I love Italy - the music, culture, food

Mark D Image
08/02/2019 - 12:00

I love Italy - the music, culture, food and language. Would love to move there.I'm self-employed and run my own business in the UK in a technical field and one where Italy appears to be seeking people to fill. So I have been looking at moving to Italy.My approach with emigration is to first learn the language, then make sure you understand the culture and are happy to assimilate into it, and make sure that you can make a contribution immediately.The UK will shortly be leaving the EU, but from what I can see, the EU does not make any difference, and the approach above is surely the one to take when moving to any other country, EU or not.I've learned the language to C1 level and would be able to "bring my business with me", working initially for the same UK clients (it's all done online and by phone) and then to attempt to gain Italian clients, eventually, to potentially employ Italians.I've been looking into this, but from what I can see, Italy will not be possible because of the rules around self-employment and running a business.https://www.expatfocus.com/destinations/italy/guide/self-employmentThe process appears to be:1. Get Permesso di Soggiorno2. Convert to Permesso di soggiorno per lavoro autonomo/indipendente3. Go to court to obtain approval for type of business4. Register business with Registro delle Impresse, Registro delle Ditte, Registro delle Imposte, Uddicio RegistriThere are other things, but #3 is the "killer". That, and paying tax in advance. The money I bring with me will only last for a certain period of time, and then it's gone. I cannot do anything until all the above is done, and there is no defined timescale for this.My interpretation is that were I to move to Ferrara there may well be other businesses doing the same thing. And I may not be given permission. I would assume that Italians are favoured in any decision. And rightly so.So, I could actually end up with no money and no business.I could potentially move to Italy after shutting down the business in the UK and then seek a job while I try to do the above. This means I will not be able to "bring my income with me" and will not be able to make much of a contribution immediately.Can anyone advise if my interpretation of the rules and the consequences is correct? I really hope it is not.If so, sadly, the Italian dream cannot be for me :( 

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You are right to look for confirmation of what you need to be looking at, being an EU citizen (for now) does make a difference, I doubt 1 & 2 above apply. Hopefully others here will advise the correct position for you, but I would still look around for more information - look for official sites... Good luck!

Do you want a business or to work as a self employed person with a ditta individuale?   until December 2020 the rules dont change - technically.  So you dont need a PdS (assuming you are a European national) - and all you have to do is get your residence, open a partita IVA which also registers your activity and you're up and running.   The days of there being only 3 barbers allowed in a town, or 4 bars which open on a Sunday are long gone.    Opening a VAT number will get you into the system - then you need to decide on your financial situation which depends on your  age, but there are incentives for people opening a new company with tax incentives for the first five years.   

HiThanks for the reply. I do contract some pieces of work to others to do for me but I do not "employ" them as such, so I think that self-employed would work fine at the start.The UK leaves the EU on October 31 and as I understand it, Italy was the first country to guarantee continued rights for UK citizens already living in Italy so we would need to move quickly in order to avoid more difficulty with items #1 and #2 from my list.Mark 

Hi mark. Not sure if you are still looking to move to italy. As modicasa says there are incentives and I currently have been reading about the one in Molise, albeit a long way from Ferrara (we live 50 km from Ferrara). Have a look at Italy Magazine for their article. The incentive will be more geared to bring home Italians to a depopulated area in towns of 2000 inhabitants and under. As modicasa says, take a look.
Good luck

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Yes, Italy is an amazing country, and I also like visiting it. And I'm thinking about moving there later. Italian culture is amazing, but for me, somethimes it can be hard staying there and communicate with others because American culture is a little bit different. And if you are also thinking about having business in Italy and living there, you should not forget about cross-cultural communication. It's a very important thing nowadays. I was writing a paper on its' importance. And found one site with paper examples on cross cultural communication where I read some info, which was totally new for me. Communication is the key to success, and when it comes to cross-cultural communication, then you have to be ready to improve it and not be afraid of the difficulties which may appear.