Golden Visa Italy and the Investor Visa Route
The investor route in full: the categories, the documents and the Committee's procedure.
founder visa
Founder Visa for Italy and the Residence Route that Fits Your Company
We prepare the Italian company and the application file in the order each route requires; the state decides every clearance, visa and permit.
- Investor visa: outside the annual quotas (Art. 26-bis TUI)
- Self-employment: 650 entries a year, 2026 to 2028 (joint circular 8047)
- Director route: a company in activity for at least three years (2011 decree)
The visa follows the structure
Owning an Italian company, or directing it from abroad, needs no visa; a non-EU person who settles abroad meets the reciprocity condition the notary or the chamber checks (Milan Chamber of Commerce). Running it from Italy needs a visa, and the permit follows that visa's activities (Art. 5(2) TUI). So: the route, then setting up your company in Italy, then the application.
For a founder who will run a new Italian company in person, a group sending a manager to its Italian branch or subsidiary, or an investor taking Italian equity. Not for a household move: housing, schools and removals are not offered. Elective residence excludes work, and a remote worker with no Italian company has a guide: digital nomad visa Italy.
Six routes, side by side
The routes the law gives a founder or a group's manager, each with the Italian side it needs. Conditions only; the decision is made with you.
A founder or a group's manager: six routes
Investor visa
Art. 26-bis TUI
- Italian sideEquity in a company formed and operating in Italy, EUR 500,000; or in an innovative start-up, EUR 250,000
- QuotasOutside the annual quotas
- First clearanceThe investor-visa Committee's nulla osta (clearance) within 30 days (programme)
Self-employment visa, founder of a new company
Art. 26 TUI
- Italian sideThe founder's own capital company or partnership
- QuotasInside: 650 a year, 2026 to 2028
- First clearanceThe questura's (provincial police headquarters) provisional nulla osta within 20 days, the consulate within 30 days (law)
Corporate-office case
2011 decree, point 7.I.2
- Italian sideAn S.p.A., S.r.l. or S.a.p.a. already in activity for at least three years
- QuotasInside, within the shared 500
- First clearanceAs for self-employment
Italia Startup Visa
Art. 25(2) D.L. 179/2012
- Italian sideAn innovative start-up (start-up innovativa)
- QuotasInside (a self-employment visa)
- First clearanceThe start-up committee's nulla osta; no term on the pages we read
Intra-corporate transfer
Art. 27-quinquies TUI
- Italian sideThe employer's Italian seat, branch or representative office, or a group company, as host entity
- QuotasOutside the annual quotas
- First clearanceThe Single Desk for Immigration's (Sportello Unico per l'Immigrazione) nulla osta within 45 days (law)
EU Blue Card
Art. 27-quater TUI
- Italian sideAn Italian employer
- QuotasOutside the annual quotas
- First clearanceThe Single Desk's nulla osta within 30 days (law)
Conditions only: no route is highlighted or recommended, and the decision is made with you.
