When preparing for an expansion into Italy, a crucial part of the process for many businesses is to relocate part of their workforce from abroad to help with the setup and growth. To do this, each employee requires permission to live and work in Italy in the form of a work visa.
However, the application process for Italian work visas can be difficult, with complex immigration regulations, a language barrier, and more all having the potential to cause costly delays.
At Horizons, our global expansion experts offer comprehensive Italian visa services, immigration advice, and tailored support, helping foreign organizations of all kinds to expand into Italy along with their experienced employees.
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Standard requirements for Italy work visas
There are a number of visa options for businesses aiming to relocate their employees to Italy from abroad, all of which have different requirements.
For non-EU/EAA nationals, there are several common requirements that will generally need to be met:
- A valid passport
- Application fees
- Completed application form
- Job offer
- Health insurance
- Medical report
- Criminal record check
- Proof of sufficient funds
- Proof of qualifications/work experience
Types of work visas for Italy
The simplest way to work in Italy is by having citizenship of another European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) country. Anybody from another EU/EAA country can travel, live, and work in Italy freely, without needing a visa.
If your employees are not nationals of an EU/EAA country, they will need a long-stay visa, otherwise known as a Type-D visa, to permit employment in Italy.
How to get a work visa for Italy
Further considerations for Italy work visas
It can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks for Italy work visas to be issued by the Italian authorities, so it is also good practice to submit all applications well in advance of your move.
A complication to the process is that visas are only issued in a limited quantity, and are only issued for a period of a few months every one or two years to meet labor demands. It is possible to bypass these restrictions, but generally only for highly-skilled, especially desirable employees and senior management.
