Moving to Puglia is mostly a matter of doing things in the right order. The visa leads to the residence permit, the permit to registration at the town hall, and registration to healthcare, a resident bank account and, eventually, an Italian driving license. This guide walks through each step for newcomers from the US, the UK and other non-EU countries, with the official source for every rule and links to our detailed guides.
It is a general guide, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; check the linked official pages, and the consulate that handles your application, before you book anything.
The order that matters
- Choose your visa and gather the documents (allow several months).
- Get a codice fiscale (tax code) and, for most visas, a registered lease or a deed.
- Arrive and apply for the permesso di soggiorno (residence permit) within eight working days.
- Register your residenza (legal residence) at the comune.
- Register for healthcare with the local health authority.
- Open a bank account, turn on the utilities, sort out the car and your taxes.
Steps five and six overlap in practice, and the rest of life (the town, the budget, the house) runs alongside all of it. The sections below follow that order. Our full shelf of paperwork guides lives in The Move.
1. The visa: your right to stay
US and UK citizens can visit Italy without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Anything longer needs a long-stay national visa, the type D visa, issued by the Italian consulate responsible for where you legally live. The Foreign Ministry sets out the visa types and their limits, and each consulate publishes its own document checklist.
For people who will not work in Italy, the usual route is the elective residence visa. The Italian consulate in Boston, for example, asks for stable passive income of more than €31,000 a year per applicant from pensions, annuities, property or investments, a registered lease or deed for a home in Italy, and health insurance. Salaries and freelance income do not count. Remote workers look instead at the Italian digital nomad visa, and investors at the golden visa from €250,000.
Whichever route you choose, budget time for the paperwork around the application: apostilles, sworn translations and certified copies. Our guide to certified translations for Italian visas explains which documents need them and how to avoid paying twice. If you are eligible for Italian or other EU citizenship, the visa step falls away, though the rest of this list still applies.
2. The codice fiscale
The codice fiscale is the 16-character tax code that every office, landlord, bank and pharmacy will ask for. You need it before you can register a lease, which many consulates want to see for an elective residence application, so get it early. The Foreign Ministry explains when consulates issue it; otherwise any Agenzia delle Entrate office in Italy can, or someone you appoint can apply there for you. Our step-by-step guide to getting a codice fiscale covers both routes.
You will also meet the marca da bollo (revenue stamp) at this stage. Permit applications and many certificates need one, and our guide to buying the €16 marca da bollo explains where and how.
3. The permesso di soggiorno
Your visa gets you into the country; the permesso lets you stay. The Polizia di Stato gives first-time arrivals eight working days from entry to apply. For elective residence and most other long-stay permits, you fill in the yellow-striped kit from a post office with a Sportello Amico counter and hand it over in an open envelope. The receipt you get back is precious: keep it with your passport.
The post office books you an appointment at the questura (provincial police headquarters) for fingerprints and photos. The police put average issue time at about 60 days. If you need to leave Italy in the meantime, read our guide to traveling while you wait for your permesso before you book. The immigration portal lists which permits go through the post office and which go straight to the questura.
4. Registering your residence
With a permesso, or at most comuni the post office receipt for it, you can register your residenza at the anagrafe (registry office) of the town where you actually live. You can apply in person or online through the national registry, ANPR if you already have an Italian digital identity. The comune then has 45 days to check that you live at the address; if it raises no objection in that time, the registration stands.
The check is usually a visit from the municipal police. It helps to have your surname on both the buzzer and the post box before they come. Residence is not the same as domicile, and the difference matters for tax and legal letters; our explainer on domicile vs residence in Italy sets out both.
5. Healthcare
Italy’s public system, the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), is run in Puglia by the provincial health authorities (the ASL). Residents who work, and their dependents, are registered as of right. Elective residence holders who do not work register voluntarily: the Ministry of Health sets the yearly contribution at 7.5% of the previous year’s income up to €20,658.28 plus 4% on income above that up to €51,645.69, with a minimum of €2,000. It covers the calendar year, cannot be split, and does not backdate.
