Italy Immigration Services

Newland Chase offers full support with all aspects of corporate immigration to Italy. Please find an overview of the typical corporate immigration processes below. Every situation is unique, so please do get in touch, either through your usual Newland Chase contact or using the details on the right hand side of the page. Our immigration experts will be glad to discuss your needs in greater detail.

Immigration Summary

The Non-Quota Work Permit for Intra-Company Transferee applies to employees assigned to Italy for a maximum of five years, in a managerial or highly-specialised role, either as intra-company transfers or transfers between companies that have a joint venture agreement. The applicant must have at least six months of employment in the same field.

The Intra-Company Transfer Permit (Directive 2014/66) is only applicable to assignees falling into management, specialist or trainee categories sent to Italy for over 90 days from outside the EU and has a maximum total duration of stay of three years for managers or specialists and one year for trainees. The applicant must have been employed for at least three months by the sending company or group of companies immediately preceding the date of the intra-corporate transfer application.

The Blue Card is an EU-wide (with some exceptions) immigration process for highly skilled employees with a local job offer in the destination country and a salary at least 1.5 times the average gross annual salary for the specific job to be done. In Italy, the job offer must be for at least one year, and the salary at least EUR 24,789 gross. The Blue Card offers some concrete benefits to the applicant.

The Foreign Service Provider (Non-Affiliated Companies) process is for applicants who provide a temporary service for a company in Italy on behalf of and under the authority of their employing company on the basis of a service agreement. It can be used if the sending and receiving companies are not part of the same group of companies; or if the sending entity has no presence in Italy; or if the assignee is going to work at the sending entity's client site in Italy. A service agreement must be in place between the sending and receiving entities. The work and residence permit are issued initially with a maximum validity of two years, extendable to two additional years based on the Service Agreement duration.

A business visa can be issued for economic-commercial purposes; to make contacts or conduct negotiations, learning or verifying the functioning of capital goods purchased or sold under commercial and industrial cooperation agreements.

These activities are permitted as a visitor on a Schengen Visa or visa waiver for non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals assigned from outside the EU/EEA to Italy for a period of up to 90 days. This process usually applies where the assignee is being sent to fulfil foreign contractual obligations to an Italian client company. It is advisable that there is an existing service agreement or purchase order in place between the sending company and the host company. The employees must remain on foreign payroll and contract and must not undertake any gainful activity.

EU/EEA/Swiss nationals on assignment to or employed in Italy do not need a work permit. They have the right to stay in Italy for a period of up to three months without any conditions or formalities other than having a valid travel document (i.e. identity card or passport). However, registrations with local authorities must be carried out if the stay is for over 90 days.