Do I need a visa to move to Italy from the UK?

Yes, to stay longer than a visit. British passport holders can spend 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area without a visa. Anything longer needs a long-stay visa, applied for in the UK before you go. Which long-stay visa depends on how you will support yourself: a pension or savings means the elective residency visa, remote work means the digital nomad visa.

How much money do I need to move to Italy from the UK?

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 €3,532–€7,570 for a couple in the first year, before somewhere to live.

Can I retire to Italy from the UK?

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 British?

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 the UK

Moving to Italy from the UK

Since Brexit, moving to Italy from the UK works like moving from anywhere outside the EU.

British passport holders can spend 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area without a visa. Anything longer needs a long-stay visa, applied for in the UK before you go.

Updated September 2026 · figures from ISTAT

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Which visa you need from the UK

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 the UK

The driving licence trap

There is no agreement to exchange a UK licence for an Italian one. Once you have been resident for a year you must pass the Italian theory and practical tests, in Italian. This catches more British movers than anything else.

Your UK pension

A UK state or private pension counts as the passive income the elective residency visa asks for — and, moved to a small southern comune, can qualify for Italy's 7% flat tax. Take advice on how the UK–Italy double taxation treaty treats your particular pension before you move.

Healthcare

Once resident on a non-working visa you join the Italian health service by paying an annual contribution, or hold private cover. Ask the NHS Overseas Healthcare Services whether you are entitled to an S1 form, which changes this.

The steps, in order, from the UK

For a couple retiring on a pension — the most common move we see. Fees in total: €3,532–€7,570.

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
€700–€1,400
7. Driving licence
The trap. There is no conversion agreement between the UK and Italy, so a UK licence cannot be swapped — after twelve months of residency you must pass the Italian theory and practical tests, in Italian. Budget the money and start early.
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 the UK

Most people moving from the UK 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