Processing Time For Family Reunion Visa For Italy
The Schengen Visa is the visa application for visiting any of the nations within The Schengen Zone .According to the requirements of Italy, foreigners who are citizens from some specific countries around the world can apply for a different type of visa to visit their country .The main purpose of this visa is to allow family members and relatives to meet each other after a long time because there are requirements that need to be fulfilled by the foreigner before the visa can be issued by the Italian Embassy.It costs 100 Euros for every person over 12 years old who wants to enter Italy and you require a valid passport or an ID card.
Family reunification visas are processed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are valid for a maximum period of 3 years. The spouses and minor children (under 18) of Italian citizens may apply to the Italian Embassy or Consulate in their home country where they will be examined and granted a Decision. In order to be considered eligible, the aforementioned persons must show that they have sufficient financial means to live in Italy (averting them compulsory recourse to public social welfare system) and that they can support themselves and have accommodation. We will base our discussion today on – Processing Time For Family Reunion Visa For Italy. But, other resources which you can find on our website include some frequently asked questions such as: nulla osta for family reunion processing time and nulla osta processing time 2022
Processing Time For Family Reunion Visa For Italy
Rome, Italy – Adhering to the strong European tradition of devoting all efforts in building up and improving the quality of family life, the country has not just given its blessing to various laws that allow foreign nationals to reside in Italy but also processed the papers in no less than 12 days for immediate family members like parents and children.
If you are a non-EU national living in Italy with a valid residence permit, then you are eligible to apply to bring your (also non-EU) family members to live with you. This is done through the Italy Family visa, which is also known as an “Italy spouse visa” or family reunification (ricongiungimento familiare) visa.
What is the Italy Family Reunion Visa?
The Italy Family Visa is one type of the Italian long-stay visa, which is also known as a national or D-visa. It allows the holder to enter Italy with the purpose of remaining longer than three months and joining a family member already residing in Italy.
Once your family member has received their Italy family reunion visa, they can enter the country and apply for an Italian residence permit. It is the permit which allows them to legally reside in Italy with you.
As such, the Italy Family Reunion Visa is known as an entrance visa.
If your family member is not an EU national or from Switzerland, Norway, Lichtenstein, or Iceland they will need an Italy family visa to enter the country. Even nationals of non-EU countries who are exempt from the Italy Schengen visa must apply for a long-stay visa.
Who is Allowed to Join You With an Italy Family Visa?
You can submit an application for the following family members to come join you in Italy through the Italian family visa:
- Spouse.
- Children under 18. Your spouse’s children also count, as do children who are born outside marriage as long as the other parent gives consent.
- Dependent children over 18, who are unable to provide for themselves due to health problems.
- Parents over 65 who are dependant on you and have no other children who can take care of them instead.
How to Apply for an Italy Family Visa?
Your family members must submit an application for the Italy Family Visa at an Italian embassy or consulate in their home country.
Get Nulla Osta authorization
However, before they can submit the visa application, you have to get authorization in Italy which allows them to join you.
This is called a Nulla Osta and it is basically a clearance from the competent Italian authorities, allowing your family members to join you in Italy. You must apply for a Nulla Osta at an Italian Immigration Desk (Sportello Unico per l’immigrazione). If the Immigraion Desk issues the authorization, they will electronically forward it to the appropriate Italian embassy or consulate where your family members will submit the visa application.
Start the application process
The Nulla Osta is valid for six months. Your family members must apply for an Italian Family Visa at their home country within this period. The application process for an Italian Family Visa goes as follows:
- Book a visa appointment at an Italian embassy or consulate in their country.
- Download and complete Italy Long-Stay Visa Application Form.
- Gather all the necessary documents.
- When the date of the appointment comes, submit the application in person.
- Pay the Italian visa fee.
- Enter a visa interview.
- Wait for processing.
For details on the steps of Italian visa application, visit this article.
Requirements for an Italy Family Visa
When submitting a family reunion visa, you and your family members must provide several supporting documents. You must also be able to meet several conditions in regards to accommodation and financial income if you want to bring them to join you in Italy.
When your family members apply for an Italy family visa, they have to present:
- Original and copy of the Nulla Osta
- Copy of your residence permit (or ID card, if you are an Italian citizen) and passport
- Italy Long-Stay Visa Application Form, completed and signed
- Passport-size pictures
- 35mm x 45mm
- Light, preferably white, background
- Face must take up 70% – 80% of the picture
- Neutral facial expression
- Passports which are valid at least three months after the expiry of the visa and have at least two blank pages.
