# travelling internationally on a 5 year PDS



## brob (Jan 28, 2013)

Hello, I have a 5 year PDS per motivi familiari (American married an Italian)

My current job requires me to travel and for extensive periods outside Italy.

For example, I am currently in the US and may travel to Asia before returning to Italy.

I have read on-line that I can stay no more than 6 months outside Italy on any single trip. 

Is this true? 

Is there any period of time I would have to stay in Italy before I travelled outside the Italy again? I don't think so, but would like to check. 

And is there a total amount of time I can spend outside of *Italy* across all 5 years of my PDS? For example, if we decide to move the UK for my work and my wife's, would I have to return to Italy every 6 months to maintain my PDS?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

BRob


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

I am not aware of any restrictions in your circumstances. If for some reason your PdS is revoked you're married to a legal resident (and citizen) of Italy, so you can reapply. I'm not sure why you'd want to be away from your spouse for such long periods, though.

Why don't you (or haven't you) applied for Italian citizenship? Then you don't need a PdS.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Normally, that six-month restriction applies in order to maintain continuous residence in the home country (i.e. Italy). That way, to the extent there is a residency requirement to take nationality or for any other administrative function, your residency is not broken for travel of up to six months outside of Italy.

You should probably check with the office that issues the PDS about the conditions to renew it. I know here in France, to renew a long term residence card (a 10 year card) you have to show that you have not been absent from France for longer than 3 years during the term of the card. Check the renewal requirements to see if there is something similar for Italy.

But as BBCWatcher says, even if you weren't eligible to renew due to extended absence, as the spouse of an Italian citizen, you'd be able to get a new PDS with minimal difficulty.
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

There are also no real issues about clocking residency time for purposes of naturalization in the original poster's circumstances. The foreign spouses of Italian citizens can apply for acquisition of Italian citizenship after between 1 and 3 years of marriage. The differences depend on residency inside or outside Italy (2 versus 3 years) and whether you have a child together (waiting period cut in half). But the bottom line is you don't have to wait any longer than 3 years even if you screw up your PdS, though you do need to be co-resident with your spouse upon application and through the 2+ year naturalization process (waiting game, really) after applying. Long business/pleasure trips within that period would be OK.

If you want to apply for an EC Long Term Residence Permit then you'd need to do better than your proposed absences from Italy. You'd need to limit your absences to a total of 10 months out of the previous 5 years (upon application) with no single absence longer than 6 months, as I understand it. Upon application you may have to submit some reasonable proof of meeting the minimum residence time requirements.


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## brob (Jan 28, 2013)

Thank you for the feedback.

We are newly married and have not reached the minimum time together in order for me to apply for Italian citizenship, which is our next step.

BRob


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## accbgb (Sep 23, 2009)

The US is very wary of sham marriages entered into solely for the purpose of obtaining resident green cards and/or citizenship rights.

Does anyone know if Italy tests marriages in a similar manner? I only wonder because brob has been married a short time and yet expects to spend "extensive periods" away from his wife. In the US, that would be considered suspicious.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I suppose it depends on the Italians laws regarding taking nationality through marriage, and the tax laws. 

I know here in France, you wind up having to "prove" the validity of the ongoing marriage when you go to renew your residence permit (which is, I suppose, what the PDS is). One way to do that is to present your tax assessment statements - because in France a married couple MUST file a joint tax declaration using a single address.
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

I missed the part about trying to maintain the PdS upon moving to the U.K. in the original question. No, that's not possible. The PdS/CdS is issued based on actual legal marriage to the Italian citizen and co-residence with that citizen in Italy. Once the Italian citizen establishes residence in the U.K. (or in another country for that matter), that PdS/CdS becomes null and void.

OK, so can your wife just not say anything? No. Italian citizens are legally obliged to report their worldwide changes of residence. Outside Italy they do that through their local Italian consulate, and they register in AIRE, the registry of Italians living overseas. That registration is in addition to any locally required residential registration in the destination country. In other words, Italians are supposed to keep their government reliably informed of their residences (and a few other life events) in timely fashion.

Non-EEA/Swiss citizen-spouses are immigration dependent on their EU/EEA/Swiss spouses, quite simply. If you want to live in the EEA or in Switzerland (e.g. the U.K.), you must move where she moves. And that means you can't keep using your PdS after she moves to the U.K. The PdS/CdS is issued by Italy for Italy.

OK, but can you "bend the rules" a bit if you need to? A bit maybe. For example, the Italian spouse could be a _little_ slow in reporting her move to another country (i.e. registering in AIRE) if her husband needs to hang out in Italy an extra month or so on his otherwise unexpired PdS/CdS. And it's legally fairly hard to kick foreign spouses out of Europe, but it can be done if you're deemed a genuine security threat. It can certainly be done if you aren't actually married and co-resident, as Bev and Accbgb allude to, but I assume that's not the case.

If you want something from the government then yes, they might ask a few questions if they have some reason to doubt the validity of a marriage. However, it's a long process (and usually quite expensive) to get divorced in Italy, so I suspect the authorities default to the assumption that people who have a marriage certificate registered in Italy (as Italians are obliged to do) are indeed married. They might see each other every day, or they might live on opposite sides of a big house and avoid each other as much as possible, but either way they're married. That said, again as Bev and Accbgb allude to, there probably is still some sensitivity to "marriages" that don't resemble most marriages. For example, if you're attempting to naturalize as an Italian citizen on the basis of marriage to an Italian, the authorities have the right to request reasonable proof of co-residence. The Italian spouse also has to "sign off" on the steps in the process under penalty of perjury. And citizenship obtained fraudulently can be revoked, with retroactive effect.

I must admit I was puzzled by your question. I can't imagine not seeing my spouse for 6+ months at a time. I don't like even 6 days apart. But every marriage is different.

Did this follow-up answer your questions well enough?


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