How much money do I need to move to Italy from South Africa?

For the elective residency visa, around €31,000 a year of passive income for one person and €38,000 for a couple. Fees for the move itself come to roughly €2,832–€6,370 for a couple in the first year, before somewhere to live.

Can I retire to Italy from South Africa?

Yes. Retirees usually use the elective residency visa, which needs regular passive income and forbids work. A foreign pension moved to a comune of up to 20,000 people in one of eight southern regions can then be taxed at a flat 7% for nine years.

Can I buy a house in Italy as a South African?

Foreigners can buy property in Italy; you need a codice fiscale, and the sale goes through a notary. Buying does not give you residency — a non-EU buyer still needs a visa to live there.

Relocating to Italy from South Africa

Moving to Italy from South Africa

South Africans need a visa even to visit Italy, so the move starts with the consulate.

South African passport holders need a Schengen visa even for a short visit. To live in Italy you need a national long-stay visa, applied for at the Italian consulate before travelling.

Updated September 2026 · figures from ISTAT

Build my plan — free to start

Which visa you need from South Africa

The visa follows your income. Each one forbids something, so choose on how you will actually live.

Elective Residency Visa
People living on pensions, rents, dividends or savings. Around €31,000 a year.
It forbids work of any kind, including remote work for an employer at home. The income must be passive and provable, and consulates read this strictly.
Digital Nomad / Remote Worker visa
Employees and freelancers working remotely for a non-Italian employer or clients. Around €28,000 a year.
Introduced in 2024 and still applied unevenly between consulates. Expect to prove qualifications, at least six months of relevant experience, health cover and accommodation.
Self-employment visa (lavoro autonomo)
People setting up or freelancing in Italy itself. Around €8,500 a year.
Capped by the decreto flussi quota, which opens for a matter of days each year. Plan around the quota calendar or plan a different route.
Work visa, sponsored by the employer
People with an Italian job offer.
The employer applies for the nulla osta, not you, and it also runs through the decreto flussi quota. Nothing starts until they act.

The full visa guide →

What is different coming from South Africa

The driving licence

Check with the consulate whether your licence can be exchanged; if not, you take the Italian test within a year of residency.

Proving income

Consulates want the income for the elective residency or digital nomad visa to be regular and documented. Bank statements and pension letters, translated and legalised, are the core of the application.

The steps, in order, from South Africa

For a couple retiring on a pension — the most common move we see. Fees in total: €2,832–€6,370.

Three to five months before
€200–€600
1. Book the consulate appointment first, then gather the papers
The appointment is the bottleneck, not the paperwork — some consulates release slots months out and they go in minutes. Book it, then work backwards: proof of income, proof of accommodation in Italy, health cover, criminal record certificate, all translated and legalised.
Two to four months before
€116–€160
2. Apply for the Elective Residency Visa
People living on pensions, rents, dividends or savings. It forbids work of any kind, including remote work for an employer at home. The income must be passive and provable, and consulates read this strictly. Consulates look for roughly €38,000 a year, and more is safer than the minimum.
Before or on arrival
no fee
3. Codice fiscale
The number everything else hangs off — bank, utilities, the deed. Free, from the consulate before you go or the Agenzia delle Entrate once you are there. Do it before you need it, because you will need it suddenly.
Within 8 working days of landing
€100–€160
4. Permesso di soggiorno — the yellow kit
You collect the kit at a Poste Italiane sportello amico, fill it in, pay, and are given a questura appointment. The eight-day clock is real and starts the day you enter. The card itself can take months to arrive; the receipt is what you live on meanwhile.
Once you have somewhere to live
€16–€50
5. Residency at the comune (anagrafe)
This is the step that makes you resident rather than a visitor, and it is what the 7% regime, the health service and the tax year all key off. A vigile urbano will call at the address to check you actually live there.
After residency
€2,000–€4,000
6. Health cover — SSN or private
Non-EU residents on a non-working visa register with the SSN voluntarily: roughly 7.5% of worldwide income with a floor of about €2,000 a year for elective residency. Private cover can be cheaper while you are young and healthy, and worse later.
Within 12 months of residency
€0–€200
7. Driving licence
Check whether your country has a conversion agreement with Italy. If it does not, you retake both tests in Italian within twelve months of becoming resident.
From day 183
€400–€1,200
8. You become tax resident
More than 183 days in a calendar year, or residency registered for most of it, makes Italy tax your worldwide income. The double-taxation treaty stops you paying twice, but it does not stop you filing. Talk to an Italian commercialista before your first Italian tax year, not during it.

Retiring to Italy from South Africa

Most people moving from South Africa with a pension settle on the elective residency visa. The largest number in the plan is usually the tax: a foreign pension moved to a comune of up to 20,000 people in Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia or Sicily can be taxed at a flat 7% for nine years.

How retiring to Italy works · every 7% tax town