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I recently moved to Italy for work (I am an EU citizen). My British girlfriend joined me but is unsure if she needs a visa after her 3 months stay is over.

As a British citizen, can she stay more than 3 months in Italy? If she leaves, how long does she has to wait before she can enter Italy again?

If we are not married, can I still help her get some kind of visa?

gerrit
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giac
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    Is your girlfriend seeking work in Italy? Where were you both living prior to the move to Italy? British citizens can only visit for up to 90 days in any 180 day period https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy/entry-requirements There’s no provision for a longer visit visa AFAIK https://vistoperitalia.esteri.it/home.aspx – Traveller Nov 07 '21 at 17:58
  • @Traveller A permit for residenza elettiva sounds very similar to long-term visitor permits in other EU countries. The financial requirements are substantial. – Relaxed Nov 07 '21 at 20:41
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    @gerrit Your point on the terminology is well-taken but do you honestly think there is any ambiguity whatsoever? – Relaxed Nov 08 '21 at 15:18
  • @gerrit And I agree with that (as I already implied) but you can make your point without pretending it wasn't obvious. You would be more likely to elicit a positive response, too. – Relaxed Nov 08 '21 at 16:37
  • @Relaxed You're right, I deleted those comments. – gerrit Nov 08 '21 at 20:22

1 Answers1

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Yes, your girlfriend needs a visa or residence permit to stay longer than 3 months in Italy. The exact limit is in fact 90 days in any 180-day period, which also answers your other question: After an uninterupted 90-day stay, your girlfriend has to stay 90 days outside of the Schengen area (not just Italy) before visting again. Incidentally, it's 90 days and not three months, if she entered on July 1st, she has to leave by September 28th, not September 30th.

It is possible for the unmarried partner of an EU citizen to get a residence permit but you will have to prove you have a long-term relationship. I don't know the exact requirements in Italy but that could mean something like showing you have lived together and shared bills for a couple of years, not merely declaring that she is your girlfriend. Otherwise, she would have to qualify for a visa like any other third country (i.e. non-EU) national, whether for work, studies, or any other purpose provided by Italian law.

Relaxed
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    Breaking news: Brexit has downsides too! – Dmitry Grigoryev Nov 08 '21 at 11:07
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    @Dmitry Grigoryev Five years on from the Brexit referendum, nearly two years since the official exit, and nearly a year since the end of the transition period. Time to move on :-) – Traveller Nov 08 '21 at 15:10
  • Thanks for your answer. – giac Nov 08 '21 at 16:00
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    @Traveller And still, after all these years, the whole picture is only in the process of emerging. I wonder how the NHS is doing, now that all the money can finally be diverted. – Peter - Reinstate Monica Nov 08 '21 at 18:10
  • @Peter - Reinstate Monica The NHS has been around for nearly 75 years, it’ll last a fair few more. As you say, the funds can finally be diverted, and the picture is still emerging and will continue to emerge for years to come, I imagine. It’ll be interesting to see how measures to plug the gap in the EU’s finances, such as the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, pan out too. Life goes on for all of us meanwhile :-) – Traveller Nov 08 '21 at 18:39
  • @J… You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the media. The petrol ‘shortage’ was completely manufactured by scaremongering headlines, for example. Macron is facing an election in France and wants to score points to show that daring to leave the EU must be punished. No-one is saying Brexit is water under the bridge, but neither is it the catastrophe certain elements like to portray it as. There are worse things in the world to worry about, it will resolve itself one way or another as such seismic events always do over time. – Traveller Nov 08 '21 at 20:28
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    @Traveller You yourself seem very willing to believe simplistic media narratives, regarding Macron for example. I fail to see what any of this has to do with my answer, though. – Relaxed Nov 08 '21 at 21:25
  • @Relaxed You’re right, the discussion kicked off by the initial comment on your answer has nothing to do with your reply. As for the rest, I get a bit sick of pretty much all the Brexit-related narratives given the greater crises currently facing the world in general :-) – Traveller Nov 08 '21 at 21:42
  • Traveller, the first comment was absolutely reasonable. UK is not an EU member anymore. Two years ago the answer to OPs question would have been “of course you don’t need a visa”, and today you need one. – gnasher729 Nov 12 '21 at 20:37