The residency (residenza) is the registration to the Anagrafe office of the comune of the city where the foreigner is living. With this registration the foreigner will be registered in the list of the people who are living as resident in that comune.

For a foreigner the residency is very important:

1. To get the Carta d’identità (The Italian ID card) and use it to request mortgages, buying properties, etc; and to use it as a digital identity
2. To obtain the long term permesso, because when you are applying for it, you need a current residency
3. To obtain the Italian citizenship, since you need 10 years of continuous residency to obtain it (as a Non-European)

The foreigner can apply for the residenza in the Anagrafe office in the comune

What documents a foreigner needs to apply for the residenza?

The documents the foreigner needs are:

1. Passport (in case you are non European), ID card (in case you are European)
2. Permesso di soggiorno or expired permesso + receipt
3. Codice fiscale
4. The contract of the apartment (purchase act if you bought the apartment) Rent contract/comodato d’uso gratuito registered to the agenzia delle entrate (if the foreigner is living there paying the rent/as a host

In case the foreigner is European and is not working the Anagrafe can request additional documents, such as:

1. Health insurance
2. Financial resource

Can the foreigner apply for the residenza online or he has to go to the comune in person?

Depending from the comune, for the first residency there is the possibility of sending the documents via mail, doing it in person (after booking an appointment) or online. After obtaining the first residency if the foreigner has to change it, he can do it online (if he has the carta d’identità or the SPID), through anagrafe nazionale website

Is it necessary to change the residenza every time a person changes the apartment?

Yes, in any case if you move in a different city or the same city, but a different apartment, you need to change your residency

What happens after the foreigner requests the residenza?

In 45 days the process of the residenza will end and the foreigner will get it, during these 45 days the comune will send an officer to check if the foreigner is really living there or not.

After these 45 days the foreigner can request the certificate of residency and with that he can also apply for Carta d’identità.