Your First Weeks in Italy: Stay Contract, Residence Permit and the Questura

The visa in your passport says you may enter Italy to work. It does not, on its own, let you stay. The first weeks after landing are about turning that entry into a residence permit, and getting the few registrations that make daily life work.

Here is the sequence, from our side as your employer and from yours.

1. The stay contract  

Within days of arrival you and your employer go to the Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione, the same immigration desk that issued the nulla osta. There you sign the contratto di soggiorno, the stay contract, which confirms the employment terms the permit was based on.

With an Employer of Record, we are the employer at that appointment. Bring your passport with the visa, and the documents the desk lists in the appointment letter. Confirm the exact deadline after entry for your case before you fly; deadlines are short.

2. The residence permit application  

Next you apply for the permesso di soggiorno. For most work permits the application goes through the postal kit, available at designated post office counters. For a Blue Card the permit carries the wording “Carta blu UE” and lasts two years if your contract is permanent, or the length of the contract plus three months otherwise.

The post office gives you a receipt. Keep it with your passport: it shows the application is under way. Errors in the kit are the most common cause of delay: a name that does not match the passport exactly, a missing signature, an address where you cannot receive mail. Have someone who knows the forms check yours.

3. The Questura appointment  

The police headquarters, the Questura, calls you to take fingerprints and a photo. Waiting times depend heavily on the city. Watch your phone and mail: a missed appointment can push the process back. The plastic card arrives later; until then the receipt is your evidence.

Whether the receipt allows you to start working while the card is produced depends on the route; we confirm it for your specific case before your first working day.

4. Tax code  

The codice fiscale identifies you for tax, payroll, health care, leases and bank accounts. It is often issued before arrival or at the immigration desk. If not, the tax agency issues it. Payroll cannot run without it.

5. Residence registration  

Once you have an address, register it at the municipal registry (anagrafe). Residence registration matters for health care, a driving licence, tax residence and many everyday services. Short-term accommodation may not be accepted for registration, which is one more reason to move into a proper lease soon. See housing for newcomers .

6. Health service  

With the permit application and the tax code you can enrol in the national health service and choose a family doctor. This covers you for public health care; your employer does not need to buy private insurance, although some collective agreements add a supplementary fund.

7. Bank account  

Your salary is paid by bank transfer to an Italian or EU account. Opening one usually needs the tax code, a passport, and proof of address or the permit receipt.

Who does what  

The renewal, already now  

Put the expiry date of the permit in your calendar on the day you receive it. The renewal should start well before expiry, and it is checked against the same contract and salary. Because we run your payroll, we see any change that could matter before it becomes a problem.

In short  

Stay contract, postal kit, Questura, tax code, residence, doctor, bank. Seven steps, most in the first two weeks. Our relocation page has the checklist, and our team goes through it with you in Italian or English.

Points people get wrong  

Can I travel abroad before the card arrives? Travel while the card is being produced has specific rules and risks. Check with us before booking any trip in the first weeks.

What if I move flat during the process? Update your address with the Questura and the post office, or you may miss the appointment letter.

Does my family follow the same steps? Yes, once they arrive with their own visa: their own permit application, tax codes, residence and health registration.