UK state pensioners can usually apply for an S1 form and register with the ASL on the same basis as Italian residents, as GOV.UK explains. US citizens should know that Medicare generally does not cover care abroad, so the visa-stage insurance matters. Our guides cover public health insurance in Italy (SSN), private health insurance in Puglia and public and private hospitals in Puglia.
Once registered, you choose a family doctor, and your tessera sanitaria (health card) arrives by post; the pharmacy scans it at every purchase. For the next steps, see how to book a specialist visit, our list of English-speaking doctors in Lecce, and the emergency guides for Salento and the Valle d’Itria. In an emergency call 112.
6. Renting or buying
Most newcomers rent first, and the visa often decides the timing: consulates that ask for a lease want it signed and registered before they look at an elective residence application. Leases must be registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days of signing, a job usually handled by the landlord or the agent. Ask for the registration receipt and keep it with your visa file. Before you sign, check the flat has its certificate of habitability.
Buying comes later for most people, after a season or two in the area. Start with our guide to buying a home in Puglia, then the detail: the purchase offer and preliminary contract, the caparra confirmatoria (deposit), choosing a notaio (notary), cadastral and planning compliance, and why you want an English-speaking geometra (surveyor) on your side. We also answer whether a buyer’s agent exists in Italy and what buying a trullo involves.
Non-EU buyers face one extra check, reciprocity: you can buy if an Italian could buy in your country, or if a treaty or a qualifying permit covers you. The notary checks it against the Foreign Ministry’s reciprocity pages; US and UK citizens can generally buy, but ask the notary early. All of our property coverage sits in Stone & Key.
7. Taxes
Italian tax residence starts when, for most of the year (183 days, or 184 in a leap year), you are registered at the anagrafe, live or have your main personal ties here, or are simply physically present, counting part days. The Agenzia delle Entrate sets out the four tests. In practice, the year you move is the year to talk to a commercialista (accountant).
Two regimes matter most to newcomers. Foreign pensioners who move to a small southern town can opt for a flat 7% tax on foreign income; since April 2026 that covers towns of up to 30,000 residents, and our map of Puglia’s 7% tax towns lists them all. People who move to work may qualify for the lavoratori impatriati scheme. We also explain how foreign dividends are taxed, the forfettario regime for the self-employed and Fisconline, the tax agency’s online portal.
US citizens keep filing US returns wherever they live, as the IRS filing requirements for citizens abroad make clear, and must report foreign accounts above $10,000 on an FBAR. UK citizens should read GOV.UK’s Living in Italy guide on pensions and tax. Our money coverage, from tax regimes to budgets, is collected in The Ledger.
8. Driving
A foreign license works for one year after you become resident. After that you need an Italian one, and how you get it depends on where your license came from. UK licenses can be exchanged without a test, normally within six years of becoming resident, according to the same GOV.UK guide. US licenses cannot be exchanged: the US Embassy in Italy confirms that residents must pass the Italian theory and practical tests.
Start early: the theory test is not offered in English, and driving schools book up. Buying a car has its own rules, covered in whether you need residency to buy a car in Italy, along with the newer power limits for new drivers. In Lecce, learn the ZTL (limited-traffic zone) hours and how to get a resident parking permit before you buy a car for a centro address.
9. Bank account and phone number
An Italian bank account makes everything from rent to utility direct debits simpler, and you will need your codice fiscale and passport to open one; some banks want your residence registered first. Our guide to opening an Italian bank account as a foreigner explains resident and non-resident accounts. US citizens are also asked for a US tax form at account opening, which is routine.
Get an Italian mobile number early. Banks, the post office and public portals send one-time codes by text, and some refuse foreign numbers. See how to get an Italian phone number.
