Move to Italy.
A flat tax on foreign income.
A real residence permit.

It depends on the permit. As a general rule a residence permit cannot be renewed after a continuous absence of more than 6 months. Investor Visa holders are expressly exempt from the continuity-of-stay rules for the first 5 years. Note that the tax elections are about tax residence, which needs a majority of the year (or domicile) in Italy — spending too little time can cost you the regime you moved for.

Article 2 TUIR: you are resident if for the majority of the tax year — fractions of days included — you have your civil-law residence or your domicile (the centre of your personal and family relationships) in Italy, or are physically present there. Registration in the comune's population registry for most of the year is a rebuttable presumption of residence. Italy assesses residence for the whole calendar year, with no split-year treatment except under specific tax treaties.

Yes. Spouses and minor children join through family reunification and receive a family permit of the same duration, which allows work. The Art. 24-bis flat tax can be extended to family members for €50,000 each per year, provided they meet the 9-of-10-years test themselves.

Naturalisation requires 10 years of legal residence for non-EU nationals (4 years for EU nationals) and Italian at B1 level; Italy permits dual citizenship. Before that, the EU long-term residence permit is available after 5 years of lawful residence, with an income and language test — Investor Visa holders can request it after 5 years if the investment has been maintained.

Government charges are modest: the consular visa fee, the electronic permit fee plus a postal-kit charge and a revenue stamp at each issue and renewal. The Investor Visa nulla osta is applied for online. The real costs are professional fees, sworn translations and apostilles — and, for the flat-tax regimes, the substitute tax itself, paid in one instalment by the income-tax balance deadline.

Not by law — you can file at the consulate and the Questura yourself. In practice an Italian immigration lawyer or commercialista pays for itself on the Investor Visa (the investment structuring and the committee file), on any Art. 24-bis election (the advance ruling) and whenever documents need sworn translation. Exit Global is independent, is not a government body, and does not grant residency — only the Questura and the consulates do that; we review your file and introduce vetted local professionals.

The Remote Worker permit exists precisely for that: employed by a company outside Italy, working from Italy, with the income floor of roughly €24,789 and health insurance. The Elective Residence visa, by contrast, does not allow you to work. Remember that once you are tax resident, foreign employment income is Italian-taxable at ordinary rates unless a regime applies; the Art. 24-bis flat tax covers it if the work is genuinely performed abroad, and the impatriati regime covers Italian-performed work at 50%.

Getting residency in Italy does not end tax residency where you came from — exit taxes, tie-breaker rules and certificate requests are handled on the Exit sites. See exitglobal.app.