorities, careful preparation and professional legal guidance from an immigration lawyer in Italy can make a decisive difference in the outcome of an application.

For US citizens, the transition to Italian residency is a popular path, but it requires careful alignment between US tax documents (like Social Security or 401k) and Italian immigration requirements.

Planning your relocation for 2026? If you want to ensure your application meets the latest jurisdictional standards and avoid common pitfalls, contact our firm for a comprehensive legal assessment.

FAQ- Elective Residence Visa Italy