Italian National - US Immigration E2 visa, L1 Visa

E2 TREATY INVESTOR VISA FOR AN ITALIAN NATIONAL

Italians are eligible to get a 5-year E-2 Treaty Investor visa which would allow them to be in the U.S. to develop and direct their E-2 company. For every entry on a valid E-2 visa, one can get a period of authorized stay of 2 years. E-2 visa applications are filed directly with the Embassies and Consulates unlike other visa categories, which require prior approval of a petition by USCIS. For a period of time after COVID, applicants had to wait for up to a year to get an appointment for the interview. Now, it appears that they are slowly getting back to normal. For our most recent client, the wait time was around 3 months only from the time of submission of the application.

Looking for an US immigration lawyer? Request free consultation at Davies & Associates or find our closest location around the world. 

This article has been written by Verdie J. Atienza, Esq., Senior Immigration Attorney, Head of E-2 and L-1 Visas Practice Team at Davies & Associates, New York Office.

Verdie J. Atienza is a Senior Attorney in charge of the firm’s L-1 and E-2 visa practice. He is a dual qualified lawyer in New York and in the Philippines and is qualified to practice immigration law in any state in the United States. 

 


Italy Reopens to Travel – Options for Immigration

Here’s How to Renovate Your Home in Italy for Free

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 1, 2021: THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT HAS EXTENDED THE SUPERBONUS PROGRAM TO THE END OF 2022.

Italy’s government is offering a 110% tax credit on certain renovation projects, which essentially means getting to improve your home for free. The so-called “Super Bonus” is available until the end of the year with a chance of it being extended.

Renovations projects eligible for the Italian tax Super Bonus include:

  • Home insulation
  • Centralized heating systems in a condominium
  • Single home heating systems
  • Seismic improvements

The credit can also be extended to the following projects if linked to the above projects:

  • Solar panels
  • Electric car charging points
  • Other energy efficiency project

Who is eligible for the Super Bonus

The superbonus is not only individuals that are eligible, but also condominiums and amateur sports associations. For seismic improvements, the property must be located in a qualifying municipality.

Super Bonus Limits

According to Nicolò Bolla, our Italian tax adviser based in Parma, Italy, the maximum credit depends upon the type of work involved. In a post, he details some of these caps.

  • Insulation (external coating, floor insulation) cap is  € 50,000 per house or € 40,000 per unit inside a condominium.
  • Centralized heating systems in a condominium attracts a tax credit capped at € 20,000 per house unit as long as the condominium has eight units or fewer or € 15,000 in apartment buildings with more than eight units.
  • In home heating systems (a single unit) the tax credit is capped at € 30,000.
  • The cap on seismic structural improvements is € 96.000 per house unit underscoring both the expense and importance of such a renovation.

How is the Credit Applied

The credit is applied at 110% of the value of the expenditure up to the caps listed above. The credit can be used to offset the tax payable over the next five years.

So if you spend €30,000 upgrading your home heating system, the 100% tax credit amounts to €33,000. Spread that over five years is €6,600 per year credited against your tax.

Trading your Tax Credit

You are permitted to trade the tax credit with a third party resident in Italy. You can also trade the credit with your contractor provided the amount is credited against the payment for the work itself. The credit can be traded partially or in full.

Sworn Statement

You must obtain a sworn statement to be able to utilize the Super Bonus from both a certified accountant and a certified engineer. We advise you to speak with our Italian tax specialist. Any expenses related to obtaining the expenses can also be deducted as part of the Super Bonus (provided you have not already exceeded the cap).

Italian Tax & Property Services

Italy is an attractive place to establish your residence. The Italian government offers various tax credits to attract Retirees, Self-employed Workers, and High-Net-Worth Individuals to establish their tax residency in Italy. Read all about these tax benefits here. Our firm also works with the One Euro Home Project. Watch our expert webinar on One Euro Homes below.

Visit our Italy Practice Group Home Page for all your information about immigration to and from Italy.

This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.


Italy Reopens to Travel – Options for Immigration

Italy Reopens to Travel – What are the Options for Immigration?

The Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has just announced that Italy is to reopen its borders from the middle of May as it seeks to welcome back people who have been vaccinated or can produce a negative Covid-19 test. The main aim is to welcome back tourists ahead of the summer season, but it is also good news for anyone seeking a move to the country.

So what are the options for your Italian dream?

Italian Residency Options

Our firm’s most popular Italian visa is the Elective Residency Visa. This offers Italian residency to anyone who can prove they have a minimum of €32,000/year earned outside Italy to live on, and who can also find qualifying accommodation. The visa route was temporarily shut as a result of Covid, but it is now reopen and Italian embassies and consulates are welcoming applications once again.

