The 8-working-day clock for the residence permit, the tax code, registration at the anagrafe with its 45-day check, enrolment in the health service and the mistakes that lose weeks: in the order you need them.
In brief
As of 6 November 2026, the first month in Italy runs three clocks in parallel. A permit request is due within 8 working days of arrival if you stay beyond a tourist visit (Article 5 of Legislative Decree 286/1998, as reported by money.it and the Polizia di Stato), usually through the postal kit at Poste Italiane. The tax code (codice fiscale) is requested at any Agenzia delle Entrate office. Registration with the Comune (the anagrafe) follows, and the Comune has 45 days to check that you really live at the address. Health-service (SSN) enrolment comes after that. Our sources are mostly guides and summaries, not the official pages; verify each step with the Questura and the Comune.
Before the clock starts: which status are you in?
Everything below depends on one question: are you in Italy as a tourist or as someone who intends to stay? According to the Polizia di Stato, a tourist stay of up to three months does not need a permesso di soggiorno. If you entered directly from a country outside the Schengen area, the border stamp in your passport counts as your declaration of presence. If you entered through another Schengen country, the declaration of presence goes to the Questura within 8 days of entry; the sources differ on whether those are calendar or working days, so file early. If you sleep in a hotel, the hotel registers you and that paper stands in for the declaration. One consultancy site claims that every tourist must file; it contradicts the police summary, so we do not use it.
This checklist is for the common case: you arrived with a long-stay visa or you are about to apply for a permit, you have a place to live and you want to be in the system. If you own or are buying a flat, our guides on buying and on the purchase-to-residence route come first; this page starts after the keys.
- General version of this checklist: first 30 days after moving abroad
- Living in Italy: Italy expat life
- Residence routes for owners and investors: Italy golden visa, Italy digital nomad visa
- Tax codes explained for buyers: NIE, NIF and codice fiscale
Days 1 to 3: arrival, the place to live and the tax code
Keep your entry stamp or visa, your lease or purchase deed, and several photocopies of the passport. Everything later is counted from the date of entry.
The first practical step is the tax code. The codice fiscale is requested with form AA4/8 at any office of the Agenzia delle Entrate. Sources list the passport (with the entry visa if one was required) and the permit or at least the receipt of the permit request. The code has no expiry date. We did not find a source that says the issue itself is free, so do not assume it. With the code you can sign a lease properly, open a bank account and contract utilities, so many people go for it on day two or three.
Two quick wins on day one:
- Buy a local SIM. Italian operators ask for a passport and the tax code, so take both.
- Ask your landlord whether the lease is registered and how the utilities are named. A lease registered with the revenue agency makes the later residence registration much simpler.
Week 1: the permesso di soggiorno request
If you plan to stay beyond a tourist visit, the first request for the permesso di soggiorno is due within 8 working days of entry. Most requests go through the postal kit: you pick up the kit at a Poste Italiane counter, fill in the forms and post them back there. You receive a receipt that proves the request was made, and the Polizia di Stato says the permit is issued on average about 60 days after the request. The costs quoted by commercial sites are about 30 euro for the postal service, 16 euro for the stamp duty and 30.46 euro for the electronic permit, but they differ by permit type. Check the amounts on the Poste Italiane page before you pay.
Some requests do not go through the kit; the documents you hold decide which route applies. If your entry visa says it is a visa for a specific purpose (work, study, family, elective residence), read what it says about the next step on arrival, because that note decides the deadline.
The receipt matters more than most people think. It proves that you applied in time, and with it you can usually take the next administrative steps while the card is still being printed. Photograph it and keep the original in a folder with the passport copy.
Weeks 2 to 4: residence registration and health service
Registration with the Comune (iscrizione anagrafica, also called residenza) is a separate step from the permit. You go to the anagrafe office of your Comune with the filled-in form and the documents, which usually include the passport, the permit or its receipt and proof of the address such as a lease or a deed. One 2026 guide notes that many Comuni accept digital filing through the ANPR portal if you have a SPID digital identity, but first registrations are often still done in person.
