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VISAS

Reader question: Will Italy follow Spain in introducing a digital nomad visa?

A growing number of European countries are introducing new visas which allow remote workers to move from overseas. But will Italy join them? Here's how the situation looks at the moment.

Published: 3 March 2023 15:34 CET
Updated: 6 March 2023 09:47 CET
Reader question: Will Italy follow Spain in introducing a digital nomad visa?
Several countries in southern Europe now have a special 'digital nomad' visa but Italy is not among them - yet. Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

Question: “Is there any news on whether Italy’s government intends to introduce special visas for digital nomads? I note that Spain has just done this and Portugal has something similar.”

There was a piece of good news in January for remote workers hoping to move to southern Europe, as Spain finally brought in its much-anticipated ‘digital nomad’ visa.

Known in Spain as the visado para teletrabajadores de carácter internacional or visa for remote workers, it will allow non-EU freelancers and remote workers entry and residency rights (our sister site The Local Spain has the details about how it works HERE.)

Portugal too has a digital nomad visa available, allowing remote workers to live in the country for up to one year.

As a growing number of European countries recognise the benefits of allowing remote workers to move from overseas, will Italy be joining them?

In fact, Italy was widely expected to have created its own digital nomad visa by now. It’s almost one year since the country’s government approved a law allowing for the creation of a visa similar to that introduced in Spain.

This news was greeted with enthusiasm by many of The Local’s readers who hope to live and work in Italy short-term but currently have no good options for visas allowing remote work.

What's going on with Italy's digital nomad visa?

Italy was expected to introduce a digital nomad visa in 2022. Photo by BARBARA GINDL / APA / AFP).

So what happened to the plan? A year is a long time in Italian politics: the government that passed this law collapsed the following July, and a new administration with an entirely different set of priorities took over in October. 

During this transition it was unclear what would happen with the digital nomad visa. In our last update on the topic in October, we wrote that the plan seemed to have fallen through the cracks and was likely to be forgotten about, not least because the party which pushed the law through, the Five Star Movement, was no longer in government.

READ ALSO: What happened to Italy’s planned digital nomad visa?

Since then, not much has changed: none of the parties in the new ruling coalition have mentioned the digital nomad visa during their first months in office, nor given any indication that they intend to draw up the inter-ministerial plans necessary for making the visa scheme a reality. 

Perhaps this apparent lack of interest isn’t too surprising from a government with a staunchly anti-immigration stance – Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is an impassioned promoter of nativist policies who has accused previous administrations of trying to “replace” the Italian population with foreigners.

However, as readers point out, allowing more international workers to move to Italy would no doubt be a positive move for a country known for its flagging economy and suffering ‘brain drain’ as large numbers of Italian university graduates seek work elsewhere. There’s also a steady population decline, combined with an ageing populace which needs to be supported by an active workforce. 

The Italian MPs who promoted the digital nomad visa law suggested it could be one part of the answer to these complex and long-standing problems.

The increasing digitisation of the economy means that the number of digital nomads in Europe is expected to increase again in 2023. There are an estimated 37 million remote workers around the globe currently, of which 10 million are from the United States alone.

Between them, these usually affluent mobile workers contribute some 780 billion euros a year to the countries they choose to call home: it’s little wonder that more countries are now seeking to make it easier for them to move in.

READ ALSO: Remote workers: What are your visa options when moving to Italy?

While the current Italian government hasn’t given any indication as to whether or how it intends to move ahead with the plan to introduce a digital nomad visa, it hasn’t actually ruled out doing so, either. Which means there is some hope.

The law approved last March still stands and, even if this government doesn’t use it, a future one could – which is something to bear in mind given the highly changeable nature of Italian politics.

In the meantime, The Local will continue to publish any updates related to the digital nomad visa.

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WORKING IN ITALY

​’Talk with everybody’: Five key tips for building up freelance clients in Italy

Freelancing is an attractive option for those seeking the freedom and flexibility of working for themselves. We asked three freelancers in Italy for their best tips on finding new clients.

Published: 16 September 2024 16:40 CEST
​'Talk with everybody': Five key tips for building up freelance clients in Italy

With full-time salaries in Italy falling below the EU average, many foreigners turn to freelancing as a way to earn more money while maximising flexibility. But freelancing is never easy – especially in a country where business opportunities are so often tied to personal networks.

