Starting a new life in Italy (as a person from the UK)

[ModernAndy]

I'm very seriously considering moving to Italy and was wondering if anybody could give me some advice on the steps I would need to take. I plan to tour Europe for a while in a campervan and then get an apartment somewhere in Italy (I particularly love both Rome and Verona).

I'm at the point where I'm not looking for any particular job and would actually like to do something with a lot less responsibility than I currently have so I'm happy to do bar-work or even just unpaid charity work to begin with.

I have so many questions like; what would I need to do to get an Italian bank account? Do I need to prove anything before I can rent an apartment? Do I need to do anything in order to get a job like have a social security number?

Hopefully somebody with a bit of experience can help me out.

[AlexIT]

ModernAndy said:

I'm very seriously considering moving to Italy and was wondering if anybody could give me some advice on the steps I would need to take. I plan to tour Europe for a while in a campervan and then get an apartment somewhere in Italy (I particularly love both Rome and Verona).

I'm at the point where I'm not looking for any particular job and would actually like to do something with a lot less responsibility than I currently have so I'm happy to do bar-work or even just unpaid charity work to begin with.

I have so many questions like; what would I need to do to get an Italian bank account? Do I need to prove anything before I can rent an apartment? Do I need to do anything in order to get a job like have a social security number?

Hopefully somebody with a bit of experience can help me out.

First of all, good luck

Now let's see if I can be more helpful.
As long as UK is part of the EU most things will work out pretty straightforward:

1- If you plan to settle in Italy, the first thing you'll have to do is to get the so-called "codice fiscale" which is basically the same as the Social security number, which will be delivered by an any office of the Agenzia delle Entrate. At this point you don't need to have a registered address in Italy, you can supply your UK one.

2- With this you can open a bank account. You will have to supply also an ID document (UK Passport)

3- Once you have these you can decide where to live and to rent an apartment. In my experience it's pretty straightforward, as long as you can provide some sort of guarantee that you're able to pay the rent. Usually a 3-month deposit is required.

4- With the Rental contract you can then go to the local Council and register yourself. I can't remember what other documents they'll ask for, but most probably Passport and birth certificate. Could be that they will also ask you for proof of income.

5- To get a job, you'll need the Codice fiscale and a Certificate of residence, which is delivered by the council, or a simple declaration stating where you live.

That should be it in theory, but of course you'll have to fight with one of the world's less-efficient and most-overcomplicated bureaucracy, so what looks like a 2 day job, will end up as a looooooooong game of patience... I went through that nearly 10 years ago.

As for the location, well that really depends on you and what you're looking for. For personal reasons, despite I like southern Italy for its landscape and the people, I wouldn't settle there as long as I am in an active work position.
As it looks like you have the opportunity to travel along, I think you'll be able to make up your own mind on this.

HTH

[ModernAndy]

AlexIT said:

First of all, good luck

Now let's see if I can be more helpful.
As long as UK is part of the EU most things will work out pretty straightforward:

1- If you plan to settle in Italy, the first thing you'll have to do is to get the so-called "codice fiscale" which is basically the same as the Social security number, which will be delivered by an any office of the Agenzia delle Entrate. At this point you don't need to have a registered address in Italy, you can supply your UK one.

2- With this you can open a bank account. You will have to supply also an ID document (UK Passport)

3- Once you have these you can decide where to live and to rent an apartment. In my experience it's pretty straightforward, as long as you can provide some sort of guarantee that you're able to pay the rent. Usually a 3-month deposit is required.

4- With the Rental contract you can then go to the local Council and register yourself. I can't remember what other documents they'll ask for, but most probably Passport and birth certificate. Could be that they will also ask you for proof of income.

5- To get a job, you'll need the Codice fiscale and a Certificate of residence, which is delivered by the council, or a simple declaration stating where you live.

That should be it in theory, but of course you'll have to fight with one of the world's less-efficient and most-overcomplicated bureaucracy, so what looks like a 2 day job, will end up as a looooooooong game of patience... I went through that nearly 10 years ago.

As for the location, well that really depends on you and what you're looking for. For personal reasons, despite I like southern Italy for its landscape and the people, I wouldn't settle there as long as I am in an active work position.
As it looks like you have the opportunity to travel along, I think you'll be able to make up your own mind on this.