| Route (basis) | Italian side needed | Condition or amount | Quota position | First clearance and its term | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investor visa (Art. 26-bis TUI) | Equity in a company or venture-capital fund formed and operating in Italy, or in an innovative start-up in the special section of the Register | EUR 500,000, or EUR 250,000 for the start-up, held at least two years; EUR 1,000,000 owned and transferable to Italy shown; invested within three months of entry | Outside | The investor-visa Committee's nulla osta (clearance) within 30 days (programme page) | A family visa |
| Self-employment visa, founder of a new company (Art. 26 TUI) | The founder's own capital company or partnership | Adequate resources and the competent authority's attestation dated within three months (which authority attests a new company's founder is open); housing; income above the health-contribution exemption level | Inside: 650 a year, 2026 to 2028 | The questura's (provincial police headquarters) provisional nulla osta within 20 days, the consulate within 30 days, the visa decided within 120 days | Art. 29 TUI conditions; family may enter with the holder |
| Corporate-office case (2011 decree, point 7.I.2) | An S.p.A., S.r.l. or S.a.p.a. already in activity for at least three years | The office of chairman, board member, managing director or statutory auditor; the Register certificate and two declarations of the legal representative; no Chamber attestation | Inside, within the shared 500 | As for self-employment | As for self-employment |
| Italia Startup Visa (Art. 25(2) D.L. 179/2012) | An innovative start-up (start-up innovativa) | Funds dedicated to the start-up of not less than EUR 50,000 (one consulate's checklist); the start-up tests are not set out on this page | Inside (a self-employment visa) | The start-up committee's nulla osta; no term on the pages we read | Not stated in the texts we read |
| Intra-corporate transfer (Art. 27-quinquies TUI) | The employer's Italian seat, branch or representative office, or a group company, as host entity | A manager, specialist or trainee employed by the non-EU group company for at least three months | Outside | The Single Desk for Immigration's (Sportello Unico per l'Immigrazione) nulla osta within 45 days, valid up to six months | Reunification whatever the permit's length |
| EU Blue Card (Art. 27-quater TUI) | An Italian employer | A tertiary qualification of at least three years or five years of comparable experience; a contract or binding offer of at least six months; pay not below the national collective agreement and the ISTAT average | Outside | The Single Desk's nulla osta within 30 days | Reunification whatever the permit's length |
Sources: Art. 26-bis TUI and Art. 26 TUI on Normattiva; the 2011 decree; joint circular 8047 of 16 October 2025; Arts. 27-quinquies and 27-quater TUI; MIMIT; the Chicago consulate.
What's included
What we prepare, and what stays with the state.
Route and vehicle map
Part of our corporate structuring in Italy work: the routes your facts open, side by side with their articles, quota position and first clearance. The choice stays yours.
The company formed
An S.r.l., S.r.l.s. or S.p.A. formed before the notary, who files the deed within 10 days (Art. 2330(1) c.c.), or one of our ready-made Italian companies. Either is a vehicle, never by itself a residence route.
The order of steps
Vehicle, clearance, entry and the duties after entry, set against each route's terms. A business that needs a financial services licence Italy adds that authorisation to the sequence.
The document file
Assembled and sequenced: foreign public documents legalised or apostilled, then translated into Italian and declared conforming by an official translator or the consulate (Foreign Ministry).
The host entity for a group transfer
The host entity, a branch or a subsidiary in Italy, registered through the notary and the Register; its request to the Single Desk prepared for it to file (Art. 27-quinquies TUI).
The tax checkpoint
The founder's residence test, the foreign holding's board test and the new-resident option, set beside the route as rules in force in 2026.
The dates after entry
The permit request within 8 working days of entry and the renewal at least 90 days before expiry, entered in your calendar.
Not included: the clearances, the visa, the permit and the Chamber attestation are state acts; we file no application and act before no authority; the notary receives every deed; no household move.
How the process works
Who acts at each step, and the term the law or the programme sets.
The decision inputs
Will you run the company in person from Italy, who will own it, what capital goes in, are you a non-EU group's employee, is it an innovative start-up?
You, with us
The vehicle or the host entity
The notary files the deed within 10 days (Art. 2330(1) c.c.); the Register enters the company within 10 days of protocol, 5 if filed electronically (Art. 11(8) D.P.R. 581/1995).
Notary and Register; law
The document file
Foreign documents legalised or apostilled and translated; for self-employment, the competent authority's attestation is dated within three months (Art. 26(2) TUI).
You and the issuing authorities
The first clearance
Investor: the Committee's nulla osta, 30 days (MIMIT). Self-employment: the questura's provisional nulla osta, 20 days (Art. 39(6) D.P.R. 394/1999). Transfer: within 45 days; Blue Card: within 30 days (our employment visa overview).
The authority decides
The visa at the consulate
For self-employment, the consulate acts within 30 days of the file; the visa is decided within 120 days and used within 180 (Art. 26(7) TUI; our self-employment visa overview). Investor and transfer visas: no published term.
Entry and the permit
The permit (permesso di soggiorno) is requested from the questore within 8 working days of entry and decided within 90 days (Art. 5 TUI). The detail: how a founder applies for the permit after entering Italy.
