Highly qualified remote employees and self-employed professionals earning from outside Italy may qualify for the digital nomad and remote worker visa.
Next Visa Step checks the qualification gate before the income, prepares the file BLS-Intiana will accept, and plans the Questura step that follows your arrival.
Income, main applicant
€25,500 / year
Unchanged since the visa opened on 4 April 2024. Why two figures circulate
The short answer
An annual test, and it only matters once the qualification gate is cleared.
The amount is one thing, the proof is another. The decree asks for income from lawful sources and names no documents. We prepare twelve months of statements with the contracts and invoices behind them, which is our advice rather than an Italian list. The consulate may ask for more, and that is a request, not a refusal.
What the government charges
€116 for the long-stay D visa, paid in rupees at the BLS centre at the Embassy's quarterly rate. In Italy, a €40 contribution for a permit of up to a year, plus the card, stamp duty and postal costs, which we confirm at the Questura step. Insurance, apostilles and translations are your own costs. Our fee is separate.
Documents
What the decree asks for, sorted by what each item proves.
Self-employed, clients abroad
The qualification, six months in the work, and income traced client by client.
A company in or outside Italy
A contract or binding offer, and the employer's signed declaration.
Your own business abroad
Filed as self-employed: the qualification first, then the money reaching you personally.
Apostille proves a document is genuine. A translation makes it readable. Since 18 November 2024 the Embassy in Islamabad accepts only documents apostilled by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and each needs an Italian translation certified as conforming. English is not enough. We check what each of yours needs.
Eight working days, then the Questura. Once in Italy you apply for the permit within eight working days of entry. The Questura issues your tax code and sends your contract to the social security and accident insurance institutes. Self-employed holders open a VAT number. The permit lasts up to a year and is renewed yearly while the conditions hold.
Filing from Pakistan: through BLS-Intiana, at the centre for the area where you permanently live. The Embassy covers Islamabad, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad, and the Consulate General covers Karachi and Quetta. The Multan and Faisalabad centres closed on 6 September 2026. The Embassy's own page on where to apply.
From experience
Usually because the file proves the income and not the person.
01
Italy asks for highly qualified work. A file that leads with earnings and says little about the degree or the years of experience answers the wrong question.
How we handle itWe settle which of the four qualification routes you use before we look at the statements.
02
Five years at senior level, or six months in the work itself, needs contracts, letters and dates. A CV is a summary of what the file should prove.
How we handle itWe build the experience from documents, year by year, and cut what cannot be evidenced.
03
Italian consulates do not state the same threshold. A file built to the minimum on one page can look short against another.
How we handle itWe prepare to the higher reading, so the income is not where the file is questioned.
04
Documents attested the old way, or sent without an Italian translation, are turned back by Islamabad before anyone reads the income.
How we handle itApostille first, then the certified translation, on one checklist and in that order.
Working with us
Three stages. The first decides whether the other two happen.
Stage 1
We review how you earn, your recent bank statements and the documents supporting your ongoing work. You receive a clear explanation of any gaps to address before applying.
Stage 2
We help organise the forms, letter of intent, work evidence and supporting records for your application. Your checklist reflects how you earn and whether family members are included.
Stage 3
We guide you through the BLS appointment, the fee and the documents expected on the day. We also explain the Questura, tax code and VAT steps after you arrive.
Questions
At least three times the income level that exempts you from healthcare charges. Most Italian consular pages put that at €25,500 a year, about €2,125 a month. One consulate states €28,000, and the Embassy in Islamabad gives no figure, so we prepare files to the higher one.
Yes. The visa is for non-EU nationals. Applications go through BLS-Intiana, which the Embassy uses: Islamabad and Lahore for the Embassy's area, and Karachi for the Consulate General, which covers Karachi and Quetta. You file where you permanently live.
You need one of four things: a degree of at least three years, a post-secondary professional qualification of at least three years, five years of senior professional experience, or, in ICT, three years in the last seven. On top of that, six months of experience in the work you will do.
No. The law covers remote workers for a company "even one not resident in Italy", and self-employed digital nomads. A remote worker needs an employment or collaboration contract, or a binding offer. No work clearance (nulla osta) is needed.
Up to one year, renewable every year while the conditions still apply. You apply for it at the Questura within eight working days of arriving in Italy. The permit card reads "digital nomad, remote worker".
Yes. The decree allows your spouse and minor children to join you, with a permit that lasts as long as yours. No extra income figure is published for them. Whether the general reunification tests also apply is not settled on the pages we read, so we check it case by case.
Both. Since 18 November 2024 the Embassy in Islamabad accepts only documents apostilled by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they need an Italian translation certified as conforming. We time the two so each document is done once.
The permit depends on it. The decree has the Questura issue your tax code and requires digital nomads to open a VAT number, and the permit can be refused or revoked if tax and contribution rules are not respected. Speak to an Italian adviser before you move.
Italy's general rule gives consulates up to 90 days for a work visa, and 120 for self-employment. Consular pages for this visa do not agree with each other, and Islamabad publishes nothing specific, so plan for the longer figure.
The decree does not say, and we have not found an official page that says whether time on this permit counts towards EU long-term residence. We do not claim that it does.
The conditions above follow the decree of 29 February 2024 in the Gazzetta Ufficiale. We do not give tax advice.
Tell us your qualification, how you are paid and where in Pakistan you live. The first conversation gives you a straight read on the gate, the income and the documents, and it costs nothing.