If working remotely from a cafe on the cobblestoned streets of Rome or the Sardinian coast sounds like a better remote working situation than your current one, Italy’s new digital nomad visa may be of interest.
And you wouldn’t be the only one — searches for the visa surged after it was launched in April, allowing non-EU citizens to work remotely in Italy for a non-Italian company for up to a year
The visa is aimed at workers in “highly professional and digital jobs,” according to Italy’s Ministry of Tourism.
Remote workers need an annual salary of €28,000 ($A45,561 at the time of publication) to be eligible — that’s three times the minimum wage in Italy — as well as a signed declaration from their employer.
They’ll also need to prove they’ve worked remotely for six months already.
Eligible visitors will need to choose an Italian destination to call home for the year before applying for the visa — and comply with local tax and social security provisions once on Italian soil.
Fully comprehensive healthcare also has to be purchased for the entire duration of the traveller’s stay.
But some criminals won’t get a look in — any applicants who have been convicted of a crime in the past five years will be knocked back.
The new regulations come as the Decree-Law No. 4/2022 was converted into law by the Italian Parliament on March 28 and rolled out the next month.
Travel expert and Places to Travel CEO Jason Wilson on Friday said the first digital nomad visa was only launched about four years ago, introducing the world to a legal way for travellers to work remotely overseas.
He said Google searches for a digital nomad visa surged by more than 1000 per cent in 2024, and there was a more than 3000 per cent uptick in searches for the Italian digital nomad visa after it was created.
“For those who meet the criteria, the experience can be life-changing,” Wilson said.
Full eligibility requirements can be found at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation website.
– With NBC
