How to Get an EU Blue Card: Italy Edition

Reading Time: 9 minutes

If curiosity has led you to inquire about the Italian immigration process, any expat (or immigrant, if you see yourself living in Italy for an indeterminate amount of time) will tell you immigration is, quite frankly, a long-a** nightmare.

I suppose bureaucracy in any country can be deemed as such, but when you go through the process yourself, it can be frustrating to know that steps A, B, C, and D can all be streamlined and become one easy-peasy step A.

But by now, we should all know that “why make it easy for everyone?” is the motto of governments worldwide…

My experience with Italian immigration has been full of frustrations, but it has also been a slightly unique experience compared to most. A lot of expats I’ve met usually ended up in Italy because of love, and hence, stay in the country through marriage/family permits which (can) eventually lead to work permits.

Others end up here via the student route, for example, by completing a master’s program and (hopefully) finding work soon after.

In my case, I originally came here under the specific “ricerca” (Italian for research) permit: designed for a finite period to conduct academic research at an already-vetted Italian institution. When I decided I wanted out of my post-doc fellowship in favor of industry, I fell into a really lucky opportunity—and that’s when I realized, something called the EU Blue Card could help me transition into a proper work contract in Italy.

The following is my personal experience with obtaining an EU Blue Card to work in Italy. Please read for insight but understand every experience is unique and not all the steps I had to do may match your EU Blue Card journey. When it comes to government paperwork and steps, things are always changing, so brace yourself for any surprises that may be thrown your way!

There are also many resources online that go into the nitty-gritty about Italian visas, permits, citizenship, etc. and I am not an expert in this realm. I am only writing about my experience in the hope that it helps someone get an idea about the process (especially what they need to be prepared for and how long it takes)!

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What is the EU Blue Card?

This official site gives you all the deets (and this one for Italy) but generally speaking, the EU Blue Card is probably the smoothest of all permit options in Europe available to non-EU professionals with post-graduate degrees (master’s or PhD programs at least 3 years in length). And smooth in this case means a good 6-8 months before the card is to hand.

Given Italian bureaucracy, I’d say 6-8 months is lightning speed.

While the links above give more information, one perk of the Blue Card is that while you do have to work in the same country/job that your applied for for 18 months, after this period, you can move to another European country for work if that’s in your plans, or be on track for permanent residency in the country you got your EU Blue Card in.

How can I get an EU Blue Card?

One thing to make clear about Italy is that in order to (legally) work in the country with a standard work permit, you have to already have a job offer (if you currently reside outside of Italy—this step is different for non-Italian students who studied in Italy, for example).

When I came to Italy originally, I was doing a postdoctoral fellowship under the ricerca permit as mentioned earlier. I already had my PhD (a terminal, post-grad degree). Looking back, if I had known about the EU Blue Card, I probably would have insisted on this path instead of naively accepting the ricerca permit, now knowing the benefits the EU Blue Card comes with.

When I transitioned to an industry position within the pharma sector, pushing for the EU Blue Card benefited both me and my employer. I should also note that my path to this position started with a cold email (while I was in Italy during my fellowship), followed by interviews where both my future employer and I saw mutual benefits in my hire. I acknowledge that this opportunity was incredibly unique and based on the fact that 1) I had experience in the company’s line of work through my PhD and 2) had the initiative to reach out on my own, and not follow a job listing.

I encourage anyone with post-grad degrees (terminal ones especially, like PhD, MD, JD, PharmD, master’s is often fine too if it’s at least 3 years in length) to look into the Blue Card as an option for a permit, since they are considered degrees needed for “highly qualified professions”. The list is surprisingly quite broad for what is considered as such, especially for Italy.

It’s critical to have an (future) employer assist you in the process for the EU Blue Card since a work offer is needed just to get started. Finding an employer to help you with this can be an obstacle, as for a lot of Italian companies, it can take some convincing to explain why they should hire a non-EU citizen over a local Italian. But I recommend trying and keeping the following in mind:

[x] Seek a job in industry with a company that works internationally. If you are a native English speaker, this can help if the company does business with English-speaking countries and wants to build rapport with English-speaking clients (especially the US, because that is honestly where a lot of profits come from for Italian companies that do business abroad…)

[x] If you do come from academia, you can always try reaching out to “top” research institutions and proposing that you come under an EU Blue Card versus a ricerca permit and collaboration contract (the cococo, which was what I was under when I did my fellowship, is a bit more restrictive than the contract that comes with the Blue Card). In this case, coming in with a fellowship can be a huge advantage when you make your proposal, as it shows you are coming in with your own funding and can be self-sufficient to a certain extent.

[x] Don’t be afraid of cold emails. Sell your skillset confidently. That’s how I found my job.

[x] While knowledge of Italian may help, I got my job without being fluent in Italian. You can always say you are learning and would appreciate the opportunity to rapidly improve your skills in a workplace environment. Oftentimes companies willing to take on foreigners offer assistance such as with language classes, etc.

Why should I get an EU Blue Card?

An interesting observation I’ve noted while in Italy is that I have not met too many expats with an EU Blue Card. I believe it is because not too many people are aware of it, and even if one qualifies, their career goals may not include a stint abroad.

For example, a lot of post-doc fellows (people who finished their PhD and are continuing to do research) come to the US for their abroad experience. Rarely do you ever hear of an American scientist going abroad for a post-doc. If they do, it’s usually to another English-speaking country or Northern Europe. Even when I did my fellowship in Italy, I was the only American in my co-hort.

I also think I don’t hear of many expat Blue Card holders in Italy because of this sentiment – as an American, Canadian, or other citizen of a “developed” country, why should I bother with this?

