Family & Spouse Visas in Italy
Sponsoring a partner, children, or parents
Family reunification is a right for legal residents who meet income and housing tests, and it sits outside the quota. Family members of EU and Italian citizens are treated under the far lighter European regime.
| Who qualifies | Spouse over 18, minor children, dependent adult children, dependent parents |
| Income test | Benchmarked to the social allowance, scaled by family size |
| Housing test | A certificate of suitability from the municipality |
| Outside the quota | Yes |
| Work rights | Family permit holders may work |
The process
The sponsor applies in Italy for a nulla osta at the immigration desk of the prefecture, showing income, accommodation suitability, and the family relationship. Once issued, the family member collects a visa at the consulate and applies for a permit within eight days of arrival.
Documents must be legalised or apostilled and translated, with consular verification of civil status records from some countries, which is often the slowest step.
Family of Italian and EU citizens
If your sponsor is an Italian or other EU citizen, the community regime applies: no quota, no income test in the same form, and a residence card rather than a permesso. Non-EU spouses of Italians can also naturalise after two years of residence in Italy, or three years abroad, halved if there are children.
This is a substantially different and easier process, and applying under the wrong regime wastes months.
Parents
Dependent parents may be reunited where they are over sixty-five and have no other children able to support them, or where they are dependent and unable to be supported in the home country. Health insurance covering them in Italy is required.
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Official sources
Checked against these pages in September 2026. Fees and processing times change without notice — confirm before you act.