Moving to Italy at the end of summer

[JFSC201]

Hello everyone. I've decided to move to Italy to be with my partner, who is also in the U.S. military and stationed there. We both adore the country and want to share our time together there. I know the visa is a tough thing to get, and I've been researching it for several months now. Does anyone have any suggestions I may not have thought about? I'm open to just about anything really, including finding work, attending school which I need to do anyway. Together we have at least 20,000 Euro in cash when we go to the consulate and I already have an established place to stay, and he has agreed to support me. Basically I don't really need any funds in Italy, but as we all know the Consulate requires proof that I have such. I'm basically just throwing this out there to see if there is anyone who has other ideas. I'm basically going to be heartbroken if I don't get a visa, and will jump through whatever hoop the govt asks me to. My partner makes about $80,000 a year (60,000 Euro), and will have documentation from landlord for me to stay at his apartment in Vicenza. I will also be armed with the usual including FBI background check, health insurance, etc when I go to Miami to the Consulate in July. Some people have mentioned in other forums that loopholes/exceptions exist, but I have yet to find anything. Thanks so much for your help.

The facts
I'm American 28 years old from South Carolina
I'm not of Italian descent
I don't speak Italian really at all
I want to live in Italy for about 1-2 years tops.

[Bevdeforges]

Hate to state the obvious, but if you were married to your partner, it would be more or less a no brainer - in fact the US military would have paid for your move. The issue is that, as "partners" there is no legally enforceable obligation for him to support you once you get over there - and thus the presumption that you would be trying to work in the Italian economy.
Cheers,
Bev

[JFSC201]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Hate to state the obvious, but if you were married to your partner, it would be more or less a no brainer - in fact the US military would have paid for your move. The issue is that, as "partners" there is no legally enforceable obligation for him to support you once you get over there - and thus the presumption that you would be trying to work in the Italian economy.
Cheers,
Bev

Yeah, its a tough sell to the Consulate, but we think we can make some headway. He's going to put some cash into my bank account, and sign a notice of support, along with the landlord statement saying I can live there. Were thinking its probably not a good idea to even mention the same sex partner thing to the consulate, especially him being in the military.

[vali.g]

Originally Posted by JFSC201

Hello everyone. I've decided to move to Italy to be with my partner, who is also in the U.S. military and stationed there. We both adore the country and want to share our time together there. I know the visa is a tough thing to get, and I've been researching it for several months now. Does anyone have any suggestions I may not have thought about? I'm open to just about anything really, including finding work, attending school which I need to do anyway. Together we have at least 20,000 Euro in cash when we go to the consulate and I already have an established place to stay, and he has agreed to support me. Basically I don't really need any funds in Italy, but as we all know the Consulate requires proof that I have such. I'm basically just throwing this out there to see if there is anyone who has other ideas. I'm basically going to be heartbroken if I don't get a visa, and will jump through whatever hoop the govt asks me to. My partner makes about $80,000 a year (60,000 Euro), and will have documentation from landlord for me to stay at his apartment in Vicenza. I will also be armed with the usual including FBI background check, health insurance, etc when I go to Miami to the Consulate in July. Some people have mentioned in other forums that loopholes/exceptions exist, but I have yet to find anything. Thanks so much for your help.

The facts
I'm American 28 years old from South Carolina
I'm not of Italian descent
I don't speak Italian really at all
I want to live in Italy for about 1-2 years tops.

Hi! I too am trying to get to Italy by the end of the summer and am concerned about the Visa issue. It seems like a lot of hoops and the consulate, when I went last week to ask questions, was very busy and only handed me a form. I did call the embassy in D.C. and they said that if the stay was less than 90 days I was not required to get a Visa. I am planning to attend language classes and not work but to feel out the idea of living there full time. I will do one more trip to the consulate, as they don't answer email or telephone messages, but I think I will stay in Italy for only two months as a vacation, if I decide to live there I will go to the embassy in Rome and get the paper work I need, or if I don't like it I will just come home. But you will still need your permit to stay regardless...Good luck!

