A spouse visa in Italy can be obtained if a foreigner is a spouse/partner of an Italian citizen. However, it must be noted that the Italian law does not offer a single visa issued for this specific purpose, but rather a foreigner can apply for a family visa, which can also be issued for spouses.
The law on immigration in Italy refers to this visa type as family reunification visa, and it can be obtained only by specific family members, including those who are spouses. Of course, the Italian spouse visa requirements will vary from the ones applicable to other family members.
Our immigration lawyer in Italy can offer an in-depth presentation on the main legal requirements you have to comply with if you need to apply for a spouse visa.
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What are the Italian spouse visa requirements?
The law on immigration in Italy prescribes a set of basic rules that must be completed by those who want to relocate to this country for the purpose of living here on the ground of being married to an Italian national.
In the list below, our immigration lawyers in Italy have prepared few highlights of the basic conditions imposed for this visa type:
- the marriage visa in Italy can be obtain by foreigners with a minimum age of 18 years old, who have the status of spouses (who must not be legally separated) and civil partners;
- the applicant must prepare 2 recent photographs, passport size;
- recent photographs refer to pictures taken with maximum 6 months before the application and which have a size of 4 x 3.5 cm;
- a valid passport with a validity date ranging from 3 months to 18 months (the Italian spouse visa requirements can vary based on the nationality of the applicant);
- a valid healthcare insurance, with a value of minimum EUR 30,000, and which is recognized by the officials in Italy.
According to the Italian Government, the applicant must also include documents which testify the validity of the relationship, and this can only be done through marriage and civil partnership certificates.
As such, if you want to move to Italy as a de facto partner of an Italian citizen, you can’t apply for this visa type. At the moment, there isn’t any unmarried partner visa in Italy, specifically designed for unmarried partners.
Thus, there aren’t any unmarried partner visa Italy requirements regulated by the law. But de facto partners (those who are unmarried) can still reunite and live together in Italy. For this, general visa steps should be followed. Our immigration lawyers can also help you if you want to get permanent residency in Italy after moving there.
De facto partners visa options in Italy
For instance, the foreign partner of an Italian citizen can apply for a Schengen D visa, which is issued for purposes such as work or study in Italy. The de facto partner will immigrate to Italy and then will apply for a residence permit and then can live with the Italian partner.
In Italy, de facto partners can benefit from certain legal rights – for instance, the law grants the possibility to register the cohabitation with the Italian municipalities where the couple lives and later on, the partners can be entitled to apply for a more suitable permit regulated by family immigration rules.
Although many European countries grant the possibility to relocate as a de facto partner and obtain a visa related to family reunification, the unmarried partner visa in Italy is, for the moment, non-existent.
However, Italy is ahead many European countries when it comes to de facto partners living in Italy through the cohabitation contract, which does not exist in most of the European countries.
If you want to learn more about the issuance of the Italian visas, including the Italy spouse visa processing time, our lawyers remain at your service.
You can contact us if you qualify for the spouse visa in Italy and our lawyers can offer more details on the Italian spouse visa requirements. Alike, we can help de facto partners relocate to Italy.