The entry visa and, possibly, the religious residence permit are travel documents designed specifically to facilitate religious communities for pilgrimages and interfaith exchanges. Through these documents, the cleric is free to travel and/or stay in the countries of interest.
But how does one obtain a visa and/or residence permit for religious reasons? Welcome Association Italy, which has always been at the side of foreigners arriving in Italy, offers a short guide dedicated to all religious people who, for one reason or another, are on their way to obtaining these titles in order to stay legally in Italy. The religious entry visa, moreover, is a particularly sought-after title in our country for the simplest of reasons, the presence of the Vatican City State, which attracts millions of Christian faithful each year. Warning. Although the turnout of Christian believers is very high in Italy, it is necessary to affirm and reiterate that there are many other religious communities in Italy, and Welcome Association Italy appeals to all of them.
1
The first step in planning a religious trip to Italy is gathering information for obtaining a visa to enter Italy. This research can be carried out through several channels:
Welcome Association Italy always recommends using institutional portals to be able to gather information, as they are a direct expression of the destination country’s directives.
2
As with any visa, there are documents to be collected and forwarded to the representative authorities in the cleric’s home country. Although the list may vary from country to country, the required documentation always implies:
Once the documentation has been collected, the cleric can forward it, either electronically or in person, to the Italian representations in the country of origin. It is always advisable to fill out and collect the required documents very carefully, and verify their authenticity, to avoid incurring a visa denial.
Condition of religious and religious character of the event
In the documentation required for the issuance of an entry visa for religious reasons, there are two peculiarities peculiar to the title: document certifying religious status and the religious character of the event.
Religious are defined as those who:
Regarding the religious character of the event, however, as stated in the documentation, an invitation from the religious body or a declaration of participation in the event is required.
3
Once the documentation has been submitted, the religious applicant must wait for the Italian representations to process it. Timelines for obtaining a visa may vary depending on the different cases to which the cleric has access:
Standard request: the cleric is advised to move early, as timelines are related to the workload of the diplomatic-consular representation.
Special request: in some countries there is the possibility of facilitating timelines in case of urgent reasons/attendance at important events. This procedure, however, is not available in all countries, and involves the disbursement of additional sums by the applicant.
During this waiting phase, it is strongly recommended that you monitor your contact information because, in certain cases, Italian authorities in the country of origin may request additional documentation or even an in-person interview. As for application costs, these can range from €80.00 to €200.00, depending on the type of application and the country of origin.
4
Once the visa is obtained, the cleric is free to enter Italy. Two scenarios arise at this point:
In the first scenario, there are no problems, as the cleric has already fulfilled all the bureaucratic requirements for the Uniform Schengen Visa. In the second scenario, on the other hand, the religious person is obliged, within eight days of entering Italy, to submit the postal kit to apply for a residence permit for religious reasons (Long-Term Residence Visa or National Visa). A residence permit for religious reasons requires a procedure similar to that carried out for a visa, through the collection of various documents to be submitted to the postal kit:
Gathering the documentation, all that remains is to forward it with the postal kit. At the end of the procedure, the applicant gets a receipt for payment of the postal kit. This receipt is extremely important in that:
For these reasons, it is advisable to carefully guard the payment receipt of the postal kit until the actual residence permit is delivered.
5
As with the timing of the entry visa, the application for a residence permit for religious reasons also has timelines that are not clearly defined. There are some cases where the applicant gets the appointment at the police station months after submitting the postal kit. This is mainly due to the amount of paperwork that police headquarters are able to process, so in small towns the procedure may be quick and streamlined, while in large cities it could take months. Before release, however, the religious applicant must take care of one last bureaucratic-administrative step, which is the appointment at the police headquarters. This convocation has a threefold purpose:
The documentation check is a very important step because many applicants, for various reasons, fail to attach all the documents listed above. To remedy this, the authorities reserve the opportunity to supplement the permit application to the appointment at police headquarters. Among the documents that applicants often do not present there is the health coverage, which deserves a very brief aside.
The National Health System (NHS) in Italy and private coverage
An applicant for a residence permit for religious reasons who receives remuneration comparable to a worker’s income in Italy is entitled to free registration with the National Health System (NHS). If, on the other hand, he or she has no remuneration in Italy, he or she can voluntarily join the N.H.S. From January 2024, by virtue of a regulatory change regulated in the Budget Law 2024, the cost of voluntary membership in the N.H.S. has been subject to a very significant increase. Without going into detail, it is necessary to state that the minimum cost of voluntary membership in the N.H.S. for religious people is €2,000.00, to be declined according to income. For this reason, many applicants turn to private health coverage in order to be able to submit this indispensable document when applying for residence.
Once the documentation is integrated, the photodactyloscopic survey, or fingerprinting, is conducted at police headquarters. Finally, there is the signing of the Integration Agreement. It is a document aimed at encouraging the integration of the non-EU citizen on the Italian territory through a credit system. Credits can be added as a result of positive actions (enrollment in training courses, leases, degrees) or subtracted as a result of crimes or violations of the law.
After these steps are completed, the applicant must wait for the issuance of the physical permit card, which will then be sent or picked up by the applicant.
6
In addition to the residence permit, the cleric must simultaneously carry out two other administrative-bureaucratic paperwork: applying for a fiscal code and registering at registry office.
The tax code is the tool through which a citizen can interface with the public administration and make his or her tax information traceable to the Italian state. The 16-character alphanumeric code can be issued by the Police Headquarters or by applying to the Agenzia delle Entrate.
The other useful element for the non-EU religious permit holder is the registration at registry office. This is an administrative act in which the applicant declares his domicile and legal residence in Italy. Through registration one has access to tax identification, access to public services and exercise of civil rights. The act takes place at theregistry office of the municipality in which you intend to take up residence.
7
A residence permit for religious reasons can be valid for 12 months, after which the non-EU citizen can choose whether to renew or convert the permit. In the case of renewal of a residence permit for religious reasons, the applicant must start the procedure sixty days before the expiration of the permit. When the title expires, the applicant has another 30 days to regularize. The renewal procedure is very similar to applying for a residence permit. The applicant will need to go to the Poste Italiane’ s Sportello Amico, purchase the postal kit, collect the required documents, and submit it. The main changes from the step (IV) documentation are:
It is possible, upon the expiration of a residence permit for religious reasons, to apply for a conversion of the title provided that the requirements for doing so are met. The main conversions required are for Study, Work or Family Reunification.
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