- From
- EUR 250,000
- Timeline
- On request
Why Italy
A European base, on your terms
Your visa is approved before any money leaves your account.
Spouse, minor children and, in some cases, dependent parents and adult children.
You invest in companies, bonds or public-interest projects.
EUR 300,000 a year on all foreign income, for up to 15 years.
EU long-term residence after five years living in Italy.
How you qualify
Four routes, one choice
Innovative start-up
EUR250,000
Equity in a registered Italian innovative start-up, made once you are in Italy and kept while you hold the permit.
Italian company
EUR500,000
Shares in a limited or joint-stock company incorporated and resident in Italy, listed or not, kept while you hold the permit.
Donation
EUR1,000,000
A philanthropic project in culture, education, research or the preservation of cultural and natural heritage. ↗
Government bonds
EUR2,000,000
Italian government securities, kept while you hold the permit.
Minimum amounts as published by the Italian government. You invest within three months of arriving in Italy. ↗
Our solution
Italy · fromEUR 250,000
A qualifying route designed by Orience with our partners in Italy. Our team shares the details with each family personally.
An Orience advisor will send you the program brochure.
Legal framework
The law behind the Golden Visa
The figures on this page come from the law of Italy, the official pages of its authorities or the documentation of our own projects. We check them regularly.
- Last regulatory update
- 1 January 2026. Law 199/2025 raised the flat tax for new residents to EUR 300,000 a year from 1 January 2026; the investor visa thresholds are unchanged. Source ↗
- Information checked
Last change: 2026
Since 1 January 2026, the Italian flat tax for new tax residents is EUR 300,000 a year on foreign income (EUR 50,000 per family member), up from EUR 200,000. The Investor Visa thresholds under art. 26-bis are unchanged.
See all legislation (5)
How the program has changed
-
Dec 2016
The 2017 Budget Law creates the investor visa (art. 26-bis). Law 232/2016 ↗
-
Jul 2017
The interministerial decree sets the procedure and the committee. Interministerial Decree of 21 July 2017 ↗
-
Jul 2021
Updated operating manual for applicants and consulates. Investor Visa for Italy operating manual ↗
-
Jan 2026
The flat tax for new residents rises to EUR 300,000 a year; visa thresholds unchanged. Income Tax Code ↗
Legislation in force
| Legislation | What it covers | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Immigration Act (Legislative Decree 286/1998), art. 26-bis ↗ | Investor visa: thresholds, visa and permit duration | Official Gazette; consolidated text on Normattiva · 25 July 1998 |
| Law 232/2016 (2017 Budget Law), art. 1, para. 148 (introduced art. 26-bis) ↗ | Introduced the investor visa in 2017 | Official Gazette · 11 December 2016 |
| Interministerial Decree of 21 July 2017 (investor visa procedure) ↗ | Procedure, documents and committee for the investor visa | Published on the ministries' websites · 21 July 2017 |
| Investor Visa for Italy operating manual (version of 19 July 2021) ↗ | Operating manual for applicants and consulates | Ministry of Foreign Affairs · 19 July 2021 |
| Income Tax Code (Presidential Decree 917/1986), art. 24-bis (flat tax for new residents) ↗ | Flat tax regime for new tax residents | Consolidated text on Normattiva · 22 December 1986 |
Sources of the figures (3)
| # | Source | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Normattiva – D.Lgs. 286/1998, art. 26-bis, comma 1, lett. b) ↗ | From |
| 2 | Normattiva – art. 26-bis, comma 1 lett. c) n. 2 y comma 5; Manuale operativo 2021, p. 6 ↗ | Permit · Four routes, one choice |
| 3 | Normattiva – D.Lgs. 286/1998, art. 26-bis, comma 1, lett. c); Embassy of Italy in Abu Dhabi (2025 checklist) ↗ | Donation |
FAQs · Italy
What families ask about Italy
Short answers, each with its legal basis. Your advisor goes through the rest with you.
All questions, by countryWho can apply?
Non-EU and non-Schengen nationals aged 18 or over who commit to one of the four types of qualifying investment can apply, as can the legal representative of a foreign company that makes the investment. You first obtain a certificate of no impediment (nulla osta) from the Investor Visa for Italy Committee, then the visa at your consulate. Your family can enter with you under family reunification rules.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis; Investor Visa for Italy operating manual (2021) ↗
What is the minimum investment and which routes exist?
There are four types of qualifying investment: EUR 250,000 in an innovative start-up registered in Italy, EUR 500,000 in shares of a limited or joint-stock company incorporated and resident in Italy, listed or not, EUR 2,000,000 in Italian government securities, or a philanthropic donation of EUR 1,000,000 to a project of public interest in culture, education, research, immigration management or the preservation of cultural and natural heritage. You make the investment once you are in Italy and keep it as a condition of your residence permit.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act (Legislative Decree 286/1998), art. 26-bis, para. 1 ↗
When do I have to make the investment?
After you enter Italy, not before. You prove that you have the funds and that they come from a lawful source when you apply for the nulla osta, and you commit to invest within three months of your entry into Italy. The investment must then be kept for the whole validity of the residence permit.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis, para. 1(c) ↗
Do I have to keep the investment, and for how long?
