# Permesso di Soggiorno Question!



## hatchmg

Ciao a tutti!

I lived in Italy from 2011-2013, first with a student visa then I participated in the "sanatoria" of the Fall of 2012. My ex-fiance's dad declared I was working with their family part time therefore I received a permesso di sogiorno per lavoro subordinato. I went home for the past year due to my family situation and my grandmother being sick. I am now returning to Italy. My permesso di sogiorno expires June 2015. I have not been living or working in Italy for one year but I assume my permesso is still valid? Am I legally able to obtain a teaching job in Rome? Will I have to pay any taxes since I have been gone for one year even though I was not working? To renew this permesso I assume I can do so by submitting a contract for work with the quester?

Grazie mille!


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## BBCWatcher

hatchmg said:


> My permesso di sogiorno expires June 2015. I have not been living or working in Italy for one year but I assume my permesso is still valid? Am I legally able to obtain a teaching job in Rome? Will I have to pay any taxes since I have been gone for one year even though I was not working? To renew this permesso I assume I can do so by submitting a contract for work with the quester?


I had to do some research, and you're probably not going to like the answer I found.

With this type of PdS (lavoro subordinato), and assuming you were not on a fixed-term contract (looks like a safe assumption since it appears you got a 2 year PdS), the law provides a guaranteed minimum period of legally tolerable unemployment of 6 months. So if you had come back and resumed legal employment within 6 months of leaving your previous job, there'd be no problem at all. (The authorities don't want to see, for example, that you worked for one week, stopped work for 6 months, worked one week, stopped, etc. They'd view that pattern as an abuse and likely deny you a PdS renewal.)

Past 6 months (your situation) you then quite simply take your chances. The immigration authorities handling your next PdS renewal have the right to question why you were not employed for such a long period, what you were doing, and how you supported yourself. It's also at least not going to look good if you have a missing tax return. You're supposed to be a resident of Italy, and residents of Italy are also tax residents of Italy. You're required to submit a tax return when you renew that PdS anyway.

So you've taken on some immigration-related risk with that long absence. The authorities now have legal _discretion_ to deny your next PdS renewal if they ask these (or similar) questions and if they're not satisfied with the answers.

That doesn't mean they must deny the renewal, and you should be on safe ground until your PdS expires. That said, a prospective employer may not want to deal with you given the risk you may have to leave Italy late next year, so that's a risk, too.

Anyway, to net it out, you can take a shot at picking up where you left off, but don't be surprised if you _at least_ have some explaining to do at the next renewal.

Please note that your 12 month period of absence has completely and irrevocably reset your clock if you intended to get an EC Long-Term Residence Permit or to naturalize as an Italian citizen. If you re-enter Italy you'll be starting that 5 year EC Long-Term Residence Permit clock from scratch again (and/or your citizenship clock which varies but is usually 10 years of residence). If either/both of these/those status(es) is/are your goal(s) then you cannot be absent from Italy more than 10 months in total and more than 6 months for any single trip. And you'll need to reasonably prove you were present in Italy (using payroll records, for example).


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## hatchmg

BBCWatcher said:


> So you've taken on some immigration-related risk with that long absence. The authorities now have legal _discretion_ to deny your next PdS renewal if they ask these (or similar) questions and if they're not satisfied with the answers.
> 
> That doesn't mean they must deny the renewal, and you should be on safe ground until your PdS expires. That said, a prospective employer may not want to deal with you given the risk you may have to leave Italy late next year, so that's a risk, too.


Thank you so much for your response!! I figured I did some damage but I wasn't sure how much. I am not too concerned with the residency permit. I can ask around when I get back to Italy but in terms of "my story" when I go to renew my Pds, is something like "I had to go home to take care of my sick grandmother" work? My grandmother really has not been doing well the past year and I have spent a lot of time with her. I am just curious as to what types of things would be acceptable for the immigration officer?


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## BBCWatcher

You may not have to answer that question when the time comes. But if you are asked, always be truthful. "My grandmother was gravely ill, and she required my care" is at least close to the best answer if truthful.

I'd also make sure you get all your Italian tax and financial filings (i.e. Form RW) current, with no gaps. Obviously you'll have a gap in income, so the numbers you put in the forms will reflect that. But I would not recommend having any years with missing forms. Said another way, make sure you're a model foreign resident of Italy in every respect you still control. That's true _anyway_ because it's your legal responsibility regardless of whether you go back or not. Never upset or offend a government unless there's a "damn good reason," and think twice even then.

I should elaborate that the Italian authorities can, if they wish, ask about your absence any time they wish, even before your next PdS renewal. For example, your gap in social insurance contributions could pop up as "odd," which it is. If/when you come back into the system that might flag. You can make an attempt to maintain and to renew your status, but you've given the authorities the discretion to say no, so just be prepared for that possibility.


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