EU free movement covers your family even when they are not EU citizens. Directive 2004/38/EC — implemented in Italy by D.Lgs. 30/2007 — gives a non-EU spouse, partner, or dependent relative of an EU citizen a route that is faster, cheaper and more protective than ordinary immigration law. The key document is the carta di soggiorno di familiare di un cittadino dell’Unione, issued by the Questura (provincial police headquarters).
This page is for family of an EU citizen. If the sponsor is a non-EU resident of Italy, the ordinary route applies instead — see our family reunification page.
Who counts as family
Under art. 2 of D.Lgs. 30/2007:
- the spouse;
- the registered partner (where the union is treated as equivalent to marriage);
- direct descendants under 21 or dependent (yours or your spouse’s/partner’s);
- dependent direct ascendants (parents, grandparents — yours or your spouse’s/partner’s).
Other dependent or cohabiting relatives, and a partner in a durable, officially attested relationship, have entry and residence facilitated with a case-by-case assessment (art. 3).
Entry
A valid passport is the basic requirement. A visa is needed only if the family member’s nationality requires one — and then it must be issued free of charge, with priority. A family-member residence card already issued by any EU country replaces the visa and even prevents passport stamping.
The carta di soggiorno (5 years)
For stays beyond three months, the family member applies at the Questura of the place of residence (directly, or via the postal kit at authorised post offices) for the carta di soggiorno. A receipt is issued immediately and protects them while the application is processed. The card:
- is valid 5 years from issue (electronic format only since 3 August 2023 — old paper cards are no longer valid);
- is essentially free — the statute allows only reimbursement of materials (Questura practice adds a €16 marca da bollo);
- survives absences up to 6 months a year (12 for serious reasons such as pregnancy, illness, study, or work postings).
Order matters: the file must include the attestato of the EU citizen’s own anagrafe registration request — so the EU citizen registers at the comune (Step 2) first, then the family member applies.
The family member also registers at the anagrafe themselves (art. 9), with passport, the family-relationship document, and the EU citizen’s attestato.
Working and equal treatment
Family members may take up any employed or self-employed activity and enjoy equal treatment with Italian citizens (art. 19) — including SSN enrolment rights alongside the EU citizen. Possession of the physical card is not a precondition for exercising these rights.
After 5 years: permanent residence
After 5 years of continuous legal residence in Italy together with the EU citizen, the family member acquires permanent residence and applies — before the first card expires — for the carta di soggiorno permanente, which the Questura must issue within 90 days. The right is lost only after 2 consecutive years of absence.
Common pitfalls
- Applying before the EU citizen has registered at the anagrafe — the Questura requires that attestato; sequence the applications.
- Unlegalised foreign certificates. Marriage and birth certificates issued abroad must be translated and legalised or apostilled — the single most common cause of rejected files.
- Confusing the card with an ordinary permesso di soggiorno — the free-movement card follows different, more favourable rules.
- Still holding a paper-format card — invalid since August 2023; convert it to the electronic format.
- Long absences — over 6 months a year can break continuity; 2 years’ absence extinguishes permanent residence.