Can a foreigner start a business in Italy?
Yes. The possibility of forming a company in Italy is not reserved for Italian citizens, but the path changes substantially depending on nationality.
For European Union citizens there is no restriction. Under the freedom of establishment guaranteed by the Treaties, an EU citizen can start a company in Italy on the same terms as an Italian citizen, without the need for any particular residence title.
For non-EU citizens the matter is different. Forming the company itself is legally possible, but in order to take on a stable role as an operating shareholder or director, and above all to live and work in Italy, an appropriate visa and the corresponding residence permit are required. The available routes include the self-employment visa, the startup visa and the investor visa, each designed for a different kind of project.
It is also worth recalling that doing business in Italy does not necessarily require the birth of a new company. A company already incorporated abroad may choose different routes: opening a branch or a secondary office, or setting up a representative office, a lighter presence suited to the early stages of exploring the market. Studio Legale Internazionale Boschetti manages both sides of the operation, the corporate one and the immigration one, identifying the correct option according to the objectives and to the position of the people involved.
Company formation in Italy calls for skills that rarely coexist in a single adviser. Studio Legale Internazionale Boschetti has built around this need a dedicated international business law practice, organised into eleven services that cover the entire life cycle of a foreign business presence in Italy.
Each service is one piece of the picture: our role is to combine them into a coherent design, calibrated on the business project and on the position of the people involved.
Business visa and permits for foreign entrepreneurs in Italy
For the non-EU national, the corporate structure alone is not enough. Operating on a stable basis in Italy requires a title that authorises entry and residence, and choosing the right title depends on the nature of the business project.
- The self-employment visa is the route for the individual entrepreneur who intends to carry out an economic activity on their own account, subject to the quotas of the immigration decree and to the issuance of the clearance by the Chamber of Commerce.
- The startup visa, linked to the Italia Startup Visa programme, is reserved for those launching a high-technology business and follows a dedicated channel, outside the quotas.
- The investor visa is aimed at those who make a qualified investment in Italian companies, innovative startups, government bonds or philanthropic projects.
- Alongside these, for multinational groups, the intra-company transfer permit allows managers and specialist staff to be moved from the foreign parent company to the Italian structure.
Once the visa has been obtained, on entry into Italy the corresponding residence permit is applied for at the competent Police Headquarters. Opening a VAT number as a foreigner also presupposes a residence title that allows the activity to be carried out: it is not an isolated step, but the outcome of a path that starts with the visa.
The point we stress with every client is one only: the visa and the corporate structure are planned together, from the very first day. Deciding the form of the company without knowing whether the shareholders will be able to enter and remain in Italy, or starting the immigration procedure without a coherent business structure, exposes the project to delays and costs that integrated planning avoids from the outset.
Studio Legale Internazionale Boschetti is a point of reference for foreign entrepreneurs and companies that want to start a business in Italy. Our strength lies in combining knowledge of corporate and business law with a solid expertise in immigration law, a pairing that becomes a concrete advantage whenever the person creating or expanding a business in Italy is a foreigner, and in particular a non-EU national.
Our involvement begins with a preliminary consultation that brings the project into focus, identifies the most appropriate corporate form and defines, alongside the business path, the immigration position of the shareholders and directors. From that moment we accompany the client through every stage: the formation of the company, the handling of the bureaucratic procedures, the coordination of the visa and the residence permit, through to the definition of an efficient and law-compliant tax structure. Timing is decisive: bringing the corporate steps and the immigration steps into a single schedule prevents one from being held up while the other is awaited.
It is worth stating clearly what the firm is not. We are not an accounting firm and we do not handle the ordinary bookkeeping of the business: for recurring accounting and tax obligations we work with partner accountants, whom we coordinate in the client’s interest. Our perimeter is that of legal and strategic advice, of structuring the operation and of protecting the interests of the foreign entrepreneur.
With the support of Studio Legale Internazionale Boschetti, starting a business in Italy as a foreigner becomes a clear path: a single point of contact, multilingual, holding together the corporate, immigration and tax threads, so that you can devote yourself fully to the growth of your project.
