Elective residency — the visa route for people with no work income

A visa route for people who want to live in Italy without working, on stable income from pensions, annuities, real estate, a stable business, or other non-employment sources — not less than roughly €31,000 a year for a single applicant, computed as three times the base annual subsistence amount a 2000 ministerial table sets. Unlike the 7% pensioner regime and the regime impatriati, this is NOT a tax break: it carries no reduced rate or exemption of any kind. It is the residency requirement itself — the test for whether someone is even allowed to relocate to Italy without a job — and ordinary Italian taxation applies in full to anyone who qualifies.

Who qualifies

• Does not intend to carry out any work activity in Italy, subordinate or otherwise — the visa is granted specifically on the basis of not working.
• Has 'ample, stable and regular' economic resources, whose continuity can reasonably be presumed for the future, not less than approximately €31,000 a year for a single applicant — three times the base annual subsistence amount set by a 2000 ministerial directive (see meta.verificationNotes for the exact derivation).
• Those resources come from pensions or annuities, ownership of real estate, ownership of a stable business or commercial activity, or another source other than employment income — not from a job.
• Can show a dwelling in Italy to elect as residence — owned, or under a rental agreement (or another arrangement a consulate accepts).
• A cohabiting spouse and minor or dependent adult children living with the applicant may be included on the same visa, provided the same financial resources are judged adequate to support them too — no fixed additional amount per person was found in the primary sources (see meta.verificationNotes).