Investors researching European residency in 2026 face a narrower field than they did five years ago. Spain closed its golden visa in April 2025. Portugal removed its property route and now carries processing backlogs measured in years. The United Kingdom ended its investor visa in 2022.

Italy has moved in the opposite direction. Its Investor Visa, the programme most people call the Italian Golden Visa, has kept the same four investment routes since launch. The application process is fully online, and it currently runs without a backlog. Applications have grown from 7 in 2018 to 128 in 2024, and 209 in 2025 through 1 December.

For anyone asking how to get an Italian Golden Visa in 2026, the answer is a defined sequence. The applicant chooses one of four qualifying investments and obtains government pre-approval before committing any capital. The visa is then collected at a consulate, and the investment is completed within three months of arriving in Italy. This article sets out each step, the current timelines, and what changed for 2026.

At a glance

• Four qualifying routes: €250,000 in an innovative startup, €500,000 in an Italian limited company, €1 million to a philanthropic project, or €2 million in government bonds
• Real estate does not qualify, and no investment fund options are eligible under the programme; the qualifying investment is direct
• The Nulla Osta pre-approval is typically issued within 25 to 35 days; the full process runs three to six months, with no current backlog
• Capital is committed only after approval and entry into Italy, within three months of arrival
• The residence permit lasts two years and renews for three, with no minimum stay requirement
• Italy’s flat tax for new residents rose to €300,000 per year from 1 January 2026, plus €50,000 per family member

What is the Italian Golden Visa?

The Italian Golden Visa is officially the Investor Visa for Italy, a two-year renewable residence permit for non-EU nationals who make one qualifying investment in the Italian economy. It was introduced in 2017 under Article 26-bis of the Immigration Act and is administered by a dedicated Investor Visa Committee.

The programme was built to channel foreign capital into productive assets: companies, startups, public-interest projects, and sovereign debt. That design choice matters for stability. Programmes built around property purchases have proven politically fragile across Europe. Italy’s version has no property route to cut, which is one reason its rules have held steady while others were withdrawn. No government guarantees permanence, but the programme has kept the same structure since 2017 and carries no annual quota, and current requirements are always worth confirming with counsel at the point of application.

Residence permit holders can live, work, and study in Italy, and can include their immediate family. The permit also allows visa-free travel across the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. There is no minimum stay requirement to keep it, which is why many families treat the visa as long-term optionality rather than an immediate relocation. A fuller overview of the routes sits on our Italian Golden Visa page.

Who can apply in 2026?

Any non-EU citizen aged 18 or over with a clean criminal record and a lawful, documented source of funds can apply. There is no language test, no business-experience requirement, and no minimum period of prior residence anywhere.

The financial test is about liquidity and provenance rather than total net worth. The Committee wants to see that the investment amount is available, held in the applicant’s name, and traceable to a legitimate origin. An anti-money-laundering statement from the applicant’s bank supports this. Applicants also show income above the healthcare exemption threshold and hold valid health cover.

Family inclusion is broad. A spouse, dependent children, and dependent parents can all obtain residence permits linked to a single qualifying investment. One point of housekeeping: the programme has been suspended for Russian and Belarusian nationals, including dual nationals, since July 2023. We cover eligibility in more depth in our guide on who can apply for the Italy Golden Visa.

Which investments qualify in 2026?

Four routes qualify, and the applicant selects exactly one before applying. The amount cannot be split across routes, and it cannot be funded with borrowed money.

Two exclusions deserve equal attention. Real estate does not qualify and never has. Italy deliberately kept property out of the programme so that capital reaches the working economy rather than the housing market. And as of December 2025 there are no eligible investment fund options under the programme. The qualifying investment is a direct one, held in the applicant’s name, in a specific company, project, or instrument.

That directness is a feature rather than a limitation. An applicant who invests €500,000 into an established Italian company owns something identifiable, with reporting, governance, and a valuation that can be examined. At Ariete we deliver the €500,000 route through a structured, audited Italian investment vehicle. KPMG is the auditor, and the vehicle holds positions in listed companies of the kind that anchor the country’s economy. The investment case comes first, and the residence permit follows from it.

How does the application process work?

The process for how to get an Italian Golden Visa in 2026 runs in five steps, and the order is the programme’s main structural advantage: government approval comes before any capital moves.

Step 1: Apply online for the Nulla Osta. The application is filed through the official Investor Visa for Italy portal, in English. The file includes a passport copy, CV, criminal record certificate, proof of funds, the bank’s anti-money-laundering statement, and a description of the chosen investment with the recipient’s consent. The Committee reviews the file and, if satisfied, issues the Nulla Osta, a certificate of no impediment. In 2026 this typically takes 25 to 35 days.