- Statement from you (the Italian resident) declaring that you want to have your family members with you, and you meet the requirements for family reunification set by Italian law.
- Proof of family relationship, as applicable: Birth certificates for children and marriage certificate for your spouse.
- Proof you have sufficient required funds and suitable accommodation to welcome your family members.
- Receipt of paid Italy visa fee.
- Proof of booked plane tickets.
- In case a minor is travelling alone: Written permission from the child’s other parent allowing them to travel to Italy.
- In case you are bringing your parent/s to Italy:
- Original copies of your birth certificate.
- Proof your parent/s are dependant on you (such as money transfers).
- A written statement from your parent/s, declaring they are dependant on you.
In addition, there are several other conditions you have to meet to be eligible to bring your family members with you.
Italy Family Visa financial requirements
Financial requirements cannot be lower than the annual amount of the social allowance. You must make at least € 5.830,76 a year and then have 50% of that amount for any family members who will join you in Italy. So, if your spouse and one child will join you, you must have €11,661.52.
Accommodation requirements
Accommodation requirements which are in line with hygienic requirements established by Italian law. You must also have a big enough apartment to accommodate all your family members.
| Number of family members in the apartment | Minimum area required | Minimum number of bedrooms |
| 2 | 45m2 | 1 |
| 3 | 55m2 | 2 |
| 4 | 60m2 | 2 |
| 5 | 65m2 | 2 |
| 6 | 75m2 | 3 |
| 7 | 90m2 | 3 |
| 8 | 95m2 | 3 |
| 9 | 105m2 | 4 |
| 10 | 115m2 | 5 |
If your family members receive their visas for family reunification, they have three months to enter Italy. Once there, they can apply for their Italian residence permit.
Italy Family Visa Processing Time
When it comes to the visa itself, the processing time is around three weeks, up to a couple months. However, different factors can impact it. For example, if there are no available appointment slots, your family members cannot submit an application immediately. Next, if there are any missing or incorrect documents from their application, they will have to resubmit, so the processing time will be delayed.
Add to that the time it takes for you to receive a Nulla Osta (this can range from 4 to 12 months), and it may be nearly a year before your family members can join you in Italy.
After Obtaining an Italy Family Visa
After your family members receive their family reunification visas from the appropriate Italian authorities abroad, they have six months to enter Italy. Once they are in Italy, they have eight days to submit an application for an Italian residence permit (permesso di soggiorno). They can do this at the local police headquarters (Questura), where they will receive an application kit with all the required forms.
Their residence permit allow your family members to work and enroll in school.
Italy Family Cohesion Visa
There is another option for bringing your family members with you to Italy: Italy Family Cohesion. However, in this case, your family would have needed to enter Italy at the same time as you under Italy Schengen visas (or no visa at all, if visas aren’t needed for their country.) then. Once in Italy, they have to apply for their residence permits for family reunion.
Otherwise, even for family cohesion, the same financial and accommodation requirements as for family reunion visa apply.
Before you travel to Italy, you must prepare all the required documents, such as translated and official marriage and birth certificates.
Non-European residents with a valid Italian residence permit, sufficient income, and adequate housing need to kickstart the process of bringing their family member(s) to Italy on a family reunion visa. This visa is also popularly known as spouse visa Italy.
Note: If you’re an EEA citizen, you need to apply for the EU family member residence permit to bring your non-EU family member.
Which resident permit holders can apply for the Italy family visa?
Any non-European resident in Italy who has a work visa for a minimum of 1 year, self-employment visa, student visa or is a permanent resident can apply to bring their non-European family member to Italy.
Which relatives are eligible for the family reunification visa?
The following relatives qualify for the Italy family reunification visa:
- Spouse
- Children under 18
- Dependent children _above the age of 18 with medical issues
- Economically dependent parents of a single child
- Parents over the age of 65 with no other children who can take care of them
Siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, uncles or aunts, unmarried partners, or other extended family members cannot apply for the Italy family visa.
What are the requirements for acquiring an Italian family reunion visa?
