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

• The Investor Visa for Italy has four qualifying thresholds. They are €250,000 in an innovative Italian startup, €500,000 in an Italian limited company, €1 million to a philanthropic initiative, or €2 million in Italian government bonds. Property does not qualify.
• Official charges are small. There is no published fee for the Nulla Osta application, the national visa costs €116, and the full official total is roughly €350 to €500 per applicant.
• Professional fees are the real variable. Immigration counsel typically costs €8,000 to €15,000 for a single applicant, and €15,000 to €45,000 all-in for a family with a complex file.
• A structured investment vehicle usually adds a setup fee of roughly two to three per cent. Typical examples are €5,000 plus VAT on the €250,000 route and €15,000 plus VAT on the €500,000 route.
• For anyone who transferred residence to Italy from 1 January 2026, the optional flat tax is €300,000 a year for the main taxpayer. Each family member included adds €50,000 a year.

The Italy Golden Visa cost has two layers, and most published figures confuse them. The first is the qualifying investment, which is capital you continue to own, held in an asset, subject to whatever return or loss that asset produces. The second is the money that actually leaves your account: government charges, professional fees, translation and legalisation, the setup fee on a structured investment, and, once resident, the annual tax position you elect. This page sets out both layers with the figures that apply in 2026. The budget can be built on numbers rather than on ranges that never narrow.

The Investor Visa for Italy offers four statutory routes and an applicant qualifies through one of them. The thresholds cannot be combined.

The €250,000 route is equity in an innovative Italian startup registered in the special section of the Business Register. The €500,000 route is equity in an established Italian limited company or, since Law 193/2024, an Italian venture capital fund. The €1 million route is a donation to a public-interest initiative in culture, education, research, heritage, or immigration management. The €2 million route is Italian government bonds with at least two years’ residual maturity, held for the life of the permit.

The philanthropic route is the only one where the money is spent. The other three are investments held under a condition: the capital must remain in place for as long as the residence permit is held, and withdrawing it before then leads to revocation. That is why comparing Italy’s €250,000 entry point with a programme that requires a €250,000 non-refundable contribution is misleading. Property has never qualified, and the two lower thresholds were halved in May 2020, so older articles quoting €500,000 and €1 million for the startup and company routes are out of date. The investment amount page explains what each route involves.

This is the smallest line on the page, and the one most often inflated in published breakdowns.

The Nulla Osta application is submitted through the official investor visa portal and carries no published government fee. The Investor Visa Committee’s target is an assessment within 30 days of a complete file. The clearance then gives you six months to apply for the visa.

At the consulate, the national visa fee is €116 per applicant. Consulates bill in local currency at a rate reset each quarter. The invoice will not land exactly on that figure, and their outsourced service providers may add an administrative charge of their own, typically €30 to €80 per person.

The residence permit is charged in components: €80.46 for a two-year permit. A €16 revenue stamp, and about €30 in postal handling, which is roughly €126 on the published tariff. In practice, once the electronic card is issued and the police headquarters appointment is handled with assistance, applicants more commonly report €200 to €300 per person for this stage. Taken together, the whole official side of a single applicant’s file lands at roughly €350 to €500. Any breakdown quoting several thousand euros in government fees is bundling in an intermediary’s charges or is simply wrong.

Advisory costs vary more than anything else, and the honest answer is a range.

Immigration counsel through to residence permit typically costs €8,000 to €15,000 for a single applicant with a clean, well-documented source of funds. Multiple jurisdictions of wealth, corporate structures, or an unusual source-of-funds history push that higher. Each dependant generally adds €2,000 to €5,000 in legal work, plus their own document preparation. A family of four with a complex file should expect an all-in professional budget of €15,000 to €45,000. The lawyer guide explains what that fee covers and how to compare quotes.

Translation and legalisation are separate. Civil documents need an apostille and a certified Italian translation for the consular and permit stages, and criminal record certificates and financial evidence often need the same. For a single applicant this is usually a four-figure sum, and more for a family, depending on the number of documents and their source countries.

Tax advice sits apart from immigration counsel and should be treated as essential rather than optional. An initial assessment of whether the substitute tax regime suits you, and what your departure does to your position in your current country, generally costs €3,000 to €10,000.

