A NEW ITALIAN VISA FOR DIGITAL NOMADS

Remote workers from countries extra EU will be able to apply for the new Italian Digital Nomad Visa

More and more remote workers from extra EU choose Italian art and culture cities for their work The Italian Parliament has recently issued a number of economic measures to help the Italian economy recover from Covid. A provision for a new digital nomad visa was originally included in Italy’s ‘decreto sostegni ter‘, a government decree which was converted into a Law (n. 25) on March 28th. As it happens already in Germany and Portugal, this measure aims to facilitate the process of obtaining a work visa for highly qualified professionals, who can provide “highly qualified work activities through the use of technological tools, that allow them to work remotely, autonomously or for a company that is not based in the territory of the Italian state”. The scope of the law is clearly to attract to our Country a greater number of skilled professionals. The duration of the new permit of stay will be that of one year, renewable. Hopefully this new type of visa will pave an easier route to living in Italy than the current visa options available, not always viable for freelancers and remote workers. Although it is already possible for many non-EU nationals to spend up to 90 days in Italy without a visa, anyone wishing to work legally while in Italy must apply for a visa and work permit. The big news is that this new type of visa adds a new subsection under art. 27 of the immigration law (art. 27 lett. q-bis), which regulates the highly qualified digital nomads or professionals who can work remotely. The new paragraph does not yet define what requirements must be met to be considered a “highly qualified professional”. It’s not yet clear how much easier the new route will be: at the moment it’s clear though, that the “nihil obstat” of the Police authorities can be skipped, and the digital nomads will be able to keep working for the same employer even if not based on the territory of the Italian State. Implementing rules are expected to be issued in a short time (probably 30 days): these will determine more clearly the definitions and requirements. However, being the definition of Digital Nomads placed under art. 27 its requirements will probably be similar to other paragraphs of the same article: a minimum yearly salary to be earned in the Country of origin, a University education or a Master Degree, an insurance covering the time of stay. Written by Marco Calabrese – Avvocato in Rome, m.calabrese@familylawitaly.com Valeriano Drago- Avvocato and Registered Foreign Lawyer in London, sdconsavv@gmail.com Marco and Valeriano are both founding members of Italawyers International, a global network of Italian Lawyers.