Current as at September 2026. Thresholds, fees, and tax rates are subject to change

• Italy does not offer citizenship by investment. No investment, at any amount, produces an Italian passport directly.
• What Italy offers is the Investor Visa for Italy: a two-year residence permit, renewable for three years at a time, for a qualifying investment of €250,000, €500,000, €1 million or €2 million depending on the route.
• Permanent residence (the EU long-term residence permit) becomes available after five years of continuous legal residence in Italy, with an A2 Italian language test and a minimum income.
• Citizenship by naturalisation requires ten years of legal residence for non-EU nationals, B1 Italian, and a clean record. A June 2025 referendum to cut the term to five years failed for lack of turnout.
• The investor residence permit itself has no minimum stay, but the five-year and ten-year milestones both require actually living in Italy.

If you are searching for Italy citizenship by investment. The first thing to know is that the phrase describes something Italy does not sell. There is no programme under which an investment produces a passport. What Italy does have is the Investor Visa for Italy. A residence route that leads, for those who settle, to permanent residence after five years and to citizenship after ten. This page sets out what each stage requires. That a reader who arrived here looking for a passport can judge whether the residence route delivers what they actually want.

The programme grants a two-year residence permit to non-EU nationals who make one of four qualifying investments: €250,000 in an innovative Italian startup, €500,000 in an established Italian limited company or an Italian venture capital fund, €1 million to a philanthropic initiative in culture, education, research, heritage or immigration management, or €2 million in Italian government bonds with at least two years’ residual maturity. Property has never qualified.

The sequence runs approval first, investment second. The Investor Visa Committee assesses a complete file within a published 30-day target and issues a Nulla Osta. The applicant then has six months to request the visa and two years to enter Italy. After arrival, the residence permit application is filed within eight days and the investment completed within three months. The permit renews for three years at a time, with a fresh Committee check that the investment has been maintained, and there is no minimum stay in Italy to keep it. The application process guide covers each stage.

That is the whole of what the investment buys: lawful residence in Italy, renewable indefinitely while the investment stays in place, and the right to travel for up to 90 days in any 180 across the other 28 Schengen states. Everything beyond that is earned through time and presence rather than bought.

The distinction is worth stating precisely because the two phrases are used interchangeably online. A residence-by-investment programme grants a permit to live in a country in return for an investment. The permit lasts as long as its conditions are met, and any later status is earned separately. A citizenship-by-investment programme grants nationality itself, usually within months and without a residence requirement. A handful of small states outside Europe run the second kind. Within the EU, the Court of Justice ruled in 2025 that Malta’s investor citizenship scheme was incompatible with EU law, and no EU member now grants nationality for investment alone.

The practical difference for an investor is what happens if the investment is withdrawn. Under a citizenship programme, nothing: the passport has been issued. Under Italy’s investor route, the residence permit is revoked, because the investment is the condition of the permit. Anyone comparing Italy with a Caribbean or other citizenship programme is comparing different products. The honest comparison is between Italy and the other residence routes in Europe.

The first status that does not depend on the investment is the EU long-term residence permit, often called permanent residence. It becomes available after five years of continuous legal residence in Italy. The official investor visa portal states that maintaining the original investment or donation for five years allows the holder to request it.

Continuous residence has a specific meaning. Absences from Italy must not exceed six consecutive months, or ten months in total, across the five years. The applicant must show income at or above the annual social allowance, pass an A2 Italian language test, and have a clean record. Family members who have lived legally with the main applicant for the same five years can apply alongside them. The permanent residence guide sets out each condition.

This is where the investor permit’s flexibility and the long-term goal pull in different directions. The investor permit does not require you to live in Italy. The long-term permit does, and five years of genuine residence also makes you Italian tax resident, which is a planning decision in its own right.

Italian citizenship by naturalisation requires ten years of legal residence for non-EU nationals, reduced to four for EU citizens and to shorter periods for those with Italian ancestry or an Italian spouse. Applicants must show B1 Italian, a clean criminal record, and sufficient income over the preceding years. Italy allows dual citizenship, so an applicant does not have to give up their existing nationality.

The ten-year term was put to a national referendum in June 2025, with a proposal to cut it to five years. The referendum failed because turnout did not reach the required quorum, so ten years remains the rule. The same year, Italy tightened citizenship by descent, limiting automatic recognition to those with an Italian parent or grandparent under stricter conditions. Neither change created any investment-based shortcut. The naturalisation guide covers the ten-year path in detail.

The Investor Visa for Italy suits non-EU investors who want a lawful base in Italy on a known timetable, with the option of building towards permanent residence and citizenship if they choose to settle. It suits families, because a spouse and minor children receive permits of the same validity. It suits those who value the approval-before-investment sequence, which is unusual among European programmes.

It does not suit anyone who wants a second passport quickly, who intends to hold the permit without ever living in Italy but expects citizenship to follow, or who wants to qualify through property. For those readers the search term was reasonable but the product does not exist in Italy, and the comparison with Portugal may be the more useful next read.

Is citizenship by investment possible in Italy?

No. Italy has no citizenship-by-investment programme. The Investor Visa for Italy grants residence in return for a qualifying investment, and citizenship follows only after ten years of legal residence, with B1 Italian and a clean record.

How long does it take to get Italian citizenship through the investor visa?

Ten years of continuous legal residence, the same as for any other non-EU resident. The investor visa provides the residence status; the years, the language test and the income requirement are earned separately.

Can I get permanent residence in Italy through investment?

Yes, after five years. The EU long-term residence permit is available after five years of continuous legal residence, with absences under six consecutive months and ten in total, an A2 Italian test, and income at or above the annual social allowance. The investor visa portal confirms that maintaining the investment for five years allows the request.

Does the Italian investor visa give Schengen travel?

Yes. An Italian residence permit allows up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the other 28 Schengen states, in addition to unlimited time in Italy.

Can my family get citizenship too?

Family members who hold their own residence permits accumulate their own years towards permanent residence and citizenship. A spouse and minor children can be included in the investor application and receive permits of the same validity. The family application guide explains who qualifies.

Can I buy property in Italy to qualify?

No. Italy has never had a property route. The four options are the startup, company, philanthropic and government bond routes.

Italy asks more of an investor than a citizenship programme does, and offers something different in return: a residence status in a large EU country, on a fixed timetable, with a clear path to permanent residence and citizenship for those who choose to settle. Regulated fund vehicles exist for the startup and company routes for those who would rather not source a private investment themselves. An Italian immigration lawyer is the usual first conversation. If you would like to talk through whether the residence route fits what you are looking for. The contact page is the place to start.

The information on this page is general and educational. It is not legal, tax, immigration, or investment advice, and it does not take account of your circumstances. Italian immigration and tax rules change, and figures stated here reflect our understanding as at the date shown. Before acting, take advice from a qualified Italian immigration lawyer and a tax adviser in both Italy and your current country of residence.