Moving to Italy: codice fiscale before anything else

Italian bureaucracy has a reputation it has earned, but it is navigable if you take it in the right order. Almost everything depends on one number, and getting that number is quick and free - the delays come from doing things in the wrong sequence, not from the paperwork itself.

Start with the codice fiscale

The codice fiscale is your tax code and the first thing to get. You cannot open a bank account, sign a lease, get a phone contract, register with a doctor or be paid without it. It is issued by the Agenzia delle Entrate, it is free, and it can often be done the same day.

The permesso di soggiorno

Non-EU citizens then need the permesso di soggiorno, applied for within eight days of arriving. The application starts at a post office with a kit, moves to the questura for fingerprints, and takes months to conclude - but the receipt you get at the start is itself proof of a legal application while you wait.

Residenza, then healthcare

Registering your address, the residenza, comes next and unlocks the health system. Once registered you can enrol with the SSN and be assigned a medico di base, the family doctor who is the gateway to everything else medical - specialists are reached through a referral, not directly.

Renting: four plus four, and register it

On renting, the standard residential contract is the four-plus-four - four years, automatically renewed for four more unless the landlord has a specific legal reason not to. That is unusually secure for a tenant. Insist the contract is registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate, because an unregistered lease is void and leaves you with no protection at all.