Step 2: Apply for the visa at the consulate. The Nulla Osta is sent electronically to the Italian consulate covering the applicant’s place of residence. The applicant has six months to book the appointment and attend in person. Biometric capture at the consulate has been mandatory for all long-stay applicants since January 2025. Because the substantive review already happened at the Nulla Osta stage, the consular step is largely procedural.

Step 3: Enter Italy. The investor visa is valid for two years, and entry can happen at any point within that window. The clock on the remaining deadlines starts on the date of arrival.

Step 4: Apply for the residence permit. Within eight working days of entering Italy, the applicant files for the two-year investor residence permit at the local Questura.

Step 5: Complete the investment. The qualifying investment or donation must be made within three months of arrival, with proof sent to the Ministry. Only at this point does capital actually move. An applicant whose file were rejected at any earlier stage would have committed nothing.

How long does the Italian Golden Visa take in 2026?

Applicants planning how to get an Italian Golden Visa in 2026 should budget three to six months from first submission to residence permit, and there is currently no backlog. The Nulla Osta accounts for 25 to 35 days of that. Consular processing takes a few weeks, and the residence permit follows one to two months after filing at the Questura.

For context, Portugal’s residence-by-investment processing currently runs twelve to thirty-six months because of scheduling backlogs at AIMA. Italy’s predictability is one of the least discussed and most practical differences between the two programmes. We break the stages down further in our note on Italy Golden Visa processing time.

What changed for 2026?

The programme’s rules are unchanged, but the surrounding tax picture moved. Italy’s flat tax for new residents, the substitute tax on foreign-sourced income under Article 24-bis, rose to €300,000 per year from 1 January 2026. The supplement for each family member is now €50,000. Existing beneficiaries keep the rate they originally elected, and the increase is not retroactive.

Two clarifications matter here. First, the flat tax is separate from the visa. Holding an investor residence permit does not create Italian tax residency by itself. The flat tax is an election available only to those who do become tax resident and meet the conditions, including not having been an Italian tax resident in nine of the previous ten years. Second, tax positions are individual. We work alongside applicants’ own tax and legal advisers rather than in place of them. Specialist advice on residency and tax planning is worth taking before the application, not after.

What comes after the first permit?

The two-year permit renews for a further three years if the investment is maintained. The renewal is filed at least 60 days before expiry and supported by a new Nulla Osta. After five years of legal residence, permanent EU residence becomes available. Citizenship by naturalisation may follow after ten years of continuous legal residence, subject to conditions including language competence.

Those longer horizons require actual presence in Italy, which is a decision each family makes on its own schedule. The permit itself does not force the question. Plenty of our investors hold the permit as a settled option for the years ahead while their children finish school or their business commitments wind down elsewhere.

A process worth taking seriously, for the right reasons

The mechanics of how to get an Italian Golden Visa in 2026 are simpler than most applicants expect: one online pre-approval, one consular appointment, one investment completed after arrival. The harder work sits in the choices around it. That means deciding which route matches the family’s risk tolerance, whether the investment would make sense on its own terms if no permit were attached, and how the tax position should be settled before residency begins.

Those are investment and planning questions, and they reward the same discipline as any other allocation of serious capital. For families weighing the €500,000 route and wanting to examine the underlying portfolio, governance, and reporting before anything else, the right first step is a conversation. We are available through our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Does buying property in Italy qualify for the Golden Visa? No. Real estate has never been a qualifying route under the Italian Investor Visa. The four routes are an innovative startup (€250,000), an Italian limited company (€500,000), a philanthropic donation (€1 million), and government bonds (€2 million). Applicants may still buy or rent a home in Italy, but the purchase carries no weight in the application.

Do applicants have to invest before being approved? No. The sequence protects the applicant: the Nulla Osta pre-approval comes first, the visa second, and the investment is completed only within three months of entering Italy. Capital is never at risk against an uncertain application.

Is there a minimum stay requirement? No. The permit remains valid regardless of days spent in Italy, provided the investment is maintained. Families pursuing permanent residence after five years or citizenship after ten will need continuous legal residence, which does involve genuine presence, but the permit itself imposes no annual quota.

Can family members be included? Yes. A spouse, dependent children, and dependent parents can all receive residence permits tied to the same investment. Each family member obtains full residency rights, including access to Italian education and healthcare.