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

• An Italy Golden Visa family application covers a spouse or registered partner and children under 18 without further conditions. One qualifying investment covers the whole family.
• Adult children qualify only where they are dependent under strict conditions. Parents qualify only in limited cases. They must have no other children in the home country to support them, or be over 65 with other children unable to support them for documented health reasons.
• Family members can apply for their visas at the same time as the main applicant. Their residence permits have the same validity: two years initially and then three at each renewal.
• Each family member needs their own visa (€116), residence permit and document set, with civil status documents apostilled and translated into Italian.
• If the flat tax for new residents is elected, each family member covered adds €50,000 a year to the €300,000 charge.

The Italy Golden Visa family application contains much of the paperwork in an Investor Visa for Italy file. It is also where many planning errors happen. The investor’s own case turns on the investment and the source of funds. Each family member’s case turns on a relationship evidenced by civil documents from a different country. Dependency rules can also be stricter than many applicants expect. This page sets out who qualifies, what each person must show, how the timing works, and what the family adds to the cost.

The investor visa is granted to one person, the applicant who makes the qualifying investment. Family members do not need to make an investment of their own. They join under Italy’s family rules, which allow qualifying relatives of a residence permit holder to obtain permits of their own. In practice this happens in one of two ways.

The first is together. Once the Nulla Osta is issued, family members can apply for family visas at the same consulate and time as the investor. They travel with the investor and file their own residence permit applications within eight days of arrival. Their permits carry the same validity as the investor’s: two years initially, then three years at each renewal, for as long as the investor’s own permit is maintained.

The second is later, through family reunification. An investor who moves first can bring the family once housing and schooling are settled. The investor applies for reunification clearance, and the family then applies for their visas. The relatives who qualify are the same either way. The difference is timing and, for reunification, evidence of suitable accommodation and income in Italy. The application process guide sets out the investor’s own sequence.

The categories are defined by Italy’s consolidated immigration law, and the conditions attached to each are specific.

A spouse qualifies without further conditions, as does a partner in a registered civil union. The marriage or union must be legally valid and evidenced by a certificate that can be apostilled and translated.

Children under 18 qualify without further conditions, including adopted children and the children of one spouse where the other parent consents. Where parents are separated, the consent of the other parent to the child’s relocation is required.

Adult children are the category where advice matters most. The statutory test is that they cannot provide for their own essential needs for objective reasons connected with their state of health, amounting to total invalidity. Some Italian practitioners report adult children who are financially dependent on the investor being accepted in practice. That is not the wording of the law, and an applicant with an adult child still in education should take specific advice on the evidence before assuming the child can be included.

Parents qualify in two situations only: where they have no other children in their home country who can support them, or where they are over 65 and their other children cannot support them for documented and serious health reasons. Both must be evidenced. A parent who simply wishes to relocate with the family, and who has other children at home, does not qualify.

Siblings, adult grandchildren, and other relatives are not eligible under the family rules, however dependent they may be in practice.

Each person’s file is built around three things: identity, relationship, and, where relevant, dependency.

Identity is a valid passport and, for the permit stage, photographs and the standard forms. Relationship is a civil document: a marriage or civil union certificate for a spouse or partner, a birth certificate for a child showing both parents, and, for a child of one spouse only, the consent of the other parent. Dependency, for adult children and parents, is medical and family evidence that meets the statutory test. It is the part of the file that takes longest to assemble and is most often refused.

All civil documents must be legalised for use in Italy, which for most countries means an apostille from the issuing authority, and translated into Italian by a certified translator. Names, dates and places must match across every document in the file, and discrepancies between a passport and a birth certificate, common where names have been transliterated or changed on marriage, should be resolved before submission rather than explained afterwards. A qualified immigration lawyer will normally build a document map for each family member at the outset.

The investor’s deadlines drive the family’s. The Committee’s 30-day assessment target applies to the investor’s file; the six-month window to request the visa and the two-year window to enter Italy apply to the investor, and family members who travel together apply for their visas inside the same six months. On arrival, everyone files for their residence permit within eight days.

Two practical points follow. Family documents should be gathered while the investor’s file is being prepared, because apostilles and translations from several countries take weeks. Some certificates have limited validity once issued. And where a family member’s dependency case is uncertain. It is usually better to submit the investor’s application without them and add them later by reunification than to delay the whole household while the evidence is assembled.

The qualifying investment does not change with family size. What each family member adds is their own visa fee of €116, their own residence permit (about €126 on the published tariff, or €200 to €300 as commonly observed once the card is issued), and their own legalisation, translation and legal work, typically €2,000 to €5,000 per person in professional fees. A family of four should expect roughly €1,400 to €2,000 in official charges and €6,000 to €15,000 more in professional and document costs than a single applicant. The cost guide sets these out in full.

The larger family cost is the tax one. A new resident who elects Italy’s substitute tax on foreign-source income pays €300,000 a year. Each family member brought within the regime adds €50,000 a year, for up to fifteen years. A couple with two children who all become Italian tax resident and elect the regime would pay €450,000 a year. The regime is optional and independent of the visa, and whether any family member should be included in it is a tax planning question. The guide to Italy’s regime for new residents explains how it works.

Family members hold their own residence permits and accumulate their own years in Italy. A spouse can work. Children can attend Italian state schools, and the family can register with the national health service once resident, in some cases by paying an annual voluntary contribution. When the investor renews, family permits renew alongside, and after five years of continuous legal residence family members who have lived with the investor can apply with them for the EU long-term residence permit. Citizenship by naturalisation after ten years is assessed for each adult on their own residence, language and record, as set out in the permanent residence guide.

Can my spouse and children be included in the Italy Golden Visa?

Yes. A spouse or registered partner and children under 18 are included without further conditions, on the strength of one qualifying investment. They receive residence permits of the same validity as the investor’s.

Can my adult children come with me?

Only where they are dependent on you under strict conditions. The statutory test is inability to support themselves for documented health reasons; some practitioners report financially dependent adult children being accepted, so take specific advice on your child’s circumstances before relying on it.

Can I bring my parents?

Only where they have no other children in the home country who can support them, or where they are over 65 and their other children cannot support them for documented health reasons. Both situations must be evidenced.

Do family members apply at the same time as me?

They can. Once the Nulla Osta is issued, family members apply for their visas alongside you and file for their residence permits within eight days of arrival. They can also join later through family reunification.

Does the family increase the investment?

No. One qualifying investment covers the whole family. Each member adds their own visa and permit fees and their own document and legal costs, and €50,000 a year each if the flat tax is elected for them.

Families who plan the Investor Visa for Italy well tend to start with the relatives whose eligibility is certain, gather the civil documents early, and treat the dependency cases for adult children and parents as separate questions with their own evidence and their own advice. The tax decision for each family member is separate again. It is the one most worth taking advice on before the move. If you would like to talk through how your household fits the rules, 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.