Hello, I am new to community.

Hello,  I am new to community.

07/24/2015 - 05:40

Hello, I am new to community. My husband and I are looking at a few properties in Umbria region of Italy with the intention of moving on a permanent basis. Living there has always been a dream we share. We presently live in the UK. My husband is British and I have dual US and UK citizenship. I want to bring my American mother to live with us in Italy if we decide to move. What is the immigration process for EU v non-EU citizens? From what I understand, my mother would need to apply to the Itlalian Embassy in the U.S. for a visa to enter and stay longer than three months, be able to prove that she can support herself financially, has private healthcare, and a place to live. Is that a correct interpretation of the process? If she is granted the visa, what is the next step once she arrives in Italy? With regard to my husband and I, who both possess EU passports, I understand the process is much more straightforward. Do we also need to show proof of private healthcare? Finally, I would be relocating with five cats! They moved from the USA with me when I immigrated to the UK. That was a very laborious, expensive, and time consuming process. Now I am looking to move them all to Italy. Is it just a European Pet Passport they need? If anyone has any tips on relocating their pets from the UK, I would appreciate any suggestions. Did you use a professional pet mover or did you do it all yourself? My husband and I frequently travel and I have a much loved and trusted Petsitter in the UK who I have used for years. Is it common place to find professional petsitters in Italy? Any recommendation for petsitters in Umbria? As for vets, are there many English speaking vets? I am ashamed to say my �� is elementary at best and working on improving my �� language skills will be one of my first endeavours after the move. I used a similar expat community forum when I moved from the U.S. to the UK and I found it absolutely invaluable! I thank you in advance for any help you can offer.Regards,Melanie

Topic

Living

Location

Umbria

Comment

A US citizen needs a visa to be in the Schengen countries over a set period and then apply for a Permesso di Soggiorno to stay in Italy - in your mothers case it would be visa for dimora. As EU citizens you would need all the usual residential qualifications - private healthcare, bank balance to prove you wont be a strain onthe italian state, somewhere to live so act of purchase or rental contract. Your mother would need all of that too. So to recap: before she leaves the States she should get a Schengen visa. When she arrives in Italy applies for a Permesso di Soggiorno. You will arrive in Italy and ask for residence (once you have somewhere to live) which will require the same papework but no PdS. For the cats pet passports are fine, with the jabs (I think) within a month of travelling.