Going Freelance in Italy: Visas & Permits to Stay

At this point – we all love the remote or freelance life. Especially if you are moving between countries, chances are you’ll have your eye on a few jobs that can give you flexibility across timezones, and currencies. Even if you are looking to keep it all in Italy, you might find after some time job searching that nothing fits what you have to offer – so you look towards going freelance in Italy.

If you are hoping to move to Italy as an already established freelancer or are already living here and looking to start a new entrepreneurial adventure – you’ll have to get familiar with the Partita IVA. This is your tax code which is the base of freelancing in Italy. I’ve covered it in a few other blogs, instead here I wanted to walk you through what you might need to get your freelance visa to Italy, or your permesso di soggiorno for Lavoro Autonomo. Let’s get into it!

Digital Nomad or Freelancing in Italy?

At the moment there is not a flexible digital nomad visa to Italy. This means you can only stay as a tourist working through your established tax country. If you have another visa, or citizenship which allows you to remain in Italy – you will still need to open a Partita IVA if you remain in Italy more than 183 days of the year, in order to remain tax compliant.

Coming to Italy Self-Employed: The Freelance Visa

When moving to Italy you’ll need to consider all your options for visas, often any type of work visa is a bit tougher. You may want to check out the other options first, but if you’ve got no other route, the freelance visa does exist – it just is a bit of a tough process. Please understand going into this… that I’ve never met any two people with the same experience getting these visas. What I am outlining for you here is a general outline, your experience and necessary documents may vary slightly.


Freelancing in Italy, or taking advantage of the Freelance visa might not only apply to gig-workers, if you have a contract with a foreign company but work remotely, you might be able to look into the Italian freelance visa. However, it is important to note, that freelancers in Italy cannot work exclusively for one client – so you’ll need to mix in a few gigs here and there.

What do you need for the Freelance Visa?

Before you can even step in front of the consulate office to apply for a visa, you will need to get a Nulla Osta from Italy. This is preliminary permission given in order for you to apply as a freelancer in Italy.

To apply for this Nulla Osta you will make an appointment with the Sportello Unico Immigrazione in Italy, and present them with documents on your business. Now, every city’s SUI has varying lists, there was not one official application, but there are some things you can be sure of.

• Copies of Your Passport
• A local application form (found at SUI you apply to) and €16 marca da bollo
• Registration of PIVA (some have done first nulla osta, then partita iva, but you’ll need it eventually, check locally to see what they want)
• Proof of housing and savings (showing you won’t be a burden on the system, the amount varies)
• Potentially proof of clients

Every individual I spoke with who went through this process had a different list, so be ready for anything. All of this also needs to be done in Italy, so you will already have to be here on a tourist visa or on another visa. On the other hand, you can hire a lawyer to act on your behalf and take care of things in Italy for you from abroad, however, it can be very expensive. This process does not have a set-in-stone timeline, so be patient and be ready for a long process.

Once you have presented all this to the SUI, they’ll take their sweet time and eventually offer you a nulla osta, or not. If they do, you can now take that and move on to phase two: the visa

The Decreto Flussi

A side note: by applying for a Nulla Osta, you are actually applying into Italy’s “lottery” for a spot on a freelance visa. They only open a certain number of spots per year to foreigners, the opening date varies from year to year so you will need to keep your eye on it.

Foreigners coming from abroad for a visa are subject to the decreto flussi regulations, as are students who have not graduated from an official government-approved program.

You don’t have to apply for anything separately, it is within your nulla osta. When you apply for the Nulla Osta, the Sportello will tell you if there is a space open and if you made it, or if unfortunately, you will need to wait until the next round.
According to recent data, I have seen there were 50 openings for freelancers, and the dates they open in 2024 will be March 21. But don’t place all your bets on that, unfortunately, these dates and numbers tend to change…

Applying for your Freelance Visa

Make an appointment at your local Italian consulate, and bring along these documents:

•  Your Nulla Osta
• Proof of registration for the Partita IVA
• Proof of availability of Income (showing you made at least € 6,947.33 [subject to change, it is based on the “assegno social”]in the past year through your work)
• Proof of housing in Italy (this can be a rental contract, a stay in a hotel or Airbnb for at least 30 days, or a letter from an Italian resident attesting to the fact you will be staying with them.)

The truth is, they will probably ask you for more than this, this is just a short list but always check the consulate before attending your appointment. Bring copies and the originals, and bring any and all documentation regarding your professional activity. The nulla osta and partita IVA will be the most challenging, once these have been acquired the visa appointment, in theory, should go more smoothly and you should be able to have a visa in hand within a few weeks.

Don’t forget once you arrive in Italy to apply for your permesso di soggiorno!

Going Freelance in Italy – Changing your Permit to Stay

So, you’ve already been settled in a bit but you are thinking of going freelance in Italy? Well, it could be either very easy for you, or quite tough, depending on your current situation in Italy.

If you’ve graduated from an approved program by MIUR (consider any official Italian university valid), you can open a partita IVA and change your permesso with no trouble.

However, if you did not finish a program, or did not complete any approved program, then things will be a bit tougher. You will need to enter the decreto flussi, and apply for a nulla osta as mentioned above. Once you have that you can send out your permesso application.

If you are really hoping to stay in Italy and have exhausted your other options, this is one solution that can be very promising, but before you jump into going freelance in Italy there are things to keep in mind:

1. You will need to guarantee a minimum income of €8,000/year. Clients do not have to be from Italy, they can be from anywhere in the world, but you need to make sure you get that amount.
2. You will need to pay Italian taxes. As a US, Canadian, UK, or Australian citizen you won’t have to pay double taxes, you will pay income to Italy, retirement you can choose to pay to the INPS system in Italy or to SSN in the US (or your own home country). For other countries, you will need to confirm double taxation.
3. You will need to get a commercialista (accountant). DO NOT TRY THIS ALONE. Tax laws and incentives change nearly daily in Italy. Therefore, you want a commercialista, you want a good one, and you want to make them your best friend.

Disclaimer: I can only give you a certain amount of information, but I urge you if you are looking into this to check with a lawyer, or accountant, or get in touch with your local Sportello Unico Immigrazione for their list of documents.