Even if you’re not sure how long you plan to be abroad, insisting that this is the best option for you and your potential employer could be incredibly beneficial in the long run. It’s ultimately a great way to live in another country in the short-term, while progressing in your career. True, the pay may not match what you can get in the US for example, but if you’ve always wanted to experience life abroad, this could be a great option if you’ve “suffered” through many years of education, and now want to “experiment” with a new life and cultural experience…

So, what are the steps?

In general, this is what it was like for me before I got to hold my physical EU Blue Card:

Step 1: Employer sends in application request to Italian government (they ask for a Nulla Osta, which authorizes non-EU citizens to apply for a work visa at their home country’s Italian consulate).

My timeline: December 2021

Step 2: I had to collect the following in order to complete the application for the Nulla Osta:

1) Copy of Passport (duh.)

2) Job Offer from Company

3) Declaration of Value (the most difficult to obtain from the list)

Step 2.5: Assembling the Declaration of Value:

This is the most nightmare-ish part of the entire process, as it depends on what your local consulate* wants from you. The Declaration of Value is a document that states how your post-graduate education translates to the Italian education system.

*And your local consulate will be the one in the state where you completed your final degree. For me, this was the one in Los Angeles, even though I left LA years ago!

For the Declaration of Value, the LA consulate required that I send them:

1) A copy of my diploma declared authentic by my university’s registrar. His/her signature had to be notarized by a notary public (normally, universities get requests for this a lot if they have a large international student body, so they often have a campus notary or partnership).

2) The notarized document then had to be sealed with an “apostille” by the Secretary of State (in my case, in California).

3) A translation (from English to Italian) of my diploma AND transcripts. The consulate in LA was okay with me using a third-party translation service or even using Google translate. I assume because the lady who was in charge of Declaration of Value requests also certified the translations…

4) Passport copy (just make 10 copies and carry them around with you, to be honest…)

5) Information about my university (whether it was public or private, degree admission requirements, how long it takes for degree…)

My timeline: January – February 2022 (~5 weeks to assemble everything for Declaration of Value)

Step 3: Once I received the Declaration of Value from the LA consulate (they sent it to me via a pre-paid FedEx envelope), I handed the original copies to my employer during a business trip, and received the Nulla Osta from the government about 30 days later!

My timeline: End of March 2022

Step 4: Then I had to get back in communication with the consulate stateside (this time, the one closest to my current residence, so I didn’t have to get in touch with LA thankfully!) and ask for a long-term visa. I had to send my physical passport along with more photocopies of documents they specifically requested (i.e. local driver’s license/state ID, flight reservation, etc.). But this was more straight-forward and faster to accomplish than with the Declaration of Value.

My timeline: Sent out everything early April 2022 and received everything back within a week.

Step 5: I sent photocopies of my visa and the passport stamp* of my arrival into Italy/the first EU country I transited through before Italy to my employer, who then forwarded this information to request an appointment at the Prefeturra.

*Make sure you get this stamp!! Do not go through electronic screening at the airport, because getting that physical stamp is necessary for the next step. The airport workers may laugh at you for your odd request, but ignore them and get that stamp. It’ll save you so much trouble at the Prefeturra!

My timeline: Sent photocopies to my company early May 2022. Was scheduled an appointment at Prefeturra at end of May 2022.

Step 6: Next, I was given an appointment* at the Prefeturra to get my “contratto di soggiorno” (contract of stay). They also provide your tax code “codice fiscale” at this appointment too. In my case, I already had a codice fiscale so I gave the officials that number.

*I had the appointment end of May, but of course in pure Italian fashion, there was an issue with the office’s printer so I had to reschedule. Luckily, I was with someone from my company and they were able to help me communicate and reconfigure things. I ended up rescheduling for early July…

Step 7: In the Prefeturra “re-do” appointment, I received an appointment for the Questura (police/ immigration office, essentially) to “give” my fingerprints. Before that, I had to go to the post office to send off the forms that were completed at the Prefeturra. Why can’t the Prefeturra do that themselves? Beat’s me.

My timeline: early July 2022

Step 8: I go to the Questura a month later and get my fingerprints taken, along with having to submit a few more docs (like a passport photo and yet another passport copy). I then get instructions to come back within 25 days to pick up the card.

My timeline: early August 2022

Step 9: It indeed takes more than 25 days (probably because of this), and I actually came back six weeks later to finally get my EU Blue Card.

My timeline: Mid-September 2022.

This entire process took 9 months. Technically, you can start legally working after completing the Prefeturra appointment (you do not have to wait until you get the physical card).

But I mean, PHEW! Did you get all that? If it was a doozy to read all that, then you now understand that that is how getting to Italy is. The hard stuff happens WAY before you enter the country!

So I hope this post gives *some* idea and perspective about one “easier” option (as easy as it can get, which still isn’t easy…) to seek work opportunities in Italy if you are a non-EU citizen with a post-graduate degree yearning for a “life abroad” experience.

It can take a lot of planning, researching, sweat, and grit, but if your curiosity for life abroad won’t stop bugging you until you actually take the leap, there is nothing wrong with giving it a try. If you end up enjoying the experience and wanting to work in the country forever, then renewals and path to permanent residency should only get easier if you started off with a Blue Card.

And if you’ve never been an expat or immigrant, at least this post gives a glimpse as to how much hard work it is. Be kind to others going through the process, because it requires a lot of strength, bravery, and putting up with things they really shouldn’t have to 😉.

Thoughts? Questions? Leave a comment below!