10. Utilities and the household
Electricity, gas and water are either transferred from the previous occupant (a voltura) or opened as new contracts; our guide to turning on utilities in Italy covers both and the documents suppliers ask for. Register for the waste service too, since the waste tax follows the household; here is how garbage service works in Lecce.
Two smaller questions come up in the first week. Is the water safe? Our answer to whether you can drink the tap water in Puglia goes town by town. And what about the boxes? Household goods you have owned for at least six months can usually enter duty-free when you move your residence, as our guide to shipping between Italy and the US explains.
11. Choosing a town
Puglia is long, and the choice usually comes down to three kinds of place. Lecce is the year-round provincial capital, with a university, a big hospital and shops that stay open in winter; our guide to living in Lecce covers neighborhoods, costs and internet. The Valle d’Itria offers trulli and hill towns; start with Trulli Country and our walking tour of Martina Franca. The coast is beautiful and seasonal.
Visit in the off season before you commit. Our pieces on Puglia in winter and Lecce’s weather compared with US cities show what the quiet months feel like. If you work remotely, check fiber at the address and look at our round-up of coworking spaces in Puglia. More place guides are in The Towns.
12. What it costs
Rent decides most budgets. In our monthly cost-of-living budget for a couple, built on September 2026 asking rents and regulator prices, a core month (rent, utilities, groceries, transport) comes to about €1,200-1,415 in Lecce, €1,450-1,660 in Bari and €1,040-1,325 in a smaller inland town. That excludes the waste tax, phones, eating out and private insurance, so add those before you compare it with what you spend now.
| Core monthly budget, couple | Lecce | Bari | Smaller inland town |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent, 65 m² (asking), utilities, groceries, transport | about €1,200-1,415 | about €1,450-1,660 | about €1,040-1,325 |
Daily life has its own rhythms, from the shop hours to the phrases you will hear at the bar. Our Life Here series, including 10 Puglia expressions and what they mean, is a gentle place to start.
FAQ
How long does moving to Puglia take?
Several months at least. The official clocks alone add up: consulates have up to 90 days to decide a long-stay visa, the police put average permesso issue time at about 60 days, and the comune has 45 days to confirm your residence. Documents, translations and the lease usually take longer than any of them.
Can I move to Puglia from the US or UK without a visa?
Not for more than 90 days in any 180. Longer stays need a national (type D) visa, unless you hold EU citizenship, for example by descent, or you are a UK citizen with rights under the Withdrawal Agreement because you were already resident in Italy before 2021.
Do I need a lease before I apply for the visa?
For the elective residence visa, usually yes: consulates such as Boston ask for a registered lease or deed. Check your own consulate’s list, since requirements vary by office.
When do I start paying Italian tax?
Once you meet any of the residence tests for most of the tax year, 183 days or 184 in a leap year. Registering at the anagrafe counts, and so does simple physical presence. Speak to a commercialista in the year you move.
Where should I live first?
Many people rent for a year in or near a town with year-round services, such as Lecce, then decide. If you want the 7% pensioner tax, the first town you register in must be on the list, so choose with that in mind.
Sources
- Ministero degli Affari Esteri: types of visa and duration
- Consolato Generale d’Italia Boston: elective residency requirements
- Ministero degli Affari Esteri: codice fiscale
- Polizia di Stato: issue of the permesso di soggiorno; Portale Immigrazione: non-EU citizens
- ANPR: change of residence
- Ministero della Salute: healthcare for non-EU citizens, voluntary registration
- GOV.UK: healthcare for UK nationals living in Italy; GOV.UK: Living in Italy
- Medicare.gov: coverage outside the US
- Agenzia delle Entrate: registering leases
- Ministero degli Affari Esteri: reciprocity condition
- Agenzia delle Entrate: residence for tax purposes
- IRS: US citizens and residents abroad; IRS: FBAR
- US Embassy and Consulates in Italy: transportation and driving