To apply for the Italy family visa, you and your family have to meet several requirements:
- You must be registered as a resident in Italy
- You’ve to meet the financial criteria
- You’ve to meet the accommodation criteria
Financial criteria
To bring a family member on the Italy family visa, you must earn above the annual social allowance in Italy, which is €5,983.64 as of 2021.
For each family member you decide to bring, you must earn 0.5 times more than the annual social allowance or €2,991.82 for every additional family member.
| Number of family members | Annual Income requirement in Italy |
|---|---|
| 1 | €8,975.46 |
| 2 | €11,967.28 |
| 3 | €14,959.10 |
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Based on the increases since 2019, you should be earning slightly over €6,000 per year to bring a family member to Italy on a reunification visa.
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Accommodation criteria
For a successful Italy family visa application, you need to obtain a housing suitability certificate (certificato di idoneità alloggiativa) that confirms that the house meets the hygiene and size requirements.
The required m2 per family member is:
| Number of residents | Required living space per person |
|---|---|
| 2 | 28m2 |
| 3 | 42m2 |
| 4 | 56m2 |
You need to have an additional 10m2 per person for every additional family member who joins you. Example: If you’re being joined with 7 family members, you’d have to reside in a property that is at least 82m2.
To obtain this housing suitability document in Italy, take your rental agreement and any floor plan to the immigration office (Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione) in your municipality.
What is the application process for an Italian family reunion visa?
Applying for the Italian family reunion visa requires action from both you and your family.
In short, the process is as follows:
- You get authorization from the Italian authorities for your family to apply for the visa.
- Your family follows up on the application permission.
Getting an authorization for Italy family visa: Nulla Osta
The first thing you’ve to do is get authorization for your family to join you in Italy; this is called Nulla Osta. It’s provided by the Italian government and can take up to 3 months to get.
Once you’ve submitted the application, the Italian immigration desk will review it and make a decision. If your family member is granted the Nulla Osta, the Italian Immigration Office will electronically share it with the relevant Italian embassy.
Applying for the family reunification visa
Once the Nulla Osta is issued, the non-European family member has 6 months to apply for the family reunification visa at their nearest consulate.
Italy family visa checklist
It’s helpful to have a documents checklist for the Italy family visa. This way you won’t forget anything.
For the Nulla Osta, provide the following documents and their translated and notarised copies:
- Italian residence permit and an ID/ passport
- Proof of family relationship, e.g. birth certificate or marriage certificate
- Proof of sufficient income
- Proof of suitable accommodation in Italy
- Proof of health insurance if the family member is 65+ years
- Financial information to show your family member’s dependence on you
For the visa application the family member needs to submit:
- Visa application form
- A valid passport
- Nulla Osta
- Passport photos
- Receipt of visa fee
- Proof of your family member’s relationship with you
- Flight itinerary
- Criminal history report
Italy family reunion visa processing time
The application processing time for the Italy family reunification visa is approximately 3 weeks to 6 months.
To ensure that the application processing is as fast as possible, you and your family should ensure that all of the documents meet the requirements.
Arriving in Italy on the family reunion visa
The non-EU family member has 6 months to enter Italy upon receiving the approval of their family reunion visa application__.
Once your family member has entered the country, they’ve to complete the following actions:
- Acquire an Italian residence permit
- Acquire an Italian tax ID (codice fiscale)
What is the process for acquiring a residence permit?
Once they arrive in Italy, your family member has 8 days to start the Italian residence permit (permesso di soggiorno) application process at the local police station (Questura).
In short, your family member will have to:
- Fill out a declaration of residence (dichiarazione di residenza)
- Submit paperwork at the post office
- Get another appointment at the police station for collecting the residence permit
Once they’ve collected the residence permit, your family member has the right to use the Italian healthcare system, as well as to work and study in Italy.
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Residence permits issued in relation to a family reunion visa are valid for 2 years in Italy.
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What is the process for acquiring a Codice Fiscale?
Once the residence permit is secured, your family member is obliged to get an Italian tax ID — Codice Fiscale if they plan on earning an income or owning assets.
All they need to do is to go to the police station and bring at least 1 of the following documents:
- A valid passport or visa
- A valid residence permit
- A certificate of identity issued by Italian authorities abroad
Other formalities after the arrival in Italy
Once your relative has settled down and has all the mandatory documentation, the optional things they’d need to get sorted are:
- Opening an Italian bank account
- Getting health insurance in Italy
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