Five Super Tips for Relocating to Italy

#1: Top Five Jobs in Italy

According to the latest market research, these are the most sought-after professional profiles in Italy at present.

· Robotic Engineer (deals with the design, construction, and testing of robots).

· Machine Learning Engineer (IT professional who focuses on the design, implementation, and maintenance of machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence systems).

· Cloud Architect (deals with designing and building cloud environments, applications, and software hosted on external servers that can be accessed through an internet connection regardless of where you are and that adapt as much as possible to the business needs of a company).

· Data Engineer (is responsible for identifying trends in datasets and developing algorithms to transform raw data into useful, ordered, and structured data formats).

· Sustainability Managers (supervise the implementation of sustainability strategies during a project or for the entire company).

#2: Car Importation

As of February 1. 2022, it is now forbidden by law for anyone who has been a resident in Italy for longer than 90 days to drive or own a foreign-registered car.

The only exception to this new law is regarding company cars that are being used in Italy by an individual that is collaborating with a company that has its operations in another EU country but has no operational presence in Italy. This needs to be documented officially, and these documents must always be kept in the car. Failure to present this documentation within thirty days will result in a fine ranging from €250 to €1.600.

Anyone found driving a foreign-registered car and violating this new law will be subject to a fine ranging from €712 to €2.848. In addition to this, the car will be impounded at the expense of the driver and must be registered in Italy within 180 days of the police citation. If the car is not registered with the Italian authorities within 180 days, other fines and expenses will be incurred.

If you are a resident of Italy, it is also prohibited by the new law to drive a foreign-registered car that is owned by a relative, friend, or colleague who lives abroad, if you have been a resident for more than ninety days.

#3: Tips for Renting in Italy

So, you’ve decided to move to Italy, and it’s time to rent a property. Below, you will find the main aspects to take into consideration when renting in Italy.

· Properties should only be rented by signing a contract that is registered with the tax authorities.

· During the negotiation stage, a diplomatic clause of three months should be negotiated, whereby you can break the lease with three months’ notice. The landlord, by law, can ask for six months, so negotiating a three-month option is important, due to potential unforeseen circumstances.

· Any companion animals need to be declared before signing a lease.

· Utilities are not normally included in the rent. Sometimes the landlord will agree to a monthly forfeit sum to leave the utilities in their name, with any amount above this being due at the end of the tenancy. This needs to be included in the rental contract.

· Make sure you understand what is considered normal wear and tear, as this will determine, if you will need to make any repairs to the property before handing it over to the landlord.

After the signing of the lease, the landlord has 30 days to give you a copy of the registration receipt from the Italian tax authorities.

· Make sure you familiarize yourself with the responsibilities of the tenant to reduce the chances of dilapidations.

· Realtor fees are normally one month’s rent, but in northern Italy, they can be two months’ rent, or approximately 15% of the annual rent. In rare cases, this percentage can also be up to 20%.

#4: €1 Houses in Italy

Due to the many articles that have been published around the world, I have received quite a few inquiries asking me if it is really possible to buy a house in Italy for €1. The answer is yes due to special programs available in certain towns.

However, as the saying goes, there are no free lunches, so there are a few things to consider before buying one:

· These properties are normally in remote areas.

· They will usually need to be renovated considerably, and this must be completed by a certain date.

· Resale value may not increase much despite the investment in bringing the property up to standard.

Other aspects that one should consider before buying one of these properties include:

· Due to their location, employment opportunities may be nonexistent.

· Internet connection could be an issue, though satellite options may be viable.

· Medical facilities may not be within easy reach of the property’s location.

· Purchasing one of these properties as a non-EU citizen does not give you any special immigration status.

Before buying one of these properties, it is highly advisable to come on a look-see trip and to engage the services of local experts such as a lawyer, accountant, and surveyor to avoid any unpleasant surprises down the line.

#5: Five Immigration Must-Knows for Italy

· Non-EU citizens coming to Italy for tourism can stay for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. If you are a non-EU citizen and would like to remain in Italy beyond 90 days, you must have a visa.

· EU citizens who plan on living permanently in Italy are required to register as residents within 90 days of arriving.

· A Schengen visa is not a work permit. This visa simply allows the traveler to remain in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period for business or pleasure.

· An Elective Residency Visa can be issued to non-EU citizens who can prove they can maintain themselves in Italy without working.

· Other visa options are available for non-EU citizens, such as a visa for Start Ups, Self-Employment, an Investor’s Visa, and the possibly soon-to-be-announced Digital Nomad Visa.

A Story of Determination

A few years ago, I did the immigration and relocation for a lady from the US who really wanted to move to Italy; however, she had three main obstacles.

· She did not have access to EU / Italian citizenship.

· She did not speak Italian.

· She worked for a company in the US that had no presence in Italy.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, through my expat coaching program ‘Ultimate Italy: Total Expat Coaching’, I encouraged her to get serious and to put the pedal to the metal, so we could create a strategy for her to relocate to Italy. Essentially, this is what we did to make her dream come true.

I put her in contact with an Italian teacher, and she focused on intensive lessons for one year. This got her to an upper intermediate level of the language.

I told her she had to change jobs and find a company that had a major presence in Italy and would need her skills overseas. This goal was also achieved within a year.

She moved to Italy with that company as an intracompany transfer, and then I told her to make herself indispensable to the branch in Italy so they would think of putting her on a local contract when it was possible. Indeed, after five years of working in Italy, she was hired locally with an Italian work contract.

This was a collaborative effort; she believed in possibilities as much as I did, so this made things much easier. The moral of the story is that with focus, determination, and a plan, you can move to Italy, even when it seems impossible.

If you require any case-specific assistance, please feel free to contact me www.damienofarrell.com

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