# Italian address for elective residence visa



## ValRomx

The U.S. consulate for my region requests proof of my prospective Italian address (lease) as part of the visa documentation. Of course, not being resident in Italy and not being in possession of an Italian visa makes potential landlords doubtful that they are actually going to rent to me.

Does anyone have experience with this requirement? And how did you solve it?

Val


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## BBCWatcher

It is a conundrum, isn't it?

The most common solution is an initial stay with a friend or relative. The next most common solution is the purchase of a home or apartment -- a home typically the ER visa applicant is already spending holidays in, and the applicant is now "upgrading" to full-time residence.

But don't over-interpret the requirement. They probably didn't use the word "lease," did they? A document demonstrating the landlord's intention to rent should suffice. (We have a term for that sort of document that escapes me at this instant.) As long as it's something a bit more permanent than a hotel, inn, or guesthouse. "Corporate housing," for example, would probably work fine.


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## ValRomx

BBCWatcher said:


> It is a conundrum, isn't it?
> 
> The most common solution is an initial stay with a friend or relative.


Thanks for the reply and this is a good suggestion, but my last relative in Italy left for England around 1210 or so! Lol



> The next most common solution is the purchase of a home or apartment -- a home typically the ER visa applicant is already spending holidays in, and the applicant is now "upgrading" to full-time residence.


While I might wish to buy, I'm not in a position to do so.


> But don't over-interpret the requirement. They probably didn't use the word "lease," did they?


The embassy in the US as well as all the consulates do use the terms "deed" and "lease" - I suspect if the Catch-22 aspect of leasing from afar is examined, they might be somewhat lenient.


> A document demonstrating the landlord's intention to rent should suffice. (We have a term for that sort of document that escapes me at this instant.) As long as it's something a bit more permanent than a hotel, inn, or guesthouse. "Corporate housing," for example, would probably work fine.


Thank you for your comments! - they're much appreciated.

Val


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## BBCWatcher

I think you're also allowed to have what I might call a "contingent lease." It'd be a written agreement where you've paid for, say, 90 days up front ("long vacation") but the remainder of the lease term becomes effective when you've moved in and established residence, and that agreement spells out the terms and conditions.

Anyway, I think the key point is that "lease" covers a lot of ground. It's more than a hotel reservation, but it's not quite as onerous as might first seem.

Stepping back a bit, essentially the consulate is looking for evidence that you have a serious plan to be an actual resident of Italy, so this requirement is part of that same theme. It's an elective residence visa, not a long vacation visa (which doesn't exist). So you just need to present a housing-relating document that is much more suggestive of residence than vacation.


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## ValRomx

Thanks again, BBCWatcher.

I'd like to think optimistically about this but someone on another forum is asking a similar question and this is what he encountered at his consulate (he didn't indicate which consulate):


> The clerk said I needed proof of address in Italy for the entire year I'm applying for.
> ...Adding to my trouble, the clerk said that even if I had a rental contract in hand for a private apartment, I would also need to provide a notarized, original copy (in other words, not faxed or emailed) of the property title to prove that the landlord actually owned the place they were renting me.


Consulates have discretion in issuing visas, so it's possible that this difficult-to-fulfill request wouldn't be made by my consulate (San Francisco), but that's unlikely as the SF consulate has the longest list of requirements for the elective residency visa of the Italian consulates based in the U.S.

Val


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## ValRomx

A thread on this forum from last year also discusses issues in working with the Italian consulates in LA and San Francisco (Dashed dream ...)


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## Mozella

ValRomx said:


> ................
> 
> Consulates have discretion in issuing visas, so it's possible that this difficult-to-fulfill request wouldn't be made by my consulate (San Francisco), ...............


It's true that various consulates vary quite a bit in how the interpret the ER visa regulations and how strictly they enforce them. Sadly, you can't get a second opinion from another consulate unless you move your residency in your home country; i.e. you're stuck with the consulate for your place of residency.

This "place to live" requirement is one of the more frustrating aspects of the ER visa. First you have to prove you're essentially rich and next you have to prove that you don't intend to live in a cardboard box under a bridge.

In Italy, once a landlord has a tenant in place, the tenant can stop paying rent and the landlord is faced with a multi-year nightmare to evict the tenant, including expensive attorney fees. No wonder renting sight unseen is so difficult.

I solved the problem by having a friend sign a document saying she would let me stay at her house in Italy. Unfortunately, the document was nearly like an adoption paper. She had to guarantee to house and support me and be responsible if I did anything bad. So it's unlikely a stranger would sign such a document. I found the form on one of the non-US consulate web sites. 

You may not have family in Italy any longer, but do you have a good friend there who would say they would house you?


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## ValRomx

*Landlords*



Mozella said:


> This "place to live" requirement is one of the more frustrating aspects of the ER visa. First you have to prove you're essentially rich and next you have to prove that you don't intend to live in a cardboard box under a bridge.
> 
> In Italy, once a landlord has a tenant in place, the tenant can stop paying rent and the landlord is faced with a multi-year nightmare to evict the tenant, including expensive attorney fees. No wonder renting sight unseen is so difficult.


Thanks for your comments Mozella.

If I were a landlord in Italy there's no way that I'd rent sight-unseen to someone without personal and local references, especially via the internet.

My plan, at this time, is to go to Italy, find an apartment with hopes of adding a clause to the lease that the lease is void if I can't obtain an ER visa on my return to the US. It might not be possible to do so, but one can ask.

V


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