Italy offers a workplace in sun to digital nomads

Britons can sample la dolce vita under visa for highly skilled professionals who can do their jobs remotely

BRITONS who dream of working from home in a picturesque hilltop town in Tuscany or a whitewashed village in Puglia are in luck as Italy launches a new visa scheme to attract digital nomads.

The new visa is aimed at highly skilled professionals who are able to work remotely.

After the UK left the European Union, Britons lost the right to simply move to Italy, find a job and start a new life, as had been possible before.

They must now obtain a work visa, and for those with the right profile and set of skills, the digital nomad option could be perfect.

With rock bottom birth rates, an ageing population and a struggling economy, particularly in the south of the country, Italy is keen to attract newcomers and the wealth that they bring with them.

It is hoped many of them can be persuaded to help repopulate the many towns and villages across the country that are dying as a result of emigration overseas, a drift to the cities and a decline in farming.

The scheme was mooted two years ago but finally became reality this month when it was signed off by the coalition government of Giorgia Meloni.

“We have a thousand marvellous hamlets and remote working can revive them,” Dario Franceschini, the then culture minister, said when it was discussed. “Now that people can work without being physically present in the office, the isolation of these places is no longer a problem but part of their beauty.”

Italy is investing millions of euros in EU grants and loans to revive villages in each of its 20 regions, including the stunning settlement of Rocca Calascio in the mountains of Abruzzo, which is overlooked by a 1,000-year-old castle.

The scheme is available to all non-eu citizens, not just Britons, and is aimed at people who are already employed by companies outside Italy but are able to work wherever they like.

The Italian government defines a digital nomad as a non-eu citizen “who carries out a highly qualified work activity with the use of technological means that allow them to work remotely, either as a self-employed worker or as an employee of a company not resident in Italy”.

After one of the wettest winters on record in the UK, the prospect of enjoying a slice of la dolce vita may be hard to resist.

But before Britons start packing their suitcases, there is a good deal of red tape to contend with. Applicants must have at least six months’ experience in the sector in which they work and an annual salary of at least €28,000 (£24,000).

They must also show evidence that they have found somewhere to live in Italy and also demonstrate that they have medical insurance. And anyone with a criminal conviction in the last five years will not be eligible.

Successful applicants will be granted a visa stamped with the words “digital nomad – remote worker”.

Once they arrive in Italy, they will have eight days in which to apply for a residency permit, known in Italian as a

permesso di soggiorno – a relatively straightforward process that can be done at the local police station.

The visa will last for one year but can be renewed once it has expired, and successful applicants will be able to bring family members with them.

For those interested in the new scheme, the first step is to book an appointment with the nearest Italian consulate or embassy.

Italy will join a growing list of countries offering a digital nomad visa.

In Europe, Spain, Germany, Greece and Portugal are among the countries that have set up the schemes. Further afield, the visas for remote workers are also available in countries such as Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil and Saint Lucia.

Italy’s announcement came after Spain government earlier this week said it plans to scrap so-called “golden visas” that allow wealthy people from outside the EU to obtain residency permits by investing in real estate. Through that scheme, created in 2013 to attract foreign investment in the wake of the eurozone crisis, investors who purchase property worth more than half a million euros are entitled to a visa.