A cardboard box labelled "kitchen" in a flat in Bologna, a waiting number at the Comune, a barista who has already decided what you drink: moving to Italy is part paperwork, part education. The paperwork is less frightening than its reputation, provided you do it in the right order. Italy's system hangs on one number, the codice fiscale, and on one registration, your residenza. Get those two and most of the rest follows.
This guide is for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens. If you hold a British passport, the rules since Brexit are different and have their own article: moving to Italy from the UK.
What can you do before leaving?
Quite a lot, and it saves weeks. Ask your health insurer for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC, called TEAM in Italy) if you do not have a current one. If you are a pensioner or a posted worker, ask for the S1 form instead, which hands your healthcare to Italy at your home country's expense.
You can also request your codice fiscale at the Italian consulate in your country of residence, which the Agenzia delle Entrate, the tax authority, confirms as a route. And gather the papers you will be asked for over and over: passport or ID card, proof of work or income, a lease or property deed, and your health cover. The civil-status certificates you may need (marriage, birth) are easier to order at home.
Which steps come first when moving to Italy?
The order that works for most people:
- Codice fiscale. First stop, because the next steps all ask for it. Details in our codice fiscale guide.
- A place to live. A registered lease or a property purchase gives you the address you will register. See renting in Italy.
- Residence at the Comune. Done in person or online. See residence in Italy for EU citizens.
- Health registration at the ASL, the local health authority, to get a family doctor and the tessera sanitaria health card.
- A bank account, a digital identity (SPID or CIE) and the practical subscriptions: electricity, internet, phone.
- Car and driving licence, if relevant.
You do not need to finish one before starting another, but the dependencies are real: the ASL will ask for your codice fiscale, and the Comune will ask where you live.
Do you have to register as a resident when moving to Italy?
If you stay less than three months, a valid identity card or passport is enough. You may, though you do not have to, file a dichiarazione di presenza (declaration of presence) at the local Questura, the police headquarters, within eight days. If you sleep in a hotel or holiday let, the owner's registration counts instead, so ask for a copy.
Past three months, you ask the anagrafe (population register) of your Comune to register you as a resident. You need to fall into one of the categories in the EU directive as Italy applies it: working (as an employee or self-employed), having enough resources and comprehensive health insurance, or studying with resources and insurance. The Interior Ministry says there is no deadline and no fine. The catch is practical: without a registered residence you will find it hard to join the health service, get residence certificates, or show the tax office where you live.
Cases get complicated quickly: a pension from two countries, a spouse who is not an EU citizen, a job that is half in Italy and half abroad. If you are unsure which of the categories above is yours, Moovy, Hello Expat's AI assistant, can walk through your situation and point to the right official page before you queue anywhere.
How does the health system work once you live there?
For the first months, your EHIC covers medically necessary care in public and contracted private facilities, on the same terms as Italians. That is a short-stay tool. Once you live in Italy you register with the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (national health service) at your local ASL: it is compulsory if you work, and done with the S1 if you are a pensioner or posted worker. If you are neither, you need either a private policy valid in Italy or voluntary enrolment, which costs a yearly contribution. Our guide to healthcare in Italy explains the options and the figures.
What about money, tax and your car?
Open a bank account once you have your codice fiscale; we cover documents and the "basic account" you are entitled to in bank account in Italy. On tax, the rule since 2024 is simple and surprising: if you spend more than half the year in Italy (183 days, counting any part of a day), you are a tax resident and owe Italian tax on your worldwide income, whether or not you registered at the Comune. The Agenzia delle Entrate explains the residence test on its website.
A foreign-plated car is the classic trap. Once you are a resident, Italian law gives you three months to put Italian plates on it, with fines of €400 to €1,600 and possible impoundment if you do not. Start the process early.
What are the common mistakes in the first months?
- Arriving without a codice fiscale. It blocks the lease, the bank and the ASL. Ask at the consulate or book your Agenzia appointment as soon as you land.
- Showing up at a counter without checking hours. Many offices work by appointment and close early afternoon.
- Assuming "not registered" means "not resident for tax". Physical presence for 183 days is enough.
- Using the EHIC as permanent cover. It is made for short stays.
- Signing a lease that is not registered. The landlord has 30 days to register it, and you will need that proof.
Italy rewards the person who turns up prepared and smiling. The rest, the coffee included, you will learn on the way.
What should you budget for when moving to Italy?
Most of the one-off costs are small, but they add up in a month when you also pay a removal firm. Here are the ones the official sources give figures for:
- Lease: a deposit of up to three months' rent, plus half of the registration tax and stamp duty, which the law splits between landlord and tenant (see renting in Italy).
- Identity card (CIE): €16.79 plus local fees, delivered within six working days of the request, according to the Interior Ministry's card portal.
- Residence certificates: a €16 revenue stamp each, unless the use is exempt.
- Driving licence exchange, if you need one: €10.20 in fees plus a €32 stamp (see driving licence in Italy).
- Car plates: stamps and fees set by the national tariff, plus PRA fees and a provincial tax; check the current amounts on the Portale dell'Automobilista before you start.
- Health cover: nothing for employees and pensioners with an S1; at least €2,000 a year for voluntary enrolment, according to local health authorities.
For the monthly side of the budget, our article on the cost of living in Italy uses ISTAT data, region by region.
A move to Italy checklist you can print
If you prefer a list to paragraphs, this is the order we would follow:
- Before leaving: EHIC (or S1), codice fiscale request at the consulate if you can, copies of civil-status documents, a plan for your car.
- First week: codice fiscale appointment if you do not have one, a registered lease, a local SIM or bank card.
- First month: residence registration at the Comune, ASL registration, bank account, CIE.
- Within three months: Italian plates if you brought a car; tax residence in mind if you spend most of the year here.
- Within a year: driving licence if it needs exchanging, school and canteen enrolment for children, a first tax return if you became resident.
None of this needs to be perfect. The Ministry of the Interior itself says that no fine applies to EU citizens who register late. The goal is to avoid the steps that cannot be undone later, such as a missed school window or a car held at the roadside.
What changes if you are not an EU citizen?
Everything above assumes you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen who can build Italy residency through a simple registration. British citizens need an entry route and a permesso di soggiorno and follow a different path for health, driving and work, which we cover in moving to Italy from the UK. Swiss citizens are treated like EU citizens for registering at the Comune, but the online transfer of residence is aimed at EU citizens, so they normally go to the counter. And if you plan to live on a pension from abroad, start with the S1 described above and check your tax position with the Agenzia delle Entrate before you move.