The Local spoke to three freelancers in different fields about how they find – and keep – freelance clients in Italy. Here are their tips and tricks.

Find an anchor client

To strike the right balance between stability and flexibility, many freelancers look for opportunities to establish an “anchor client” that grounds them to the market and provides some regular, reliable work.

Liz Shemaria, a Milan-based journalist and content consultant from California, has an anchor client that occupies half of her billable hours each month and pays enough to cover her basic expenses.

“Since I have my anchor client, I have more flexibility to work on more passion projects,” she said. “That’s the ideal freelance situation.”  

Shemaria started out doing smaller assignments for her anchor client. Once she knew the organisation well and could identify its needs, she pitched herself for a bigger freelance role.

READ ALSO: Is Italy’s flat tax rate for freelancers right for you?

Other freelancers have found their anchor clients by starting out in-house and then going freelance, or collaborating with an agency until they built up their networks.  

Agencies typically pay lower rates than a freelancer would earn working directly with a client, but they can offer legitimacy and stability for freelancers who are still growing their networks.

And since they hire a lot of freelancers, agencies have to expand their talent pool beyond personal connections.

Leverage social media but avoid freelancer platforms

Shemaria has found multiple clients through a Facebook group for professional writers.

Rafaela Reis, a stylist and image consultant from Brazil who has lived in Milan for the past five years, uses Instagram to share her work with her 17,000-plus followers.

Other freelancers swear by LinkedIn. The professional networking site isn’t the trendiest social media platform, but employers in Italy use it to advertise both full-time and freelance positions.

That makes it useful both for identifying potential clients and establishing credibility as a freelancer – especially if the freelancer has connections in common with the prospective client.

The one platform the freelancers we spoke to won’t use is a website such as Upwork or Fiver that connects users with professional service providers.  

These sites tend to create a race to the bottom, forcing freelancers to do more work for lower rates as they try to compete with the platform’s thousands of other users.

Make friends both in your field and related fields

Alessio Perrone, an Italian journalist who freelances for international publications, recommends people who are new to freelancing be friendly and try to meet people in their field.

“Hanging out with people in the same industry will give you a good understanding of where opportunities are and what pay you should be asking for,” he said. “In the beginning, it was really useful to go to events, meet people, get beers with people.”

When he gets requests for jobs that he doesn’t have time for, Perrone refers them to friends – and vice versa.

Reis, who has lived in Milan for the past five years, said she has other friends who are stylists, but professionally it’s been most useful to have friends in related fields.

“I’m friends with photographers, designers. They need me and I need them,” she said.  

She’s been proactive about joining clubs and networking groups to make a wide variety of friends.  

Don’t limit yourself to the Italian market

Despite being based in Italy, the freelancers we spoke to have worked for clients in many different markets, including the US, UK, Germany and even the UAE.  

After earning a Master’s degree in journalism in London, Perrone continued writing for British and then American publications even after he moved back to Italy in early 2020.

He also ghostwrites for an agency based in New York.

“The pandemic helped us out a lot,” he said. “A lot of companies are now used to having their own staff spread across the world. Having a freelancer in a different time zone doesn’t scare anyone.”

READ ALSO: Reader question: Can I have a freelance side gig as an employee in Italy?

Some freelancers, like Reis, are more limited by physical proximity, but Reis works for both Italian and international clients in Milan.  

And she has a large Instagram following in Brazil, which has helped make her work more visible even now that she’s in Milan.

Do referral-worthy work

Eventually, if freelancers do good work, their networks will grow and people will begin referring them to friends and colleagues – or even approaching directly them with jobs, the freelancers we spoke to agreed.

As Perrone has become more established, his strategy for finding clients hasn’t changed. But he’s had to do less outreach as some editors and publications now contact him – instead of vice versa.

Shemaria was also recently contacted to serve as co-author on a book, and Reis agreed that even though finding clients is difficult, persistence is key.

“You need to talk with everybody because you never know who is the person next to you,” she said. “Don’t be afraid or shy, just keep talking. The right connection will arrive sooner or later.”

As for whether she has any desire to find a full-time, in-house position, Reis is unequivocal.  

“I love being freelance,” she said. “I love Milan – even if it’s very hard.” 

Readers can share their own advice and experience on freelancing in Italy in the comments section below.

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