What is ‘family cohesion’ with someone legally residing in Italy?
‘Family cohesion’ allows a foreign national to obtain a new residence permit based on their family relationship with an EU citizen with registered residency in Italy. Both a marriage and a same sex registered union make two people family members.
Main requirements to apply for family cohesion through marriage performed in Italy
• The person married by the applicant in Italy should be either Italian or an EU citizen with registered residency in Italy (so-called ‘iscrizione anagrafica’).
• The applicant and their spouse should be married in Italy;
• The applicant and their spouse should live together after the application for family cohesion unless they have minor children.
• The applicant should demonstrate a sufficient income to sustain themselves: around 9,000.00 euros per year in case of one family member; around 12,000.00 euros in case of 2 applicants applying for the residence permit. Note that also the income of the Italian or EU citizen can be used to meet this economic requirement.
Main Procedural Steps
1. Application for the residence permit at the Police headquarter;
2. Registration of the applicant’s fingerprints at the Police headquarter;
3. Issuance of the residence permit for family reasons.
Validity of the residence permit for family members
The residence permit issued to family members of an EU or Italian citizen is a long-term residence permit, with a 5-year validity; and it is easily renewable as long as the family relationship is still existing.
The residence permit for family reasons allows the foreign national to perform work activities in Italy.
Time Frame
The average time frame for obtaining the residence permit for family reasons is 2 or 3 months from the application date.