In order to attract more people to its shores, Italy also offers an advantageous tax residency program. Pensioners are eligible for a flat tax of 7% on their overseas income (e.g. their pensions), high-net-worth individuals can avail themselves of a flat tax of €100,000 per annum, and certain workers can reduce their tax burden by 70% for the first five years they work in Italy. Conditions inevitably apply, please view our Italian Tax Residency page for more details.

Another way to quickly obtain Italian residency is through investment. The Italian government offers various cost-effective investment pathways. This includes and investment in a start-up, government bonds, or philanthropic donations. The starting investment requirement is just €250,000 and increases to a maximum of €2 million depending on the type of investment.

Italian Citizenship

It is possible to naturalize as an Italian citizen by virtue of ancestry or residency. Anyone who can document an appropriate Italian ancestor can apply for Italian citizenship. There are millions people in Brazil, Argentina, Venezeula, Mexico and the United States who are eligible for this visa.

Alternatively, if you establish your residence in Italy, for example through the Elective Residency Visa or the Investor Visa, it is possible to eventually become a citizen of Italy. European Union citizens only require two years’ residency in Italy before being eligible for citizens, for people from the rest of the world, you must wait ten years. The situation for British citizens is more complicated because of Brexit. We advise you to speak to our team for clarification on this.

Italian Property

Buying property in Italy can be complicated by bureacracy. Our Italy team can help you navigate each step of the process providing a reliable, bilingual partner to make sure you make the best decisions. Watch the webinar we hosted on the One Euro home program. We gathered key experts on Italy’s €1 Home to provide rounded advice to people thinking of taking advantage of the program.


This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.


New Italian “Permit of Stay” for Victims of Natural Disasters

By Matteo Tisato, Senior Immigration Analyst, Italy Practice Group.

A new Italian permit of stay (permesso di soggiorno) can be obtained by those who have been affected by severe natural disasters or other calamities in their countries.

Italy and Sweden are the only countries offering this specific protection. In general, persons eligible for this immigration status are third-country nationals who, while not fulfilling the criteria for refugee or subsidiary protection, could not be returned to their country of origin because of environmental circumstances.

Our Italian team in Florence and Rome can now assist you in applying for this permit. The competent Italian authority will make a determination based on the documentation provided at time of filing and will independently check the current situation of your country of origin. Unfortunately, the processing time to obtain this permit is still unclear. This Permit solution is valid for a period of 6 months and can be extended until the situation in those countries improves and it is safe for you to travel back.

If the Immigration authority does not extend your status, you may qualify for different permits and change your status while you are in the country. For sample, you can change your status to work, student, or family permits.

The Permit for natural disasters and calamities gives you extensive rights, including work authorization in Italy, enrolment in the Italian health care system (SSN), and access to the Italian public education system.

Our team in Florence and our Italian desk in Miami are already working on these solutions and are available to answer all your questions.  

This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.


Italy’s Annual Quota for Non-EU Migrant Workers Tops 30,000 in 2020

By Matteo Tisato

Each year the Italian government announces how many working visas will be available under its “quota system”. The government releases a Flow Decree establishing a number of available working visas across two main categories.

For 2020 there will be a total of 30,850 non-European workers who will be able to enter Italy regularly.

The 30,850 visa quota is split as follows:

  1. 12,850 visas are available to non-seasonal subordinate jobs, and self-employers, of which 6,150 working permits are available to those who are already in Italy and apply for the conversion of their Permit of Stay (Permesso di Soggiorno);
  2. 18,000 visas are available to seasonal workers in the transportation, constructions, and tourism fields, of which 4.500 are reserved for those coming from Albania, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Korea, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Philippines, Gambia, Ghana, Japan, India, Kosovo, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Moldova, Montenegro, Niger, Nigeria,  North Macedonia, Senegal, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine. For 2020/2021, three more countries have been included: Bangladesh, Pakistan, and El Salvador. Of this category, a sub quota of 6,000 permits are limited those working in the agricultural field. 100 visas are available for those who resides in Venezuela and have at least one Italian ancestor.

There are many different reasons our clients want to move to the boot-shaped peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea.

  • working
  • establishing residency / desire to live in Italy
  • investment opportunities in the real estate market
  • studying and cultural experiences
  • retirement
  • tax benefits

Of all of these, work is one of the most popular motivations. A good 25% of people who contact us are interested in moving to Italy because of its employment opportunities and fair labour conditions.

We all know Covid-19 has had a catastrophic impact on the employment rate in Europe and worldwide. Even before the pandemic, Italy was still struggling to recover from a deep economic crisis, which hit the youth employment especially badly.

