Italy retirement visa: pension, 7% tax, healthcare

Italy has no visa called a retirement visa: retirees use the elective residence visa D, from about 31,000 euro a year. Documents, 7% tax, healthcare.

Italy has no visa called a "retirement visa". People who want to retire to Italy apply for the national type D visa for elective residence (residenza elettiva): it is issued to someone who can live in Italy on their own stable income that does not come from work (a pension, an annuity, rent, investment income) and it does not allow any work in the country. The legal minimum is about 31,000 euro a year for the main applicant, you need a registered lease or a deed for a home in Italy, and within 8 working days of arrival you apply for the permesso di soggiorno. On top of the visa, Italy offers foreign pensioners a 7% flat tax if they settle in a small town in the South. Below are the rules from official pages, checked on 30.09.2026. The visa itself, its pitfalls and renewals are covered in the elective residence visa guide; this page is about retiring on a pension. This is not legal or tax advice.

In short (official pages, checked 30.09.2026)

The visa: national visa D for elective residence; no work allowed; for applicants "planning to move permanently to Italy" (Italian Consulate General in London).
Income: at least 30,539.55 euro a year by the legal formula; consulates say "about 31,000 euro" (Paris) and "around 31,000 euro per person" for families (New York).
What counts: pensions, annuities, rent from property, investment and stable business income in your own name; income from employment does not.
Home: a lease or deed registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate; hotel bookings and hospitality letters are not accepted (Los Angeles).
After arrival: the permesso di soggiorno within 8 working days, then residency registration and a renewal every one or two years.
Tax: 7% on all foreign income for nine years if you move to a town of up to 30,000 inhabitants in eight southern regions (Agenzia delle Entrate, page updated 8 May 2026).
Healthcare: voluntary SSN enrolment from 2,000 euro a year, or the S1 form for UK State Pension holders.

Is there a retirement visa in Italy?

Not under that name. The list of Italian national visas has no "retirement" or "pensioner" type. The visa that retirees use is the elective residence visa, which the Italian consulates in the US and the UK publish under names like "Elective residency visa" or "Elective residence". Its legal basis is point 13 of Annex A to interministerial decree No. 850 of 11 May 2011. It is not only for pensioners: anyone who lives on passive income can apply, but a pension is the clearest kind of income for it.

The consulates describe the visa in almost the same words:

it is for people with "high self-sustaining incomes and financial assets" who have a real need to live in Italy stably and can show a steady income not from subordinate work (London, New York);
it is issued only to people who plan to move to Italy permanently and does not allow work (London);
it is not for extended tourism or for joining relatives who took temporary jobs in Italy (Los Angeles).

A spouse, minor children and dependent adult children who live with the parents can get the same visa, if the applicant's resources are judged enough for them too.

If you are not sure that elective residence is your route, the route matcher asks five questions and suggests the basis for a visa D:

Italian residence route matcherFive questions show the best-fit permit: lavoro autonomo, digital nomad, residenza elettiva or family.

How much pension income do you need?

Decree 850/2011 gives a formula, not a round sum: the resources must be at least three times the yearly amount in Table A of the Interior Ministry directive of 1 March 2000. That table has not changed since 2000, so the floor barely moves:

What	Amount	Source
Legal minimum (three yearly Table A amounts)	30,539.55 euro a year	decree 850/2011, point 13; questura renewal sheets
What a European consulate says	"approximately 31,000 euros", "only a starting point"	Italian Consulate General in Paris
Families	"typically around 31,000 euro per person"	Italian Consulate General in New York
Proof asked	official letters from banks, financial institutions, pension or Social Security institutes, plus the last 2 years of income tax returns	consulates in New York, Los Angeles and London

Three points that matter for retirees:

The pension must be in your own name. New York writes that the financial means "must be directly in the applicant's name" and cannot come from any form of employment.
"Starting point" means the consulate looks at the whole picture, not only whether you clear a line. A pension plus savings plus a paid-off home reads better than a pension exactly at the floor.
Work income never counts, not even part-time consulting. If you still work remotely, look at the digital nomad visa instead.

Estimate whether your income clears the threshold for your family:

Income & tax calculatorIs your income enough for the permit? Compare to the threshold and estimate forfettario tax + INPS.

What documents do retirees file?