The investor's duties
The whole sum invested within three months of entry and held at least two years, or the permit is revocable (Art. 26-bis TUI); the notary receives the subscription deed.
Renewal and the long stay
Renewal requested at least 90 days before expiry, since 22 May 2026 (Art. 5(4) TUI); the first self-employment permit up to two years, renewals up to three; the EU long-term permit after five years (Art. 9 TUI).
law a term set by statuteprogramme the investor-visa programme page (MIMIT)no term no published term
- 1
The vehicle or the host entity
Before entry: the notary and the Register
- law deed filed within 10 days (Art. 2330(1) c.c.)
- law Register entry within 10 days of protocol, 5 if electronic (Art. 11(8) D.P.R. 581/1995)
- 2
The first clearance
Before entry: the authority decides
- programme investor: the Committee's nulla osta within 30 days
- law self-employment: the questura's provisional nulla osta within 20 days (Art. 39(6) D.P.R. 394/1999)
- law transfer: within 45 days
- law Blue Card: within 30 days
- 3
The visa
Before entry: the consulate
- law self-employment visa decided within 120 days and used within 180 (Art. 26(7) TUI)
- no term investor and transfer visas
- 4
Entry and the permit
After entry: the questore
- law permit requested within 8 working days of entry
- law decided within 90 days (Art. 5 TUI)
- 5
The investor's duties
After entry: the investor
- law the whole sum invested within three months of entry and held at least two years (Art. 26-bis TUI)
- 6
Renewal and the long stay
Staying
- law renewal requested at least 90 days before expiry (Art. 5(4) TUI)
- law first self-employment permit up to two years, renewals up to three
- law EU long-term permit after five years (Art. 9 TUI)
No total duration is drawn
Not sure which route your structure leads to?
Tell us who will own the company, who will run it and where they live today; we set out the routes those facts open, in order.
Documents and state charges
What a founder's file draws on, and the state's charges, item by item.
| Item | Who issues or collects | Figure or condition | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passport | The issuing state | Valid at least three months after the visa expires | Chicago consulate checklist |
| Housing and income | The applicant | Suitable housing; an annual income from lawful sources above the health-contribution exemption level, printed as EUR 8,400 by one consulate and EUR 8,500 by another (consular practice, not law) | Art. 26(3) TUI; Chicago and Boston consulates |
| Resources attestation (self-employment) | The competent authority; the Chamber of Commerce for registrable activities still to be started, in the cases its page lists | Dated within three months; not below the annual capitalisation of the monthly assegno sociale (social allowance), and above three times that sum under the 2011 decree; the Florence chamber prints EUR 21,304 for a start as an individual entrepreneur (page edited 20 August 2026), two consulates about EUR 14,000 (each its page's figure, none law) | Art. 26(2) TUI; Art. 39(3) D.P.R. 394/1999; the 2011 decree |
| Corporate-office papers | The company and its legal representative | The Register certificate; a declaration that no subordinate employment will be created; a declaration of pay above the health-contribution exemption level | The 2011 decree, point 7.I.2 |
| Foreign public documents | The Italian consulate, or the apostille authority where the Hague Convention applies; an official translator or the consulate | Legalised or apostilled, then translated into Italian and declared conforming | Foreign Ministry |
| Electronic permit | The questura | EUR 30.46 (permits over 90 days) | Polizia di Stato |
| Revenue stamp | The questura | EUR 16.00 | Polizia di Stato |
| Postal dispatch | The post office | EUR 30.00 | Polizia di Stato |
| Permit contribution | The questura | EUR 40.00 (over three months and up to one year), EUR 50.00 (over one year and up to two), EUR 100.00 (EU long-term permits; permits of managers and specialised workers) | Decree of 5 May 2017, per a questura notice of 16 June 2017, as the Polizia di Stato prints them; the statute's own figures differ, so the amount is confirmed at the questura |
| Consular visa fee, programme fee | The consulate; the programme | No current fee published on an official page we read | None found |
Sources: consulate checklists; Polizia di Stato, how, where and how much; the Catanzaro questura notice of 16 June 2017. Company-formation charges sit on the company pages.