However, over the last 2 years, the government made up a series of reforms to the labour market, also allowing people to retire earlier.

For those foreigners who have an employer available in sponsoring them, the Italian labour market offers excellent rights and public benefits.

Benefits of being employed in the Italian labour market

  • First, each employer is insured under the Italian Social Security legislation;
  • Second, the average working week does not exceed 40 hours and overtime is forbidden when it exceeds 250 hours per year;
  • Third, each employer is entitled to have at least a month (four weeks) of paid annual leave, and 11 public holiday days;
  • Fourth, the parental leave is very well regulated in Italy and both mothers and fathers can take a leave up to six months until the child turns 12;
  • Fifth, in case a contract is terminated, all the employees are entitled to a very well-regulated and extensive severance pay;
  • Sixth, workers are entitled to sick leave with full remuneration (most of the time) and have the right to maintain their job while they are sick.

Contact our Italy Team to discuss in greater detail.

This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.


Positano Italy

Podcast: Chasing the Italian Dream: Residency & Citizenship Options

Matteo Tisato, Senior Immigration Analyst at Davies & Associates takes you through various options for moving to Italy, including:

The Italian Investor Visa.

Matteo discusses recent changes to the Investor Visa. The Italian Investor visa has long been considered uncompetitive on price in relation to other, similar European programs. To attract more high-net-worth individuals as a result of Covid. The government has halved the minimum investment requirement of certain investor visa criteria. The pathway to citizenship is also discussed.

The Elective Residency Visa

Matteo discusses the benefits of one of the most popular visas for people looking to work or retire in Italy. The core requirement of the Elective Residency visa is to rent or lease a house and have an income of 32,000 Euros or more.

Italian Citizenship Through Ancestry

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Italy experienced mass migration on a vast scale. Many people around the world, especially in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina, can claim Italian citizenship through an ancestor. Matteo talks us through the main requirements, including the need to provide documentation to support the claim.

EU Blue Card

The European Union offers a “blue card” program to attract highly skilled workers from around the world. So-named to infer a link to the US Green Card. As you will hear, it is actually more similar to the H-1B visa.

Italian Tax

The Italian tax system can be daunting even to the initiated. Many of our clients want to know the best way to structure their taxes when moving to Italy from abroad. Italy has recently made it more attractive for workers, retirees and high net worth individual to become tax resident.

Hosted by Duncan Hill. Neither Duncan nor Matteo are licensed lawyers in the US or Italy and nothing in this blog constitutes legal advice. Contact Davies & Associates to discuss your circumstances with an attorney.


E-2 US visa for Brazilan Nations

The Italian Dream is now Half Price

The Italian government is reducing key investment requirements for its Investor Visa by 50%.

By Matteo Tisato, Senior Immigration Analyst, D&A Italy

Just yesterday, the Italian Parliament passed into law a governmental Decree with a number of measures aimed at relaunching the Italian economy as a response to the dramatic impact that the Covid-19 health emergency had on the Italian and global economy.

In particular, the Italian government has taken actions in order to attract and encourage foreign capitals and investments from abroad, by reducing by 50% some of the minimum thresholds of the “Investor Visa for Italy”. 

In light of the above said, citizens from all around the world are now entitled to apply for and obtain this visa and its related Permesso di Soggiorno (Permit of Stay) by performing one of the following investments in the country:

• at least 250.000 Euros (previously was 500.000 Euros) in an innovative start-up company incorporated in Italy; 

• at least 500.000 Euros (previously was 1 Million Euros) in equity instruments of companies incorporated and operating in Italy; 

• at least 2 million Euros in Government Bonds issued by the Italian Republic (no changes in the new law)

• philanthropic donations of at least 1 million Euros, in the field of culture, education, immigration, scientific research, recovery of cultural assets and landscapes. (no changes)

The above change in the law does not affect the practical aspects of the procedure. Once the Investor Visa has been issued, the investor (and their family) is entitled to enter Italy and to apply for the Permesso di Soggiorno (permit of stay), which will be issued on the sole condition that the applicant performs one of the above-listed investments within 3 months after the date of first entry in the country. 

The Permesso is issued for an initial period of 2 years and can be renewed for further periods of 3 years, provided that the investment has been fully executed according to the Italian Immigration Law

The steps for obtaining the citizenship of Italy, which is the 3rd largest economy in the European Union, and the 8th largest by nominal GDP in the world, can be quite extended unless all the documents are prepared in accordance with the requirements imposed by the Italian authorities. 

If you think of applying for the Investor Visa for Italy, contact our offices in Florence or Miami, and our attorneys will assist you step by step with this process.

[email protected]

This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients.