Case: Latika is a 70-year old Indian woman, she used to run a traditional restaurant in downtown Mumbai with her husband and has a 29-year old son, Jamal, who is currently working as an IT engineer and software developer for a leader high tech Italian enterprise based in Milan. After her husband’s death, Latika lost the restaurant and, since she has no further family members in her country who can economically support her and take care of her, she is planning on joining her son Jamal in Italy.
Question: what are the options for Latika to obtain a visa and a residence permit that would allow her to move to Italy and join her son Jamal?
Solution: considering that Latika’s son resides and works in Italy, in force of a valid Italian residence permit that has a duration of more than 1 year, she might find the “family reunification” procedure particularly interesting and appealing.
Italian immigration Law aims at protecting and encouraging family stability, by providing, under Article 29 of Legislative Decree no. 286/1998, that third-country nationals are allowed to move to Italy in order to join their family members who already reside in the Italian territory, for either study or work purposes, and hold a valid Italian residence permit.
If the family member is either the father or the mother of a third-country national residing in Italy, like in Latika’s case, according to the above-mentioned Article 29, the following requirements shall be met in order for the family reunification procedure to be duly carried out:
- the applicant shall not have other children who can take care of him/her in his/her country of origin or be over 65 years of age, also with other children who cannot in any case take care of him/her because of health reasons;
- the family member who already resides in Italy shall hold a valid Italian residence permit with duration of no less than 1 year (unless in case of EU Blue Card or EU ICT holders, for whom there is no minimum time limit); and
- the family member who already resides in Italy shall generate an annual income for an amount not lower than 9.000,00 (nine thousand) Euros.
If the above-mentioned requirements are duly met, the procedure for the completion of the aforementioned family reunification entails different authorities and involves several steps.
In our case, Jamal shall start the procedure by filing a nominative request for the issuance of the family reunification authorization (nulla osta al ricongiungimento familiare) to the competent Italian immigration authorities (Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione), and submit all the necessary supporting documents, among which the most crucial are:
- official document, issued in India, translated into Italian, legalized and endorsed in front of the Italian Embassy or Consulate, proving the family relationship between Jamal and Latika;
- official document, issued in India, translated into Italian, legalized and endorsed in front of the Italian Embassy or Consulate, proving that Latika does not have, in her country of residence, other children who can take care of and economically sustain her;
- Jamal’s valid Italian residence permit, with at least 1-year validity;
- proof of Jamal’s availability of accommodation in Italy, where both Jamal and his mother can reside; and
- signed declaration by means of which Jamal undertakes to execute an health insurance for his mother.
Once the nulla osta has been issued by the competent authorities, Latika will be entitled to apply for an entry visa for family reunification purposes at the Italian Embassy in Mumbai, India. With the entry visa duly stamped on her passport, Latika will be able to travel to Italy and, within 8 days from her arrival, she will be requested to apply for the issuance of the final Italian residence permit for family reunification purposes.
Latika will be therefore able to join and live with her son as long as Jamal keeps his work permit for Italy. Indeed, Latika’s residence permit will have the same duration as Jamal’s residence permit, renewable for further periods, provided that Jamal’s residence permit is renewed as well upon expiration.