The founder's tax residence
The rules as in force in 2026, set beside the move; not advice on your case.
| Rule | What it says | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| The founder's residence (residenza fiscale) | Resident if, for most of the tax period counting fractions of a day, they have residence, domicile (where personal and family relations mainly develop) or presence in Italy | Art. 2(2) TUIR |
| The population register | Registration for most of the tax period presumes residence unless proved otherwise | Art. 2(2) TUIR |
| The foreign holding (esterovestizione, deemed Italian residence) | A foreign company controlling an Italian one is presumed resident, unless it proves otherwise, if run by a board made up mostly of directors resident in Italy | Art. 73(5-bis) TUIR |
| The new-resident option (regime dei neo residenti) | A substitute tax of EUR 300,000 per tax period on foreign income, EUR 50,000 per family member covered, for a person who transfers residence from 1 January 2026; open to a person not resident for at least nine of the previous ten tax periods; ends after 15 years from its first period | Art. 24-bis TUIR |
| From 2027 | The income-tax consolidated text (D.Lgs. 117/2026, in force 4 July 2026) replaces the TUIR numbering from 1 January 2027; no new article number is printed here | D.Lgs. 117/2026 |
Sources: Arts. 2(2) and 73(5-bis) TUIR and Art. 24-bis TUIR on Normattiva, as in force in 2026; D.Lgs. 117/2026.
Problems we solve
Where a founder's route stalls, and how we handle it.
The director trap
A founder forms a company and expects the corporate-office case, which needs a company in activity for at least three years (the 2011 decree). We map the route before the deed, with the self-employment visa and its quota in view.
The quota
The self-employment visa, the corporate-office case and the start-up visa sit inside the quotas: 650 entries a year for 2026 to 2028 (joint circular 8047). Our map shows each route's quota position first.
The investor's clock
The sum invested after three months of entry, or disposed of within two years, makes the permit revocable (Art. 26-bis(5) TUI). We ready the company and the subscription deed before entry.
The late renewal
Since 22 May 2026 the renewal is requested at least 90 days before expiry (Art. 5(4) TUI), while three official pages still print 60 days. We put the date in your calendar.
The holding that turns Italian
A foreign company controlling an Italian one is presumed resident if it is run by a board made up mostly of directors resident in Italy (Art. 73(5-bis) TUIR, as in force in 2026). We set the board beside the move, concluding nothing for you.
Will your company exist when your application needs it?
The corporate-office case needs three years of activity, a transfer a registered host entity, the investor visa the money within three months of entry.
Why work with us
Silvia Brivio
Regulatory and Founder Mobility Lead, Milan office. She prepares the files that let a business, or its founder, operate in Italy, and checks each against the authority's own list. Italian, English, Portuguese.
We are not a law firm, a notary or an immigration authority, and we make no choice of route for you.
Last checked: statute texts read on 8 October 2026; re-read in January 2027; the investor programme's notices rechecked quarterly.
From our practice
, a worked example (not a client case): a founder forms an S.r.l. in Milan to run it in person. The corporate-office case asks for three years in activity, so it is closed to this company. Forming a capital company is a named case of the self-employment visa (Art. 26(2) TUI), inside 650 entries a year. Which authority attests a new founder's resources, we check with the chamber before the deed.
Frequently asked questions
Does forming an Italian company give me the right to live in Italy?
No. Owning an Italian company, or directing it from abroad, needs no visa, although a non-EU person who settles abroad meets the reciprocity condition that the notary or the chamber checks (Milan Chamber of Commerce). Living in Italy to run the company needs a visa, and the permit is issued for the activities that visa provides for (Art. 5(2) TUI).
Can I make myself director of my new company and use the director route?
Not with a new company. The corporate-office case of the 2011 decree asks for an S.p.A., S.r.l. or S.a.p.a. already in activity for at least three years, so a company formed today does not meet it. Forming a capital company is a named case of the self-employment visa (Art. 26(2) TUI), which counts inside the annual quotas.
Does the investor visa accept a company I form for it?
Art. 26-bis(1) TUI asks for equity of a company formed and operating in Italy. Whether a company formed for the purpose counts, and when the subscription counts, is not settled by the texts we read, so we promise neither answer: the investor-visa Committee decides on the file it receives.