The official integrazionemigranti.gov.it page, as summarised, says the anagrafe checks within 45 days that you really live at the address; local police may visit. One guide says you must apply within 20 days of receiving the permit, but we could not confirm that deadline, so treat 20 days as a safe target rather than a legal fact. Sources also differ on whether silence after 45 days means approval, so write to the Comune and ask for a confirmation. Registered foreigners must renew their declaration within 60 days of renewing the permit, and one source says the registration can be cancelled if the renewal is 30 days late.
Only after registration do you enrol in the national health service (SSN). With a regular permit you go to the ASL of the Comune where you live. The health card (tessera sanitaria) is issued only after enrolment, according to a guide updated on 14 May 2026, and the enrolment lasts as long as the permit does. Whether enrolment is compulsory or voluntary and paid depends on your permit type, and a question on exactly which categories of foreigners must enrol was sent to the Constitutional Court in an order published in November 2025, so the rules may change. Read the section on cover in our article on health cover after moving and ask the ASL which category you are in.
Bank account and driving licence
A bank account normally needs the passport, the tax code, proof of address and often the permit or the receipt. We found no source that describes Italian bank refusals for Russian, Belarusian, Kazakh or Ukrainian passport holders, so ask the bank directly and read what banks ask for and why they refuse in our guide to resident bank accounts.
For a driving licence, whether a licence from your country can be exchanged depends on the country, the permit and a time limit. The details are in the driving licence article; do not plan to drive on a foreign licence beyond the time the rules allow.
Mistakes that cost weeks
- Waiting for the permit card before registering at the anagrafe. The receipt is usually enough to start.
- Counting the 8 working days from the day you settled instead of the day you entered.
- Taking the postal kit forms home and not posting them on time.
- Registering at an address where the landlord will not let you register. The Comune checks that you live there.
- Missing the 60-day deadline to renew the residence declaration after a permit renewal.
- Assuming a tourist stay of 90 days gives you the right to enrol in the health service.
- Signing a lease without checking whether it is registered with the revenue agency.
One-page checklist
- Day 1: entry stamp or visa kept; passport copies; local SIM; lease or deed in hand.
- Day 1-3: codice fiscale at the Agenzia delle Entrate (form AA4/8).
- Within 8 working days of entry: permesso di soggiorno request through the postal kit; keep the receipt.
- Weeks 2-3: residenza at the anagrafe with the receipt and proof of address.
- Within 45 days: the Comune verifies the address; reply to any request quickly.
- After registration: enrol in the SSN at the ASL and request the health card.
- Bank account and utilities in your name once the tax code and address proof are ready.
- Diary: renewal of the permit and the 60-day renewal of the residence declaration.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; verify each step on the pages of the Polizia di Stato, the Agenzia delle Entrate and your Comune.
FAQ
Do I need a permesso di soggiorno for a tourist visit? No. According to the Polizia di Stato, a tourist stay of up to three months does not need one. If you plan to stay longer for another purpose, the first request is due within 8 working days of entry.
Where do I get a codice fiscale as a foreigner? At any office of the Agenzia delle Entrate with form AA4/8, the passport and the permit or its receipt. The code has no expiry date. We did not find a source that says it is free of charge.
How long does the Comune have to check my residence? The official integrazionemigranti.gov.it page, as summarised, says 45 days. Some guides say silence after 45 days means approval and others advise asking for written confirmation, so ask.
Can I use the health service with only a permit receipt? You can usually start the health-card process once you are enrolled with the ASL, which depends on registration and permit type. Rules on who must enrol are under review by the Constitutional Court, so ask the ASL.
Does a flat purchase give me residence in Italy? No. A purchase does not by itself give a right to stay. See our guides on the golden visa and the investor visa for the real routes, and on buying with a Russian, Belarusian, Kazakh or Ukrainian passport for the money checks.