Family reunification
A citizen of a third country who lives in Italy with a residence permit of at least one year, for employment, self-employment, asylum, study, religious reasons or family reasons, may bring his family under article 29 of the consolidated act, through a procedure which begins at the Sportello Unico of the Prefecture and ends with a visa for family reasons and a permit which allows the family to work. The rules examine the income and the housing of the sponsor, and the circle of the family is narrower than for the family of an Italian citizen.
The family members admitted
The spouse, not legally separated and of at least eighteen years, the minor children, including those of the spouse and those born outside marriage, the adult children who cannot provide for themselves for reasons of health, and the dependent parents where they have no other children in the country of origin, or over sixty-five where the other children cannot support them. A person who holds a permit for study, for elective residence or for a seasonal work may reunite the family only where the law provides, and a polygamous marriage admits one spouse.
The income and the housing
The sponsor shows an annual income from lawful sources not lower than the social allowance increased by half for each family member reunited, and not lower than twice the social allowance for two or more children under fourteen, with the income of the cohabiting family members counted. The social allowance of 2026 is seven thousand one hundred and one euro a year, so that the reunification of one family member requires an income of about ten thousand six hundred and fifty euro. The sponsor also produces the certificate of suitability of the housing issued by the comune, under the regional standards of residential building, or, for a child under fourteen who follows a parent, the consent of the owner of the dwelling.
The procedure
The sponsor applies online to the Sportello Unico with the permit, the proof of the income, the certificate of the housing and the documents of the family, and the Sportello issues the nulla osta within the term which the law fixes, after the checks, and transmits it to the consulate of the country where the family lives. The family members obtain the visa for family reasons with the nulla osta and the certificates of the relationship, legalised and translated, and the consulate may verify the relationship through a DNA test where the certificates are not reliable. Within eight working days of the entry they request from the Questura the permit for family reasons, of the same length as the permit of the sponsor, which allows work and study, and the children are registered at school. A family member who is already in Italy with a regular permit obtains the permit for family reasons by cohesion, without a visa, on the same conditions.
A nurse from the Philippines who has worked in a hospital in Turin for three years under a permit for employment applies to the Sportello Unico of Turin for her husband and their two children of eight and eleven, with her contract, her tax return, which shows twenty-four thousand euro, and the certificate of the comune on the flat. The nulla osta is issued in the spring, the family obtains the visas in Manila, and the permits for family reasons in Turin allow the husband to work from the first month.
If you live in Italy and wish to bring your family, or you are the family member of a resident, send us the permit of the sponsor, the income and the documents of the family. We tell you whether the conditions are met, and we prepare the certificates, the legalisations and the translations for the Sportello Unico and the consulate.