Family reunification: two years of residence are required, but not for minor children

Bringing your husband, wife, child or parent to Italy is called ricongiungimento familiare (family reunification). It is a long procedure — the first step alone can take five months — and since 2024 it has one extra requirement that stops many applications before they start: two years of legal residence in Italy. It does not apply to every family member, and it is the first thing to check.

The two years are counted on the day you apply

Decree-Law 145 of 11 October 2024, converted by Law 187 of 9 December 2024, added paragraph 1-bis to article 28 of the Immigration Consolidated Act (Legislative Decree 286/1998). It says that whoever applies for family reunification must have completed an uninterrupted period of legal residence of at least two years in Italy.

Two things matter most. First: the moment that counts is the application, not the day your relative arrives. Second: the two years must be uninterrupted. If you had a period without a valid permit, only someone holding your documents can tell you how much that gap weighs: have them checked by a patronato (a free advice office) before you pay for stamps and certificates.

The requirement does not apply to people whose permit comes from international protection, that is asylum or subsidiary protection.

Legal residence is not the same as registered residence

The law says «soggiorno legale» (legal stay) and does not explain what it is. Two different things are involved here, and it is worth keeping them apart.

Soggiorno is your title to be in Italy: the permesso di soggiorno (residence permit), the carta di soggiorno, the EU long-term residence permit. Residenza is your registration with the anagrafe (population register) of the municipality where you live, the one you ask for with the dichiarazione di residenza (declaration of residence). The two are connected — the municipality registers people who stay legally — but the dates almost never match: someone who arrived in March and declared residence in November has two dates eight months apart.

And this is exactly where prefectures do not all say the same thing. The Prefecture of Chieti explains the requirement on its page like this: the foreign citizen «must have been regularly registered with the Italian anagrafe for at least two years». The Prefecture of La Spezia repeats the law and defines nothing. Before you gather any document, ask the prefecture of your province from which date it counts the two years: if your registered residence is more recent than your permit, that gap can be worth months of waiting.

Two verified facts that remove a common doubt. First: the type of permit matters too — article 28 requires a carta di soggiorno or a permit lasting at least one year issued for employed or self-employed work, international protection, study, religious reasons or family reasons. Second: if your permit is being renewed, the renewal request receipt allows you to file the application for the clearance, so you do not have to wait for the new document to start.

For minor children the two years are not required

The law lists the family members you can reunite with in four letters of article 29, and the two-year rule refers to only three of them: a) the spouse, c) dependent adult children, d) dependent parents. Letter b), children under 18, is not mentioned.

It means that to apply for a minor child you do not wait two years. The other requirements stay — income, housing, the other parent's consent — but time of residence is not an obstacle.

Who you can bring, and who you cannot

• Your spouse, not legally separated and over 18.
• Your children under 18, including your spouse's children and children born outside marriage, unmarried. If the other parent exists, their consent is needed.
• Dependent adult children, when they cannot provide for themselves because of a health condition causing total disability.
• Dependent parents, if they have no other children in the country of origin, or parents over 65 if their other children cannot support them for documented serious health reasons.

There is nothing outside this list: an unmarried partner, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, uncles and aunts are not covered by family reunification.

Income: in 2026 it starts at 10,651.68 euros

You must show a yearly income, from lawful sources, at least equal to the yearly assegno sociale (social allowance) increased by half of it for each family member you want to bring. In 2026 the assegno sociale is 546.24 euros a month, that is 7,101.12 euros a year over thirteen monthly payments (INPS circular no. 153 of 19 December 2025).

Family members	Minimum income 2026
one	€10,651.68
two	€14,202.24
three	€17,752.80

There is a separate rule for children: if you bring two or more children under 14, you always need double the yearly assegno sociale, that is 14,202.24 euros in 2026, whatever the number of children.

The income of the relatives living with you in Italy counts too: if your brother lives with you and works, his income is added to yours. The assegno sociale changes every year, so the amount you must reach changes with it: the figures above are for applications filed in 2026.

The municipality decides the housing is suitable, not you

You need a home that meets health, hygiene and habitability standards. You do not decide it and a rental contract is not enough: the office of the comune (municipality) where the home is checks it, with the document almost everywhere called certificato di idoneità alloggiativa (housing suitability certificate). Ask for it first, because in many municipalities it takes weeks and without that paper the application does not move.

For children there is a shorter way: for a child under 14 coming to live with a parent, the consent of the holder of the accommodation where the child will actually live is enough.

If the relative you are bringing is over 65, health cover is also needed: private insurance or registration with the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (National Health Service).

The application is online, with SPID

The nulla osta (clearance) application is filed with the Sportello unico per l'immigrazione (single immigration desk) of the prefecture of the province where you live, and it is filed online only, on the Ministry of the Interior portal, logging in with SPID (the Italian public digital identity). You do not go to the desk to hand in papers: you go there when you are called.

One hundred and fifty days for the clearance, then thirty for the visa

The time limit for the nulla osta went from 90 to 150 days: it was changed by article 7 of Decree-Law 146 of 3 October 2025, converted by Law 179 of 1 December 2025. Those are five months in which nothing visible happens, and that is normal: count them in when you make plans, especially if you were thinking of an arrival before the summer or before school starts.

When the clearance is ready, your relative goes to the Italian embassy or consulate in the country where they are, with the documents proving the family relationship, and applies for the family reunification entry visa. The visa is issued within thirty days of the request.

Once in Italy: eight days to apply for the permit

Within eight working days of entering, your relative must apply for the permesso di soggiorno per motivi familiari (residence permit for family reasons), using the postal kit collected at the post office: how to fill it in is in the guide to the yellow kit. In some provinces the single immigration desk calls your relative in first to sign: if the letter that comes with the clearance contains an appointment, that comes before everything else.

The permit for family reasons allows work and study, and lasts as long as the permit of the person who applied for the reunification.

If your relative is already in Italy it is called coesione familiare

Family reunification is for bringing in someone who is abroad. If your relative is already in Italy with a valid permit, the route is another one and it is called coesione familiare (family cohesion): you apply at the questura, with no clearance and no visa. Income and housing requirements stay, but the procedure is different: ask at the desk which of the two applies to you before you start collecting documents.

Where to go if your case is complicated

A reunification with a marriage celebrated abroad, a child recognised by one parent only, a divorce in the middle or a gap in your residence is not a do-it-yourself matter. Patronati and associations working on immigration do this every day, and many municipalities have a dedicated desk. Not every service is free: ask the cost before signing anything.