Italian Adventures – We Bought a House in Italy!

I have have been a member of the Smart Move Italy family since the Fall of 2021 when I signed up for their Move to Italy Bootcamp. I didn’t need help in finding a home, I already had a team for that, and we were well on our way of achieving our goal. But I wanted to learn as much as I could about life in Italy. You only know what you know, and I wanted to know SO much more!

The Bootcamp is intersting, extremely helfpul, and often fun. We did a virtual cooking class with a lovely, if not a littke kooky, woman in Sicily and the group of people participating were all fun. There was even a couple from Seattle! My daughter and I poured ourselves glasses of Prosecco and were ready to fully enjoy the experience.

I have remained an alumni member of the group, as it provides me with access to additional resources, information and activities. I am currently working with the SMI team in obtaining my Digital Nomad Visa.

DNV…what’s that?! I often hear. Well, Italy was one of the last (if not the last) EU country to adopt this type of Visa. It became available in April 2024, but in the true Italian bureaucratic way, it was chaos. The Consulates were not prepared, did not have all of the requirements, and horror stories abounded. In my opinion, one has to expect this when you want to be first in line for something like this. As for me, I will sit back and see what happens. Plus, this gives me time to understand if this is something I want to pursue and what are the implications of doing so that I truly need to consider.

Most people looking to move to Italy pursue their Elective Residency Visa (ERV). This is not an option for me, at least not for several more years, as you have to be retired with no active income, and you have to be able to demonstrate enough money in your retirement accounts, pensions, etc. to support you life in Italy.

Fast forward to summer 2025 and story after story appeared of how much easier the process is, how easy it is to find all of the required documentation by Consulate, and more. Now that the kinks have been worked out (for the most part, as every Consulate is different), it was time to get more information. Just a few short weeks after I began my research, in comes an email from SMI regarding the Digital Nomad Visa. I opened it immediately!

They offered up a wealth of information, along with two paths for support. A basic DIY kit for those who felt confident enough to jump in and do it all themselves, and a softer, more hand-holding guided option to work with their team of experts. Once again, investing in myself, I opted for the hand-held approach. But first, I scheduled a call with the team to truly understand if I was eligible, what the potential tax consequences might be, any implications for my employer, and anything else I needed to be aware of. As Sam put it…You are a perferct candidate for the DNV. YAY!

So I had an introductory Zoom call with the two experts assigned to assist me, walking me through the required documentation, discussing timelines, setting realistic expectations, and so much more. Soon after I received a link to the Trello board they created to help keep my organizaed and on the right track. They made this super easy.

So where am I today (Dec. 31, 2025)? Still in the process. In early November, I successfully obtained an appointment with the Consulate in San Francisco, the consulate for my jurisdiction. I was SO excited, as I have frequently heard that the hardest part of the process is securing an appointment with the Consulate! My date was set for March 4, 2026 at 1:00pm PST. YAY! On the Consulate website it indicated average processing time of 7-15 days, which had me even more excited, as I was planning on leaving for Italy at the end of March so I could spend Easter there and hit the giant antique market in Greve in Chianti on Pasquetta (Easter Monday).

However, the SMI team, being the experts that they are, cautioned me to book a changable ticket, as the consulate generally takes up to 90 days and legally have up to 120 days to render their decision. WHAT?! I poured back through my notes, as I was certain I had been told that they have up to 30 days to render their decision. Now I am in a quandry. What to do???

Here’s my dilemma. Once you submit your application with the Consulate, they keep your passport until a decision is made, as they then attach the visa to your passport before sending it back to you. SOooooo, if they took longer than the 3 weeks I was hoping for, I wouldn’t have a passport to board my flight or enter Italy. Hmmmmm.

The SMI team suggested looking into a second passport. Is this really a thing? It turns out Yes. It’s intended for people in similar situations as mine, when the Consulate has your passport but you need to travel. Now comes my second dilemma, one far more stress inducing.

What if I go to my appointment on March 4th, turn in all of my documentation and passport, and obtain a second passport so I could travel to Italy for the spring…seems straightforward enough. Not So Fast! What if I am in Italy when the Consulate approves my visa and returns my passport but I am in Italy so have no access to the original passport and newly obtained visa? Would it create any complications for me when trying to return home? What impact would this have on my visa itself, and my timeline for applying for my Permesso di Soggiorno (PdS – permission to stay in Italy)?

Once the visa is issued, the clock starts on its one year period. That, in and of itself doesn’t seem like that big of a problem. However, once I have the visa and travel back to Italy, I have 8 business days to submit my application for my PdS and book an appointment with the Questura for fingerprinting. If I can’t do all of this in the spring while I am in Italy, I would have to either wait until I went back in the Fall or book a second trip over the summer. And you never know how far out your appointment with the Questura will be. Sometimes it’s within weeks, maybe a few months, and other times, it can take a full year. I have read countless stories of couples who have gotten their ERV, filed for their PdS, and have to restart the filing process before they ever actually get their residency card. OOF!

Couple this with working full time, traveling for business, taking care of a house in both the US and in Italy, and finding time to spend with my family and friends. After several restless nights, I cancelled my Consulate appointment and decided I would play the login game every day until I can find an appointment in early June. My flight back to Italy isn’t until August 29th so this feels like the best plan.

So what are the benefits of having a visa and a Permesso di Soggiorno, you ask? Once I have my PdS, I am no longer bound to the Schengen zone rules, restricting my ability to be in any EU country for more than 90 days in a rolling 180 day period. Keeping track of this takes time and a lot of planning, and with the new ETIAS coming into effect the Fall of 2026, the electronic tracking system will be far more exacting than a border patrol agent stamping my passport.

Currently I am always in Italy in April & May, and then again in Sept & Oct, with a few wrap around days at the beginning or end of these time periods. I also like to be in Italy for a few weeks in January to check on the house and open things up a bit, let the fresh air in and keep the damp out.

Once I have my PdS, I can stay in Italy for as long as I want, even forever, as long as I have my resdency. If I stay longer than 183 days within a given year, then I am considered a tax resident, which comes with several more complications regarding paying taxes in both the US and Italy. For this I would hire a Commercialista who is an expert in both Italian and US tax rules.

I would love to have my US neighbors, who are essentially family now, come and visit Italy and enjoy Casale Giulietta, but due to the kids school schedules, that could only happen in the summer – a time I can’t currently be there given my travel schedule.

The other ‘perk’ is that I can legally buy a car! You got that right!! I can buy a house but I can NOT buy a car without some form of citizenship or residency. This would save me a LOT of money, as rental car prices continue to go up and up and up.

SO many things to consider. But I am in pursuit and have 90% of my documentation ready. I am waiting for the return of some translated documents and then I will finalize the financial documents & cover letter when it gets within 30-45 days of my Consulate appointment. Until then, I can simply relax, knowing I am on the right path and have the SMI team on my side.

Getting back to the Feature…about quarterly, the SMI team works with a videographer to create little video vignettes of people who have made the leap and moved to Italy, whether part time or full time. They asked if I would be interested and I said yes. So near the end of October 2025, 2 days before I was set to fly back to Seattle, Marco came for the day, shot a ton of video footage of the house, garden and surrounding area, and conducted a thorough interview. All in all, it took about 5 hours so I was wondering how they would edit it down to a 15-20 minute segment. But they did! The link to the video is provided below.

Smart Move Italy YouTube channel and Fall feature.