Residenza (registered residence)

Residenza (registered residence) is the place where a person actually lives in Italy. Registering your residence (iscrizione anagrafica) is compulsory for all foreign nationals who have lived in Italy for more than 90 days.

La residenza is a person’s place of habitual abode, under Article 43, second paragraph, of the Italian Civil Code (Art. 43, II comma c.c.). The law defines residence (la residenza) as the place where a person habitually lives and where their main home is.

To register your residence (la residenza), you apply to the registry office of the comune where you intend to live (Ufficio Anagrafe del Comune).

Foreign nationals must have the following documents:
• a valid passport or travel document and a residence permit (permesso di soggiorno),
• a copy of your tax code (codice fiscale),
• translated and legalised documents on birth, marriage, divorce and/or documents certifying family relationships are compulsory if the registration application is also submitted for dependent family members coming to Italy,
• the owner of the property must also sign a consent (contract) allowing the foreign national to live at that address, together with a copy of the owner’s identity document.
Current legislation provides that foreign nationals entered in the population registry (anagrafe) must renew their declaration of habitual residence at the comune’s registry office within 60 days of renewing their residence permit: in other words, when you renew your residence permit (permesso di soggiorno), a copy of the renewed document is needed. To meet this requirement, simply bring the original and a copy of the renewed permit to the comune.
Within 45 days of completing this formality, local police officers (vigili, Polizia Locale) must visit the declared address to check that it is genuine and that the people applying for registration actually live there.