HTH

Thanks for taking the time to write that up. It doesn't sound too difficult then. I've spent time in the Middle East and have an idea of how frustrating bad bureaucracy can be so I think I'm prepared for that aspect.

Could I ask, what is the availability of ready made meals like?

[AlexIT]

ModernAndy said:

Thanks for taking the time to write that up. It doesn't sound too difficult then. I've spent time in the Middle East and have an idea of how frustrating bad bureaucracy can be so I think I'm prepared for that aspect.

Could I ask, what is the availability of ready made meals like?

No problem

Re. ready made meals, it's something that is definitely picking up, especially in cities.

[psi310398]

If you are in your van, I'd suggest getting the codice fiscale and bank account sorted in the far North of Italy (say, the Lakes).

The bureaucracy is much more efficient than further south.

I got my codice fiscale in an hour in the office in Verbania. I opened a Euro bank account with Unicredit in Omegna within two hours.

As I have no intention of becoming an Italian resident (as opposed to house owner), I can't help on the permesso side of things but I'd imagine the closer you are to the Germanic influences the easier it will be to get documents. I'd get a wiggle on though and do it well in advance of Brexit...

[psi310398]

ModernAndy said:

Could I ask, what is the availability of ready made meals like?

All the supermarkets carry at least a limited range of ready meals but the range is very Italian. But, beware, as with a lot of food served in Italy, it is super-salty. Lidl and Aldi are everywhere and can see you right for a more pig and potato North European diet. I believe in the south, some of the French supermarket giants have opened up so there might be a better range there but, up in Piedmont, I haven't got any Carrefours nearby.

The other more traditional option re ready meals to buy a plate from the local trattoria which will vary daily and seasonally - you can normally get a tranche of lasagna or a container of some other pre-made pasta dish or an escalope for less than 5 euro.

For around ten euro, many small restaurants will offer a workers lunch - two course plus pud plus coffee and a small pitcher of wine/water. Choice is limited but a cheap way of getting a filling meal. These offers tend to be more common outside tourist areas in the tourist season.

[ModernAndy]

psi310398 said:

If you are in your van, I'd suggest getting the codice fiscale and bank account sorted in the far North of Italy (say, the Lakes).

The bureaucracy is much more efficient than further south.

I got my codice fiscale in an hour in the office in Verbania. I opened a Euro bank account with Unicredit in Omegna within two hours.

As I have no intention of becoming an Italian resident (as opposed to house owner), I can't help on the permesso side of things but I'd imagine the closer you are to the Germanic influences the easier it will be to get documents. I'd get a wiggle on though and do it well in advance of Brexit...

From my previous experiences of Italy, I have noticed the stark differences between north and south. I shall definitely be sorting docs out in the north. I may head over as early as July but not later than February next year.

[ModernAndy]

Here's a question...

I understand I can bring a car into Italy with me but would need to register it there if I'm staying more than 6 months. Could I, just for the sake of argument, take a car from the UK for 6 months. Leave it in the UK (or some other country) for the other 6 months of the year then bring it back again the following year for 6 months?

[psi310398]

ModernAndy said:

Here's a question...

I understand I can bring a car into Italy with me but would need to register it there if I'm staying more than 6 months. Could I, just for the sake of argument, take a car from the UK for 6 months. Leave it in the UK (or some other country) for the other 6 months of the year then bring it back again the following year for 6 months?

Yes.

Only Italian residents can own Italian registered cars.

Although I own a house there, I don't want to become a resident because I've better things to do with my life than waste it filling in Italian tax forms and sorting out double taxation arrangements when I earn my living in Britain.

So I take my cars down to Italy on a cyclical basis so that they are there for a maximum of six months and out for six. (I also have friends in Germany and France who will allow me to dump a motor there for a while if I can't do the journey back in one hit, so I can park up, fly out of, say, Lyon or Basel, come back later and complete the drive). The cars need to come back for an MOT anyway but I've staggered these through the year to make life simpler.

I have 365 day Green Card UK car insurance from Stuart Collins on all the cars so there is no faff with remembering to ring up for Green Cards and the like.

That said, if you outstayed six months, you'd have to be very unlucky (a) for the local police to notice and (b) if they did, for them to give a toss about it (unless they had a hard on for you for some other reason). But such an approach would probably be more risky to try out in the boonies than in a big city. At any rate, it would be prudent to pop over the border to somewhere from time to time to acquire some receipts to "prove" your arrival into Italy was relatively recent...