Do you obtain the visa or file the application for me?
No. The investor-visa Committee, the start-up committee, the Single Desk for Immigration, the questura and the consulate decide, and the applicant, the host entity or the employer files. We prepare the Italian company, the document file and the order of steps, and coordinate the notary and the Register. No outcome is promised.
How long does each route take before I can enter?
The investor's nulla osta is due within 30 days of the online application (MIMIT). A self-employment visa is issued or refused within 120 days of the complete application (Art. 26(7) TUI). The Single Desk decides a transfer within 45 days, a Blue Card within 30. No consular time is published for the investor and transfer visas, so no overall timeline.
What does your service cost?
Pricing is on request. The work depends on the route, on whether the Italian company or the host entity already exists, and on how many foreign documents must be legalised and translated. The state's own charges at the permit stage are listed item by item, with their sources, in the documents and charges table above.
Which visa does a founder who will run a new S.r.l. in person use?
Forming a capital company or taking a corporate office are named cases of the self-employment visa (Art. 26(2) TUI), inside 650 entries a year for 2026 to 2028 (joint circular 8047). The investor visa sits outside the quotas and asks for EUR 500,000 in a company or EUR 250,000 in an innovative start-up. The choice is made with you.
I manage a group abroad: can I move to run its Italian subsidiary or branch?
The intra-corporate transfer is outside the quotas: the manager has been employed by the non-EU group company for at least three months, and the Italian host entity files with the Single Desk, which decides within 45 days (Art. 27-quinquies TUI). Whether a non-employee owner qualifies, here or under Art. 27(1)(a) TUI, is not settled by the texts we read.
How much do I need to invest in Italy to get residency?
On a company route, EUR 500,000 in the equity of a company or venture-capital fund formed and operating in Italy, or EUR 250,000 in an innovative start-up in the special section of the Register, held at least two years (Art. 26-bis(1) TUI). The applicant also shows EUR 1,000,000 owned, available and transferable to Italy.
How do I get a residence permit after I arrive?
Request the permit from the questore within 8 working days of entry (Art. 5(2) TUI); the questura issues, renews or converts it within 90 days of the application (Art. 5(9) TUI). Since 22 May 2026 the renewal is requested at least 90 days before the permit expires (Art. 5(4) TUI). The first self-employment permit lasts up to two years.
How much does the residence permit cost?
The Polizia di Stato prints EUR 30.46 for the electronic permit over 90 days, a EUR 16.00 revenue stamp, EUR 30.00 for postal dispatch and a contribution of EUR 40, 50 or 100 by length or type; the statute's figures differ, so the questura confirms the amount. No current consular or programme fee appears on an official page we read.
Can my family come with me?
An investor's family receives a family visa (Art. 26-bis TUI). Holders of an intra-corporate transfer permit or a Blue Card may bring their family whatever the length of the permit. Other cases follow Art. 29 TUI: an income test, housing certified by the municipality and a Single Desk nulla osta within 150 days.
When do I become an Italian tax resident, and can my move affect my foreign holding?
An individual is resident if, for most of the tax period, they have residence, domicile or presence in Italy, and registration in the population register presumes it (Art. 2(2) TUIR). A foreign holding is presumed resident if run by a board made up mostly of directors resident in Italy (Art. 73(5-bis) TUIR). Rules as in force in 2026, not advice.
Can I use elective residence and still run my company?
No. Under point 13 of the 2011 decree's annex, the elective-residence visa is for a person who maintains themselves without carrying out any work activity in Italy, so it does not fit a founder who will run the company in person. A person who will not work in Italy has its own guide, linked from this page.
Can a founder live in Italy permanently?
After at least five years with a valid permit, the EU long-term permit may be requested under Art. 9 TUI, with income not below the annual assegno sociale (social allowance), suitable housing and an Italian-language test. It is issued within 90 days and is valid for 10 years. This page makes no statement on citizenship.
Ready to set the route before the registration?
Send three facts: who will own the company, who will run it, where they live now. We reply with the routes they open, in order.