Each consulate publishes its own list. The core is the same in the US and the UK (pages read on 30.09.2026):

Document	Details	Where it says so
National visa application form	signed in person at the consulate or visa centre	all
Passport	valid at least 3 months beyond the visa, two blank pages; the consulate keeps it until the decision	London, New York, Los Angeles
Proof of residence in the consular district	for non-citizens: a UK residence permit and eVisa share code, or a US green card	London, New York, Los Angeles
Proof of income	official letters on pensions, annuities, investments, property income; last 2 tax returns	London, New York, Los Angeles
Home in Italy	a lease or deed in your name, registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate; multiple bookings and hospitality letters are not accepted	New York, Los Angeles, London
Letter of motivation	why you move, for how long, where you will live, who comes with you	London, Los Angeles
One-way ticket reservation	printed from the carrier	London, Los Angeles
Fingerprints	taken from all national visa applicants since 11 January 2025	Los Angeles
Health insurance	the Paris consulate asks for cover of at least 30,000 euro with unlimited hospitalisation and repatriation	Paris
Marriage and birth certificates	for a spouse and children	London

You apply at the Italian consulate that covers the place where you legally live, not at any consulate you choose. In the UK all visa applications go through the Consulate General in London and its partner VFS Global (the details are in moving to Italy from the UK). Foreign documents may need an apostille and a sworn translation, see document legalization.

After arrival: the permesso and renewals

Within 8 working days of entry you apply for the permesso di soggiorno for elective residence through the postal KIT. According to the questura sheet for elective residence, the first issue costs a 16 euro revenue stamp and a 70.46 euro payment slip; a renewal costs 80.46 euro for a permit of one to two years, and the post office charges 30 euro for sending the envelope. For the renewal you show again the income, the home in the province and a health policy or proof of voluntary SSN enrolment. Since 4 June 2026 a renewal is filed no later than 90 days before the card expires. Step by step: the KIT and the permesso and permesso renewal.

Fill the KIT (Mod. 209)Field-by-field over the real Modulo 209: what to write, an example and a tip per field, by motive.

After the permesso you register your residence with the comune (anagrafe), get a codice fiscale and set up healthcare. After 5 years of legal residence you can apply for the EU long-term residence permit.

Healthcare for retirees in Italy

Your situation	How you are covered	Source
Applying for the visa	private health policy for the whole stay	consulates
Elective residence, no S1	voluntary SSN enrolment, at least 2,000 euro a year since 2024, or private insurance; voluntary members get no Italian EHIC	2024 budget law; gov.uk "Healthcare for UK nationals living in Italy"
UK State Pension holder	an S1 form from NHS Overseas Healthcare Services, registered with the local ASL: care on the same basis as an Italian citizen, plus a UK-issued GHIC for travel	gov.uk

Voluntary enrolment covers GP visits, emergency care and hospital stays; specialist visits, tests and many medicines carry a co-payment (the "ticket"). More in SSN and the tessera sanitaria.

Taxes: the 7% regime for foreign pensioners

The Agenzia delle Entrate describes an optional regime for people who receive a pension from a foreign payer and move their tax residence to Italy (page updated 8 May 2026, read on 30.09.2026):

a 7% substitute tax replaces IRPEF on all income produced abroad, for each of nine tax years;
you must move to a comune with no more than 30,000 inhabitants in Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia, Campania, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise or Puglia; the limit is 30,000 since 7 April 2026, it used to be 20,000;
towns of the same size hit by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake or the 2016 central Italy earthquakes also qualify;
the population is the ISTAT figure at 1 January of the year before the first year of the option;
you must not have been an Italian tax resident for at least five tax years before, and your last tax residence must be in a country with a tax cooperation agreement with Italy;
you opt in with the Italian tax return for the year you move.

The legal basis is art. 24-ter TUIR (from 01.01.2027 the same rule sits in art. 247 of D.Lgs. 117/2026). Without the regime a tax resident pays ordinary progressive IRPEF on worldwide income and reports foreign accounts and assets in the RW schedule. Which country taxes your pension depends on the tax treaty: under the 1988 UK-Italy convention, pensions for past employment and annuities are taxed only in the country of residence, while UK government-service pensions stay taxable in the UK unless you are an Italian national (arts. 18 and 19, text on gov.uk). For the US treaty, ask a cross-border tax adviser before you move. Very large incomes have their own option, see the flat tax for new residents, and the general rules are in taxes in Italy. This is not tax advice.

