The D visa (national, VN) is what you need to live in Italy for more than 90 days: it is issued for 91 to 365 days for a specific purpose - self-employment, remote work, residenza elettiva, study, family or salaried work. From Russia you file not at the consulate but at a visa centre chosen by your permanent registration: Moscow and its region - VMS Moscow, St Petersburg and the North-West - VMS St Petersburg, other regions - Almaviva. The consular fee is 116 EUR for work and family, 50 EUR for study. After entry you have 8 working days to apply for a permesso di soggiorno.
The rules below come from the Italian MFA visa portal and the consulate sites in Moscow and St Petersburg (checked 2026-09-25), each fact linked to its source. Waiting times come from the community chat archive: lived experience, not a rule. Not legal advice.
Updated: - permesso.love editorial team
In brief: the Italian D visa
The purpose of the visa decides the document pack and the future permesso. One line each - and where the full guide is:
| Purpose | The key point | In depth |
|---|---|---|
| Lavoro autonomo (self-employment) | First a questura nulla osta, then the visa: funds in Italy, housing, income above the threshold. source | Lavoro autonomo: steps and nulla osta |
| Digital nomad and remote worker | A degree or experience, income of three times the threshold (about 27 thousand EUR a year in the list), insurance, housing. source | Digital nomad visa: requirements |
| Residenza elettiva (elective residence) | A home in Italy and substantial steady passive income; no work allowed on this visa. source | Residenza elettiva: income and documents |
| Study | Enrolment or pre-enrolment, language (Italian B2+ or English for English-taught courses), housing, insurance. source | Italian university admission and the study visa |
| Family reunification | A visa on the Sportello Unico nulla osta obtained by the relative in Italy; in St Petersburg these are filed at the consulate counter itself, not at VMS. | Reunification or coesione: which to choose |
| Salaried work | The work visa also goes through a Sportello Unico nulla osta; in St Petersburg it is filed at the consulate counter. | Work permit (subordinato) |
Not sure which purpose fits you? The residence-route matcher and types of Italian residence permits.
Every document list of the Moscow consulate (July 2026 edition) for a D visa repeats the same core: the form, an ICAO photo, an international passport valid 15 months beyond the stay, the consular-fee receipt and a copy of the internal passport - the data page and the registration-stamp page. Russian-language papers go in as certified copies with an Italian translation by a translator from the consulate list. Each list calls itself indicative: the consulate may ask for more. source
Lists for each purpose, visa-centre rules and filing experience are on the consulate pages: the Italian consulate in Moscow, the Italian consulate in St Petersburg; for Belarus and Kazakhstan - the consulate catalogue.
| D visa for work and family reunification | 116 EUR (about 11,150 RUB from 1 October - approximate, at the Bank of Russia rate of 30.09.2026) |
|---|---|
| Study D visa | 50 EUR (about 4,810 RUB from 1 October - approximate, at the Bank of Russia rate of 30.09.2026) |
| Family of EU citizens (D.Lgs. 30/2007) | free |
Euro amounts follow the St Petersburg consulate table. Roubles from 1 October 2026 are approximate, at the Bank of Russia rate of 30.09.2026 (1 EUR = 96.0625 RUB, rounded up to 10 RUB as the consulate does): the consulate will publish the official IV-quarter rate on its site (it was 86.2899 RUB per euro in Q3: 10,010 and 4,320 RUB). The euro amounts stay. The visa centre charges its own service fee on top. source
Moscow consulate, 29.06.2026: Because of demand visa applications take at least 60 days from filing - the consulate asks you to apply well ahead (the Italian version is titled as a tourist-visa notice; the VMS centre repeats it for everyone). source
St Petersburg consulate: Take the list for your motive from the St Petersburg consulate and VMS sites: the consulate points to the Italian Foreign Ministry portal and to the visa-centre information sheets. The site separately warns that processing may take longer than usual and asks for the file at least 45 days before departure. source
The purpose drives the spread: study has a median of 9 days (14 reports), family 7 (11), salaried work 4 (5), while lavoro autonomo takes 100 days (11 reports, 8 to 316), and three lavoro autonomo refusals came after 197-302 days. By year the median rose from 6.5 days in 2022 to 45 in 2024 and 37 in 2025. Lived experience, not a consulate deadline.
The first entry does not have to be into Italy: per the Italian MFA rules a valid D visa lets you stay in other Schengen states for up to 90 days in 180. The chats discussed this up to 149 times; 9 people reported entering on an Italian D visa via Finland or Estonia (2022-2025) - border guards sometimes asked about the purpose and for a ticket to Italy. The two problem reports concerned another country's D visa (Spanish) and an unverified claim about Poland. Without an Italian stamp the arrival date is documented separately later - for example by the flight date in the KIT.
Officially: within 8 working days of entry you apply for the permesso di soggiorno - usually via the kit permesso at the post office; the KIT filler helps with Modulo 1, and whether you may travel while you wait - the ricevuta travel check.
The open chat archive mentions the D visa in about 3,000 messages (roughly half of them questions, 313 in the last 12 months of the snapshot). Topics below are ranked by questions; one message can fall into several topics.
Since 29.06.2026 the Moscow consulate warns that visa applications take at least 60 days and asks you to apply early. Across 58 reports from the chats (2022 - June 2026) the median is 18 days, but lavoro autonomo takes about 100 days or more, while study, family and salaried-work visas usually come in 1-2 weeks.
The Italian MFA rules let a valid D visa holder stay in other Schengen states for up to 90 days in 180, and they set no obligation to enter through Italy first. In the chats 9 people entered via Finland or Estonia; guards sometimes asked about the purpose and a ticket to Italy.
Per the St Petersburg consulate table: 116 EUR for work and family reunification, 50 EUR for study, free for family of EU citizens. In roubles from 1 October 2026 - approximate, at the Bank of Russia rate of 30.09.2026 (1 EUR = 96.0625 RUB): about 11,150 and 4,810 RUB; the consulate will publish the official IV-quarter rate on its site (in Q3, at 86.2899, it was 10,010 and 4,320 RUB). The visa centre adds its own service fee.
Within 8 working days of entry apply for a permesso di soggiorno for the purpose of the visa - as the Italian MFA visa portal states. Usually this is the kit permesso at the post office.
Per the Italian MFA visa portal the national visa is issued for 91 to 365 days. What lets you stay beyond that is the permesso di soggiorno you apply for after entry.
An independent project, not affiliated with the Italian MFA, consulates or visa centres. Requirements and fees change - check them on vistoperitalia.esteri.it and your consulate site before filing. Not legal advice.