[JFSC201]

Originally Posted by vali.g

Hi! I too am trying to get to Italy by the end of the summer and am concerned about the Visa issue. It seems like a lot of hoops and the consulate, when I went last week to ask questions, was very busy and only handed me a form. I did call the embassy in D.C. and they said that if the stay was less than 90 days I was not required to get a Visa. I am planning to attend language classes and not work but to feel out the idea of living there full time. I will do one more trip to the consulate, as they don't answer email or telephone messages, but I think I will stay in Italy for only two months as a vacation, if I decide to live there I will go to the embassy in Rome and get the paper work I need, or if I don't like it I will just come home. But you will still need your permit to stay regardless...Good luck!

Hey, Just to make sure your clear on what you need to do. Make sure you have your visa before you leave. If you decide to stay the embassy will be of no help to you, as the Italians don't allow issuance of Visa while inside the country and certainly not from the American Embassy. So in other words you will have to head back to the States first to retrieve the Visa. I've quadruple checked on this and there is absolutely no way they will give you a visa unless its applied for in person at your Consulate in your home region in the United States. Its a real pain, but the main hoop you have to jump through is means of substinence, meaning you have the assets to survive in Italy without obtaining a job and without utilizing their resources such as free healthcare. Good Luck to you as well!!

[vali.g]

Originally Posted by JFSC201

Hey, Just to make sure your clear on what you need to do. Make sure you have your visa before you leave. If you decide to stay the embassy will be of no help to you, as the Italians don't allow issuance of Visa while inside the country and certainly not from the American Embassy. So in other words you will have to head back to the States first to retrieve the Visa. I've quadruple checked on this and there is absolutely no way they will give you a visa unless its applied for in person at your Consulate in your home region in the United States. Its a real pain, but the main hoop you have to jump through is means of substinence, meaning you have the assets to survive in Italy without obtaining a job and without utilizing their resources such as free healthcare. Good Luck to you as well!!

Thank you so much for the advice...it seems I'll be making another trip to the consulate this week. I live in Wellington, FL so it's only an hour and a half, maybe I'll get lucky and there won't be so many people!

Thanks again!

Vali

[marzia]

Hey,maybe one should do like the hundred of thousands coming in inthe back of lorries or boats ! No visas or else required.....

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by vali.g

Thank you so much for the advice...it seems I'll be making another trip to the consulate this week. I live in Wellington, FL so it's only an hour and a half, maybe I'll get lucky and there won't be so many people!

Thanks again!

Vali

Try and find the Italian consulate's website before you make the trek over there. At some consulates they only deal with visas in the morning, or in the afternoon, or on certain days. And I think you'll find that no consulate is set up to advise visa applicants. They'll either give you the forms or they won't, and then you have to provide the documents and all and just try your luck.

In your case it might be easier to just plan on going over for 2 months to check it out, then return to the US. At that point, if you decide to go back for a longer term, you can apply for a visa (usually takes 2 to 3 months if you've got a good case). The big problem is that with "indefinite" plans like you seem to have, the chances are much greater that you'll be turned down. They really like to have visa applications where you say - here is what I am going to do, why I am moving to Italy and here's how I'll earn my living, etc., etc. I'm going to stay for x years, or forever, and that's that.
Cheers,
Bev

[bahamut]

You have 8 days once you enter in Italy to ask for the visa ( permesso di soggiorno ) as your partner is in Vincenza can't he try to find for you a job with a contract? You would not have any problem in a situation like this. In that case you can ask for permesso di soggiorno per motivi di lavoro and that's it. There is another idea that just came up to my mind, it seems that if you have a job contract and you lose it you can stay in Italy until the end of the permesso.

So it can go like this....( i know this is a bit italian to advice but...if there are no other opportunities?) yout parner may convince someone to take you for a job and then you may or he may fire you and you can continue staying in Italy as a holiday for a mazimum of a year, this procedure signs you in the job center lists.

Another option as Marzia stated above is being an irregular, of course there are risks but there are not many controls for Americans here, just africans and albanian....

Btw I think you may have to avoid all this because it's not that hard to find a Job in the north of Italy, what are your skills?