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VISAS

How to apply for Italy’s notoriously difficult self-employment visa

A self-employment visa is one of the options available to non-EU freelancers looking to move to Italy. But getting one is not known to be easy.

Published: 16 August 2024 16:45 CEST
Updated: 19 August 2024 14:47 CEST
How to apply for Italy's notoriously difficult self-employment visa
A lot of paperwork is required if you would like to apply for Italy's self-employment visa.(Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP)

Italy’s self-employment visa (or visto per lavoro autonomo) allows non-EU citizens to legally reside in Italy while working for themselves. It’s one option that many people consider along with the new Italian digital nomad visa.

While the self-employment visa comes with numerous benefits, getting one isn’t straightforward – in fact, Italian visa experts tell us that the process is “extremely hard and uncertain”, with a slim chance of success.

READ ALSO: What work visas can you apply for to move to Italy in 2024?

This is partly because there are so few of these visas available. Of the 151,000 work permit slots available in Italy for non-EU citizens in 2024, only 700 were open to those with self-employment visas.

But that’s not to say it’s impossible. We heard in July from Lazio-based couple Zeneba Bowers and Matt Walker, two ex-Nashville musicians who told us of their shock and excitement at being successful in their application for the self-employment visa.

After finding out their visa had been approved, “we went down to the street and did a lot of power breathing to try and keep from passing out from excitement. I will never forget the tourists going to the Duomo in Florence and looking at us,” said Zeneba.

If you want to give it a try yourself, here’s a look at what exactly is involved in applying.

Who can apply?

According to Italy’s labour ministry, people looking to apply for the self-employment visa under the quota system must fall under one of the following categories:

1) Entrepreneurs who carry out “activities of interest to the Italian economy”, who invest at least €500,000 in the business and create at least three new jobs in Italy.

2) Freelancers in regulated professions (those you need a degree or qualification for), or unregulated but “nationally represented” professions (those you do not need a degree or qualification for).

3) Holders of corporate offices, such as a managing director, as set out by Ministerial Decree N.850.

4) “Reputable” artists hired by public or private bodies.

5) Foreign nationals who want to establish “innovative start-up” companies.

The minimum income requirement for all applicants is a yearly gross sum of at least €8,400, with evidence of this required from the previous tax year.

For more details of whether and how these requirements may apply in your situation, it’s advisable to speak to your nearest Italian consulate or seek advice from a qualified Italian visa expert.

How to apply

The first thing to consider is when to start the application: you’ll need to make your initial application for a work permit online via the Italian interior ministry’s website – but this can only be done on certain days of the year.

In Italy, this is known as a “click day”, so you may want to type this term into the interior ministry’s website to search for updates. The last “click day” was in March 2024, and they tend to be around the start of the year, with the dates announced in December or January. Your local consulate may also be able to advise on upcoming dates.

You’ll need to be prepared for this step, as applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis, and every year the interior ministry reports that its quota is vastly oversubscribed.

Once you find out when you can apply for the work permit, you’ll need to request two documents from Italian authorities: a statement from the local Chamber of Commerce describing the parameters of your business, and a Nulla Osta (a security clearance) from the police headquarters (Questura) from the province you intend to live in.

READ ALSO: ‘How we quit our jobs in the US and moved to Italy on a self-employment visa’

Other documents needed at this stage include a copy of your passport and suitable accommodation, either rented or purchased.

Be prepared for the fact that you’ll need to visit Italy at some point in the application process: the Italian government specifies the need to get the original Italian documents, such as the Nulla Osta and the statement from the local Chamber of Commerce in person.

For some applicants, this trip may be a large extra expense that you’ll need to factor in.

When you have all of this, you then need to start your application for a self-employment visa at the nearest Italian embassy or consulate in your country of origin or residence. You must do this within 90 days of getting the original documents from the Italian authorities.

What documents will you need?

As with any type of Italian visa application, some of the requirements can vary depending on which consulate you apply at.

We’ve put together a general outline of the requirements below, but before compiling your application it’s advisable to contact your nearest Italian consulate for confirmation of exactly what they’ll want from you and the timeframe you’ll need to keep in mind.

For example, here are the requirements listed by the consulate in Chicago:

1)  An application form. These are for short-stay applications for visas of up to 90 days or long-term applications for visas up to one year. Please note the self-employment visa lasts one year maximum.

2) A recent passport photograph on a white background.

3) A valid passport plus one copy, with two blank pages for the visa. The passport or travel document must be valid for at least three months after the visa expiration date. 

4) Proof of income from the previous tax year.

5) The Nulla Osta issued by the Questura.

6) Proof of suitable lodgings during your stay in Italy.

7) A round-trip reservation if you are applying for the short-term visa of up to 90 days.

8) The visa fee, which is currently €116.

On top of this, there are specific requirements depending on which type of freelancer you are, as detailed by the Italian Consulate in Chicago. Your original passport will be taken at this stage, so the Italian authorities can stamp the visa in it if you are approved.

The visa should then be either issued or refused within 120 days.

What should you do upon approval?

After you get accepted, you have 180 days to use your visa and enter Italy. Failing to do so will make your visa void. 

Within eight days of arriving in Italy, you must apply for a residency permit. To register as self-employed, you must obtain an Italian tax code (codice fiscale), open up a VAT number (Partita IVA) and register with social security agency INPS.

An accountant will more than likely be needed for this process, so be sure to have one in place before moving.

Is it possible to renew the self-employment visa?

It is possible to reapply for the self-employment visa upon expiry provided that you still fulfil the financial requirements set out above.

It may also be possible to convert other types of visa into a self-employment visa once you are already in Italy.

Please note that this is intended as an overview of the visa system and should not be taken as a substitute for legal advice. For more information on how the Italian immigration rules may apply in your situation, consult the Italian consulate or embassy closest to you. 

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For members

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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