Yes, for as long as you hold the permit. You make the investment once you have the nulla osta and the visa and have arrived in Italy, and keeping it is a condition of the permit. The residence permit is issued for two years and renewed for three-year periods, and each renewal requires a new nulla osta from the Committee confirming that the investment is still in place. If you withdraw it, the permit is revoked.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis, paras. 5 and 6 ↗
How can I become a citizen?
Italian citizenship by naturalization requires ten years of legal residence for non-EU nationals, with continuous registration in the municipal population register and valid permits throughout, and is granted at the discretion of the State. You must prove Italian at B1 level or higher with a certificate from one of the recognized university bodies, and there is no civics exam. Italy allows dual citizenship, so you keep your current passport. Shorter routes: two years of legal residence if a parent or grandparent was Italian by birth, and three years if you were born in Italy.
Who can I include?
These family members can come with you, and each of them also needs a nulla osta: your spouse, if not legally separated and aged 18 or over; your unmarried minor children, including your spouse’s and those born outside marriage, with the consent of the other parent where there is one; adult children who depend on you because a total disability prevents them from providing for themselves; and dependent parents who have no other children in their country of origin, or parents over 65 whose other children cannot support them for serious, documented health reasons.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis, para. 8, and arts. 29-30 ↗
How long is the visa and the permit valid?
The nulla osta is valid for six months, during which you apply for the visa. The investor visa is issued for two years for the main applicant and for one year for family members. Once in Italy, you apply within eight working days for a two-year residence permit, renewable for three-year periods while the investment is maintained.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis, paras. 5-6; operating manual (2021) ↗
How long does it take?
By law, the Committee must decide on a complete nulla osta application within 30 days, a term that is suspended if more documents are requested. In practice government delays can extend it, and the answer often arrives after two to three months. The rest depends on official timings such as the consular appointment, but the whole process is usually completed in four to five months.
Legal basis: Investor Visa for Italy operating manual (2021), procedure ↗
Do I need to travel to Italy to apply?
Not for the first step: the nulla osta is requested online through the Committee's platform. You then collect the visa at the Italian consulate of your place of residence and, within eight working days of entering Italy, you apply in person at the police headquarters (Questura) for the residence permit.
Legal basis: Investor Visa for Italy operating manual (2021) ↗
What documents do I need?
A scanned copy of your passport and your CV; proof that you own the funds for the investment and an official letter from the institution where they are deposited, following a template; legalized criminal record certificates from every country where you have lived for more than 12 consecutive months in the last ten years since the age of 18; a description of the investment; the consent of the recipients; and a declaration of commitment to the use of the funds. The Committee can ask for more documents, which suspends the 30-day term.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis, para. 1(b)-(c) ↗
What checks are made on the source of funds?
The law requires you to prove both that the funds are available and that they come from a lawful source, and the Committee reviews that evidence before issuing the nulla osta. The documents depend on where the funds come from, such as a donation, the sale of assets, a business, an inheritance, a divorce settlement or a prize, and each one must show the date, the amount, who paid the funds and who received them. Your advisor prepares the file so that the origin of each amount is traceable.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis, para. 1(b) ↗
Do I need to live in Italy?
The investor visa rules do not set a minimum number of days in Italy; what they require is that the investment is maintained for the whole validity of the permit. Long-term residence and citizenship do have residence requirements of their own. An Orience advisor explains what fits your plans before you decide where to spend the year.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis ↗
How do I renew the permit?
The first permit lasts two years and each renewal three. Before it expires you ask the Committee for a new nulla osta, which checks that the investment is still in place, and then renew the permit at the Questura. Keep the proof of the investment up to date so that each renewal is straightforward.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis, para. 6 ↗
Does the permit make me a tax resident in Italy?
No. The residence permit and tax residence are separate matters: tax residence depends on where you actually live and keep your interests, not on holding a permit. Italy does offer new tax residents a flat tax of EUR 300,000 a year on foreign income, plus EUR 50,000 per family member, for up to fifteen years. Ask a tax advisor before you plan your stays.
Legal basis: Income Tax Code (Presidential Decree 917/1986), art. 24-bis ↗
What is the Orience solution in Italy?
A qualifying route designed by Orience with our partners in Italy, from EUR 250,000, that meets the investor visa requirements. We share the details, the partners and the documents with each family personally, never on this website, and an Orience advisor walks you through the structure before you decide.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis ↗
Does this route really qualify for residency?
Yes. The Orience solution in Italy is designed to meet the official requirements of the program, set out in the law linked below, which is the route your family applies through. Your advisor explains how the solution fits the program before you commit to anything.
Legal basis: Consolidated Immigration Act, art. 26-bis ↗
Who stands behind it?
Orience, a European firm with more than a decade of experience in citizenship and residency by investment, together with our local partners in Italy. Your advisor shares the details with each family personally.
What happens to my investment when I no longer need the residency?
The holding period and the exit conditions are set out in the program documentation that your advisor sends you before you decide. We do not publish them on this page, because they depend on the route you choose and on the rules in force when you apply. Go through that documentation with your advisor and with your own advisors.
Why not invest on my own?
You can, and the law does not require you to invest through Orience. Our solution is designed so that the investment and the investor visa fit together from the start, with the documents and the timing the program expects, and our team accompanies you from the first conversation to the permit and its renewals. Many families prefer one team responsible for the whole process.
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Italy program lead
Talk to an advisor who knows your country.
Your request goes to the Orience advisor closest to you, with the support of our Italy team.
Federica Fermo
Head of Sales – Italy · Orience Milan