Family reunification: the case of Albanian nationals

Family reunification is among the grounds the Welcome Association Italy union makes available to its members for the "non-EU citizen seeking residence permit" package. This motivation allows non-EU citizens legally residing in Italy to invite members of their household, in particular:

• Spouse (or party to civil union), not legally separated and not less than eighteen years of age;
• minor children, including those of a spouse or born out of wedlock, who are unmarried provided that the other parent, if any, has given consent;
• adult dependent children, if they cannot provide for their indispensable living needs due to their health condition resulting in total disability;
• Dependent parents if they have no other children in the country of origin or provenance;
• Parents over the age of 65 who have no other children in the country of origin or provenance (or when other children, if any, in the country of origin or provenance cannot take care of their subsistence for documented serious health reasons).

The case of Albanian nationals The package for non-EU citizens with this motivation is very popular especially among Albanian citizens residing in Italy. The Albanian community is historically very present in the Italian territory. According to data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, it is the second largest in terms of number of presences on the Italian national territory, with about 415 thousand citizens regularly residing in the Bel Paese. This translates into the fact that Albanian citizens account for 11 percent of the total number of non-EU citizens in Italy. It is not surprising, consequently, that this community is ready and willing to use the package for non-EU citizens seeking residence permits with family reunification motivation. In view of these numbers, and in order to simplify the search for useful information, the Welcome Association Italy union thought to put some clarity on how to apply for a residence permit with family reunification motivation. First of all, it is necessary to reiterate that in order to obtain a residence permit for family reunification, two figures are involved:

1. The non-EU citizen legally residing in Italy, the one who invites;
2. non-EU citizen who intends to enter Italy with a permit for family reunification, the invited

The first category includes any non-EU citizen who holds a residence card or residence permit with a duration of not less than 12 months, having as motivation work (self-employed or subordinate), political asylum, study, religious reasons and family reasons. The invited non-EU citizen, on the other hand, is responsible for collecting a set of documents to present to the Italian authorities. This documentation varies depending on the case in question, whether it is a spouse, or a child (minor of age), or a parent. For more information, it is necessary to visit the website of the Italian Embassy in Tirana.