Many applicants on the €250,000 and €500,000 routes invest through a regulated vehicle that sources and manages the qualifying holding rather than buying a private stake directly. Those vehicles charge a setup or onboarding fee of roughly two to three per cent of the investment, for example €5,000 plus VAT on the €250,000 startup route and €15,000 plus VAT on the €500,000 company route.

That fee is a charge on the investment structure. It sits alongside immigration counsel, never instead of it, so a reader should not take €5,000 as the whole advisory bill. It is also the point at which the ongoing costs of the vehicle, such as management charges and reporting, should be asked about, because they continue for as long as the investment is held.

Family members add cost in three places. Each dependant needs their own visa (€116), their own residence permit (the same €126 tariff, or €200 to €300 as commonly observed), and their own document set, translations and legal work. A family of four should therefore budget roughly €1,400 to €2,000 in official charges, and €6,000 to €15,000 more in legal and document work than a single applicant.

The qualifying investment does not increase with family size. One investment covers the main applicant and all eligible family members. The rules on who qualifies, including the strict conditions for adult children and parents, are set out in the family application guide.

Once resident, three recurring costs begin. Italian tax compliance, with a return each year, is a recurring professional fee that scales with the complexity of your foreign income and assets. Health insurance valid in Italy, required at application and sensible thereafter, runs €500 to €2,000 a year per person. And, for those who elect it, the substitute tax on foreign-source income.

That regime is optional, requires a formal election with the Italian Revenue Agency, and is open to new residents who have not been Italian tax resident for nine of the previous ten years. For anyone who transferred residence to Italy from 1 January 2026 it costs €300,000 a year for the main taxpayer and €50,000 for each family member included, for up to fifteen years. Those who moved earlier keep the rate in force at the time of the move, €100,000 before August 2024 or €200,000 between August 2024 and the end of 2025, for the remainder of their term. At the current rate the regime generally suits households with foreign income above roughly €700,000 a year; below that, ordinary Italian taxation is often cheaper. The guide to Italy’s regime for new residents sets out the mechanics.

For a single applicant on the €250,000 startup route through a structured vehicle, with a clean file: €250,000 held as the investment; €5,000 plus VAT setup fee; €8,000 to €15,000 immigration counsel; translation and legalisation in the low thousands; €3,000 to €10,000 tax advice; and €350 to €500 in official charges. Cash spent, excluding the investment itself, is therefore roughly €18,000 to €35,000.

For a couple with two children on the €500,000 company route, the investment rises to €500,000 held, the setup fee to €15,000 plus VAT, professional fees to €15,000 to €45,000 all-in, official charges to €1,400 to €2,000, and, if the flat tax is elected for the whole family, the annual charge to €450,000. That last figure is the one that most changes the decision. It is a tax planning question rather than an immigration one.

How much does the Italy Golden Visa cost in total?

The qualifying investment is €250,000, €500,000, €1 million or €2 million depending on the route. It remains your asset on three of the four routes. Cash actually spent on a single applicant’s file is typically €18,000 to €35,000 in professional, setup and official fees.

What are the government fees?

There is no published fee for the Nulla Osta application. The national visa costs €116 and the residence permit stage brings the official total to roughly €350 to €500 per applicant.

Do family members increase the investment?

No. One qualifying investment covers the main applicant and all eligible family members. Each dependant adds their own visa and permit fees and their own legal and translation costs, typically €2,000 to €5,000 in legal work per person.

Is property a qualifying investment?

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

Does the flat tax come with the visa?

No. It is a separate, optional election for new tax residents who meet the nine-of-ten-years test. From 2026 it costs €300,000 a year plus €50,000 per family member. It suits households with substantial foreign income and should be modelled before it is elected.

The Italy Golden Visa cost is easier to plan once the two layers are kept apart: the capital you hold and the fees you spend. The first is fixed by the route. The second depends on the complexity of your file, the size of your family, and whether you invest directly or through a regulated vehicle. A conversation with an Italian immigration lawyer and a tax adviser in both countries will usually settle the budget within a few weeks, and if you would like help framing that conversation. The contact page is the place to start.

References to investment routes are descriptive. They are not an offer or invitation to acquire any interest in a fund, company, or security. They are not a recommendation of any particular structure. Investment involves risk, including the risk of losing some or all of the capital invested. A qualifying investment must be maintained for the life of the residence permit, and its value is not guaranteed.

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.