Moving to Italy from the United States
Most of this site is organised by destination — the national procedure, then your region, then your comune. This page collects what differs because of where you are coming from. Facts verified on the dates shown against each item; orientation, not legal, tax or immigration advice.
Start with the non-EU orientation, which covers the visa routes themselves — a US passport lets you visit Schengen without a visa, which is not the same as being allowed to move there.
What is different for Americans
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Your US licence cannot be converted
Driving · verifiedItaly has no licence-conversion agreement with the United States except for diplomatic and consular staff. After one year of registered residence an American must pass the Italian theory and practical exams — and the theory test is offered only in Italian, German or French, not English. Start early: this is the single most expensive surprise for US movers.
Full page on driving → -
The US taxes you wherever you live
Tax residency · verifiedCitizenship-based taxation does not pause when you move: US citizens and green-card holders file on worldwide income regardless of residence, and the filing threshold is measured on gross income before any exclusion. Add FBAR at $10,000 aggregate and Form 8938 at $200,000 for single filers abroad — both independent of how much tax you owe. The treaty prevents double taxation by ordering credits, not by exempting Americans.
Full page on tax residency → -
Medicare does not travel, and there is no S1 for Americans
Health service · verifiedMedicare will not pay for care outside the US except in three narrow situations that all assume you are in or living in the US, and it never covers prescriptions bought abroad. Americans also have no S1 form — the route by which an EU pensioner exports their home cover to the SSN — so voluntary SSN enrolment or private insurance is a decision to make before departure, not after.
Full page on health service → -
Plan for the codice fiscale on arrival, not before
Codice fiscale · verifiedThe Revenue Agency does allow non-residents to apply through an Italian consulate abroad, but consulates restrict it sharply — Chicago limits it to online procedures or cases where you genuinely cannot appoint a representative, expressly excluding study, property purchase and "stay in Italy". For most people relocating the code is assigned in Italy, by the Sportello Unico or the Questura when the residence permit is issued.
Full page on codice fiscale → -
Ninety days visa-free is not a way in
Non-EU orientation · verifiedA US passport allows a 90-day visit, not a move. The residence permit is issued only "for the activities provided for by the entry visa", and the visa itself must be issued by an Italian consulate in your US state of residence before you travel — so a tourist entry cannot be converted into residence from inside Italy. Separately: ETIAS is not in operation, and the Entry/Exit System has recorded entries biometrically since 10 April 2026.
Full page on non-eu orientation → -
No rabies blood test needed
Pets · verifiedThe United States is on the listed-country annex, so a dog, cat or ferret travelling from the US does not need the rabies antibody titration test. You still need the microchip, a rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before travel, and an animal health certificate issued no more than 10 days before entry.
Full page on pets →
Two topics with enough substance for their own page
- Arriving from the United States
Why 90 days visa-free is not a relocation route, which consulate has your state, the apostille chain, and the one-year driving clock.
- US taxes and social security
Worldwide filing, the exclusion versus the credit, FBAR and Form 8938, the treaty's saving clause, and why Medicare stops at the border.
What is the same
Plenty. The codice fiscale is free and identical for everyone. The rental rules — contract types, the 30-day registration duty, the three-month deposit cap — do not vary by nationality. School enrolment is a right for every minor in Italy regardless of the family's status or paperwork, and can be requested at any point in the year. Where a page carries no note above, that is the reason: there is nothing US-specific to say, and inventing a difference would be worse than silence.
How this page is maintained
Each item above is a separately dated entry with its own primary sources, re-verified on its own schedule rather than as one undated blob — the same contract as the rest of the site. Every re-check is logged on the updates page.
Sources
Primary, official sources the items above rest on — each fetched and checked on the date shown against its item.
- MIT — Conversione patente estera (reciprocity list: USA limited to diplomatic staff)
- MIT — Conseguimento patente B (exams, foglio rosa, costs)
- IRS — Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad
- IRS — Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR requirements
- US Treasury — US–Italy income tax Convention (saving clause, art. 1(2); relief, art. 23)
- Medicare.gov — Travel outside the U.S.
- SSA — Publication 05-10137, Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States
- Agenzia delle Entrate — Tax identification number for foreign citizens
- Consulate General of Italy, Chicago — Codice fiscale (consular route and its limits)
- Normattiva — D.lgs 286/1998, artt. 4 e 5 (visa issued in the state of residence; permit for the visa’s purpose)
- Consulate General of Italy, Chicago — American citizens
- European Commission — ETIAS (not in operation)
- European Commission — Entry/Exit System (from 10 April 2026)
- EUR-Lex — Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/636, Annex II (listed third countries)
- EUR-Lex — Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131, artt. 14, 17-19