What the chats say

The community behind this site writes in Russian, and pensioners there mostly discuss other things. In the chat archive of 2023-2026 we found 25 messages that tie pensioners to a visa or a move; most are about tourist Schengen visas for retired parents, not about retiring in Italy. Members do call elective residence the "pensioner permit", and in a 2024 thread a holder with a bond portfolio described it that way. In 2026 a member wrote that the visa was designed with retirees from the US with Italian roots in mind; that is an opinion, not an official statement. The 7% regime appears in the chats almost not at all: we found no first-hand report of anyone using it. The practical pitfalls members did report (the 183-day tax trap, residency registration at renewal, online banks blocking accounts during renewal) are collected in the elective residence visa guide.

Retiring to Italy: which route fits

Your situation	Route	Where to read
You live on a pension or other passive income	elective residence visa D	this page and the elective residence guide
You still work remotely for clients or an employer abroad	digital nomad or remote worker visa	digital nomad
Your child already lives legally in Italy	family reunification may be possible for parents	family
You plan to invest a large sum in Italy	investor visa	investor visa
You are a UK citizen	the same visas, plus S1, the licence exchange and the UK-Italy treaty	moving to Italy from the UK

Buying a home does not by itself give a residence permit, see the property myth.

Elective residence visa Italy: income, documents - the visa in full, pitfalls and renewal.
Residenza elettiva requirements and documents - the threshold, the document lists and the KIT.
Italy long stay visa (visa D): choosing your route - how the visa D bases compare.
Moving to Italy from the UK - visa, S1, driving licence and tax for UK citizens.
How to move to Italy: step-by-step plan - from the visa to residency and a bank.

Official sources

Elective residence, Italian Consulate General in London: conslondra.esteri.it
Elective residency, Italian Consulate General in New York: consnewyork.esteri.it
Elective residency visa, Italian Consulate General in Los Angeles: conslosangeles.esteri.it
Residenza elettiva, Italian Consulate General in Paris: consparigi.esteri.it
The 7% regime for foreign pensioners: agenziaentrate.gov.it
Permesso for elective residence, questura sheet: questure.poliziadistato.it
Healthcare and the S1 form: gov.uk
UK-Italy double taxation convention: gov.uk

Frequently asked questions

Does Italy have a retirement visa?

Not under that name. Retirees apply for the national (type D) visa for elective residence, residenza elettiva: it goes to people who live on their own stable income that does not come from work, such as pensions, annuities or rent, and it does not allow any work in Italy. Italian consulates in the US and the UK publish it as the elective residence visa. This is not legal advice.

How much pension income do you need to retire in Italy?

The law sets a formula: at least three times the yearly amount in Table A of the Interior Ministry directive of 1 March 2000, which comes to 30,539.55 euro a year. The consulate in Paris calls it about 31,000 euro and only a starting point, and the consulate in New York expects around 31,000 euro per person for family applications. Checked on 30.09.2026; this is not legal advice.

Can I work in Italy on a retirement (elective residence) visa?

No. The consulates in London, New York and Los Angeles all state that the elective residence visa does not allow any work in Italy and that income from employment is not counted. Pensions, annuities, rent from property and investment income are what counts. This is not legal advice.

What is the 7% tax for retirees in Italy?

An optional regime of the Agenzia delle Entrate for people with foreign pensions who move their tax residence to a town of up to 30,000 inhabitants (since 7 April 2026, before that 20,000) in Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia, Campania, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise or Puglia, or to some towns hit by the 2009 and 2016 earthquakes. All foreign-source income is then taxed at 7% for nine tax years, if you were not an Italian tax resident in the five previous years. This is not tax advice.

How do retirees get healthcare in Italy?

For the visa you need a private health policy. After arrival a retiree on elective residence can enrol voluntarily in the national health service (SSN) for at least 2,000 euro a year, or keep private cover. People who draw a UK State Pension can instead register a UK-issued S1 form with the local health authority and are then treated on the same basis as Italian citizens, according to gov.uk. This is not medical or legal advice.

Related materials - Residenza elettiva

Next stepItalian residence route matcherFive questions show the best-fit permit: lavoro autonomo, digital nomad, residenza elettiva or family.