If you’re planning to move to Italy with children, you can expect to deal with more than ‘just’ the usual challenges that come with relocating to the country.
Besides complicated bureaucracy, house-hunting hurdles and the language barrier, you’ll also have to navigate the specifics of family life and children’s education in a new environment and culture.
And if you don’t have a qualified professional helping you with all the necessary requirements and paperwork, it’s important to give yourself enough time to work through everything before moving.
That said, Italy is a very child-friendly place to live in.
Cities tend to have a wealth of cultural offerings for kids, who are rarely excluded from adult spaces, and locals, especially Italian nonni and nonne, will never pass up a chance to say hello to your little ones.
Here are five essential things to know when moving to Italy with children – from visas to schooling and healthcare.
You’ll need visas for your whole family
If you’re planning to start a new life in Italy with your children and spouse, you must ensure that you all meet the necessary visa requirements to enter the country.
This can take plenty of paperwork and consulate visits, so start as early as you can and be patient.
Italian family visas allow immediate relatives – barring brothers and sisters – to join anyone who’s already legally residing in Italy and receive long-term residency.
There are two types of family visas (ricongiungimento familiare) in Italy: family reunification visas (riunificazione familiare) and family cohesion visas (coesione familiare).
Citizens of countries that aren't allowed a 90-day tourist visa to enter Italy can follow a family member who’s already a legal Italian resident under a family reunification visa.
The Italian resident must first request a visa authorisation (nulla osta) through the Interior Ministry’s online platform. Upon approval of the nulla osta, the family members looking to move to Italy must apply for the reunification visa at the Italian embassy or consulate in their home country.
Citizens of visa-free nations can enter Italy on an automatic 90-day tourist visa (you don’t have to apply for this) and then start the application process for a family cohesion visa once in the country. This will be done through the questura (police headquarters) in the relevant Italian province.
For both visa routes, if you are ‘bringing’ your spouse and children to Italy, you will need to have legal residency (meaning a valid permesso di soggiorno) before your family members can apply for a family visa.
Remember: their stay in the country is conditional on yours, and you will be asked to demonstrate that you meet a number of residency, housing and income requirements.
Documents required for family visa applications include marriage and birth certificates (these must be translated into Italian and notarised), proof that you can financially support your children and spouse while living in Italy, proof of housing and the Italian resident’s permesso di soggiorno.
Finding your new home may take quite a bit of research
When choosing where to live, consider proximity to schools, parks and essential services for your children.
If you’re moving to a major Italian city, everything will be relatively close by, but picking the right neighbourhood can be a daunting task.
One good way to whittle down your options is to find groups of international residents on social media and ask for advice on which parts of a city are best suited for families.
If you’re planning to move to a smaller town or rural area, it’s advisable to do some research on where the nearest schools are located, as well as available transport options.
While major urban centres around Italy tend to have fairly robust public transport networks, countryside areas generally have very limited services, with just the occasional bus passing by once every hour.
Once you’ve found the perfect location for you and your family, you’ll also have to choose between buying and renting a property.
This can be a difficult decision to make as both routes have significant benefits and drawbacks.
You’ll have to get familiar with a new schooling system
Italy offers a range of educational options, including public, private and international schools.
However, enrolling your child in a private or international institution will in most cases only be possible in a major urban centre, as the more rural areas of the peninsula only offer public schools.
But even if you relocate to a big city in Italy, it’s worth noting that private and international schools tend to have registration requirements which will need to be met in order to complete enrolment.
Lessons in public schools are taught in Italian, but some institutions (especially those located in cities with high numbers of foreign nationals) may offer language support for non-Italian-speaking children.
Children in Italy are required to attend school from the age of six, with the Italian school year running from early September to early June.
If you have children younger than that, there are public day nurseries (asili nido) and pre-schools (scuole dell'infanzia). These are usually open from late August to the end of July.
Public day care can be difficult to access in Italy due to limited availability. This means that parents often have to turn to expensive private nurseries.
According to the latest available data, a one-child household in Italy spends an average of €303 a month for a full-time place (around ten hours a day, five days a week) at a public asilo nido. A full-time place (ten hours a day) at a private nursery can cost as much as €620 a month.
Weigh up your healthcare options
As residency permit holders, you and the rest of your family will be entitled to register with Italy’s National Healthcare System (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, or SSN).
READ ALSO: SSN: Who can register for national healthcare in Italy?
Registration with the SSN will give you access to the same healthcare services available to Italian citizens, and under the same conditions (basic services such as doctor's visits are free of charge, whereas more complex forms of care and diagnostic tests are provided under a co-pay system).
Registering with the public healthcare system doesn’t mean you won’t be able to turn to private facilities, or even take out a private insurance plan for your family.
Though services won’t come cheap, private healthcare comes with non-negligible advantages including far shorter wait times and the option to choose the specialist you’d like to be referred to.
It’s worth noting here that children in Italy are required to have certain vaccinations under national health laws.
These are offered free of charge within the public healthcare system, and at a cost in the private sector.
Your child will need help navigating the new culture and language
For children attending lessons in Italian, it may be helpful to enrol them in extracurricular activities for additional Italian practice and further integration into the local community.
Popular sports for young kids in Italy include football, swimming, tennis and gymnastics.
You can expect the move to Italy to be a bit of a shock for your children, meaning they might enjoy a taste of their former home every so often.
Joining local groups of foreign parents and children can help make the transition smoother.
Many cities have family-focused communities of international residents that can provide advice on everything from childcare and healthcare to adapting to Italian culture.
You can search for groups on Facebook and other social media platforms, or on websites such as Internations or Meetup.
Even if your child attends a public school, contacting the nearest international school in your area may help you find social and cultural opportunities involving other foreign residents with kids.
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