Moving to Italy from New Zealand

New Zealand passport holders can visit Italy visa-free for up to 90 days, but living there takes a residence permit. The self-funded residency routes we track start at an income of about $2,718 a month or an investment of about $291k, and our residency index rates Italy 72/100 for New Zealand citizens (comparatively open). We estimate €3,041 a month for a couple living centrally in Venice and €3,567 in Rome. Italy is in our high tax tier. Check the official requirements before you apply.

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Short stays
Visa-free 90 days
New Zealand passport
Residency
72/100
Comparatively open, our index
Tax tier
High
High personal income tax
Est. cost for two
From €3,041/mo
Venice, our estimate

Living there long term

Our residency index: 72/100, comparatively open. It is our own rating of how realistic long-term residency in Italy is for New Zealand citizens, based on the routes Italy publishes. Italy offers several realistic long-term routes for a capable applicant: a digital nomad/remote-worker visa, an elective-residence (passive-income/sufficient-means) visa for retirees and the independently wealthy, and an investor (golden) visa, all leading to permanent residence after five years.

The cheapest self-funded routes we track:

  • Income: about $2,718 a month (Italy Digital Nomad Visa (lowest sufficient-means/salary route, no Italian sponsor), EUR 28,000/yr (~EUR 2,333/mo), converted at ECB EUR/USD 1.1649 on 2026-06-02; as of June 2026)
  • Investment: about $291k (Italy Investor (Golden) Visa, lowest innovative-startup tier EUR 250,000 one-time, converted at ECB EUR/USD 1.1649 on 2026-06-02; as of June 2026)

Check the official requirements before you apply: amounts, conditions and exchange rates change, and what a couple needs can differ from a single applicant's threshold.

For short visits, New Zealand passport holders can visit visa-free for up to 90 days, according to the passport-index dataset. Short-stay entry covers visits; living there takes a residence permit.

Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).

Where in Italy to start

Ranked by our match model for a typical couple who both hold New Zealand passports, using the preset answers of our best places to live list. Your own answers would change the order. We pick the cities, up to five, by how often English Wikipedia readers looked them up over the past year.

  1. 1. Florence

    85% match
    Est. cost
    €3,313/mo
    Avg temp
    16°C
    Safety index
    57/100

  2. 2. Venice

    84% match
    Est. cost
    €3,041/mo
    Avg temp
    14°C
    Safety index
    57/100

  3. 3. Naples

    83% match
    Est. cost
    €3,438/mo
    Avg temp
    17°C
    Safety index
    57/100

  4. 4. Rome

    82% match
    Est. cost
    €3,567/mo
    Avg temp
    17°C
    Safety index
    57/100

  5. 5. Milan

    81% match
    Est. cost
    €3,494/mo
    Avg temp
    14°C
    Safety index
    57/100

Cost of living for two

Our estimate for a couple living centrally runs from €3,041 a month in Venice to €3,567 in Rome. For comparison, we estimate €3,812 a month in Auckland. Use these figures to compare places rather than to set a budget.

Source: our cost model: a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026). An estimate, not a survey of current prices.

Taxes

Italy is in our high tax tier (high personal income tax); New Zealand is in our low to medium tax tier (moderate personal income tax). Tiers describe each country's own income tax. They do not cover tax you may still owe in New Zealand after you leave, or the treaty between the two countries, so check both with a tax adviser before you move.

Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.

Compare cities in Italy

Lists with cities in Italy

Moving to Italy from elsewhere

Every country and origin we cover

How we built this page

Every figure here comes from the datasets behind our city and country pages:

  • Short-stay entry: the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT license), which records the entry rule for short visits on each passport.
  • Residency index, routes and thresholds: the OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. It is a summary, not legal advice.
  • City ranking: our match model, the one behind the quiz, run with a typical couple's preset answers and both partners holding New Zealand passports. It ranks up to five of the country's best-known cities: of the cities in our quiz (100,000 people or more, capitals and a few towns movers seek out, such as Faro), the five most read about on English Wikipedia over the past year. It folds suburbs into their main city and leaves out countries with a residency index under 40 and areas under a US State Department Level 4 advisory, as our best-cities lists do.
  • Costs: our cost model, a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026).
  • Tax tiers: three coarse bands we assign by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation.