Investor Visa Italy Investor Visa Italy / 1 | Page 3

EDITORIAL
The Italian challenge: The Law objectives
and the role of InvestorVisa.it in supporting investors
by Raffaele Miele
Jusweb Founder and CEO
or many years, I have been dealing with
legal issues concerning immigration and
international mobility of people: at first as
Vice Quaestor of the Italian State Police (I also
contributed to the drafting of the Immigration Act
in 1998) and now as a journalist and entrepreneur
in the fields of publishing and legal advising.
This long experience, to my mind, allows me
to express a positive opinion on the recent choices
of the Government and the Italian Parliament on
foreign investment. In particular, I greatly appre-
ciated the efforts of our Legislator to ensure a fair
balance between the needs of money seekers,
those of who invest in it, and those of the Italian
State that must ensure the transparency and the
rightfulness of money coming from abroad.
F
These measures may seem more restrictive
than those adopted elsewhere. I’m not referring to
the exceptional cases of Malta and Cyprus, which
“reward” the investment in real estate (in addition
to a substantial contribution to the state coffers)
granting citizenship. I’m referring to other EU
member countries, such as Greece, Latvia,
Portugal, and Spain, which grant the entry visa
with an investment in real estate. Italy, instead,
chose a more careful path: only those investors
wishing to make an effective contribution to the
Italian economy by investing in the capital of
Italian companies will be eligible to get the new
entry visa for investors.
The procedure is quite complex, but it’s also
very quick: it is mandatory, indeed, to conclude
the evaluation of the visa request and the anti-
money laundering controls not later than 30 days.
Although the Italian way is stricter, as I said,
yet it might give a signal of strength and coher-
ence, which could attract not only a simple
investor, but someone who wants to invest in a
Country which now demonstrates credibility and
commitment to its economic development. To be
clearer: investments in real estate can actually
facilitate the issuing of a type C visa (brief-sojourn
or travel visas) or an elective residence visa,
but the investment alone does not guarantee the
approval of the request. Moreover, these visas do
not allow to work in Italy, and all the type C visas
permit a visit of up to 90 days in any half-year
and are valid for one (C1), two (C2), three (C3) or
five years (C5).
Parliament’s other choice, probably unique at
international level, is to equalize large donations
to investments, provided that they are targeted at
specific public interest objectives in the field of
culture, scientific research and the integration of
immigrants. An important message to international
patrons: a tangible recognition for those who want
to contribute to supporting one of the world’s
greatest cultural heritage. For all these reasons,
Jusweb decided to take up this new challenge.
We created InvestorVisa.it with the aim of
actively supporting the investment policies of our
Country. We involved top-ranking professionals
who will be able to identify qualified investment
opportunities and large donations, and to provide
investors and patrons with all the support they
need to ensure the success of their choices,
in every phase of the visa and residence permit
issuing.
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