Question: I’m a foreigner who is living in Italy legally. I would like to travel to my home country. For how long can I stay in my home country without having problems when I want to return to Italy?
Answer: You can travel to your home country but you must not stay away from Italy for more than six months. According to the law, in fact if you stay away from Italy for more than six months, your Permit of Stay becomes invalid. You therefore cannot apply for its renewal, unless you are allowed to stay away for that long period in order to meet your obligations of doing military service or other serious reasons which can be proved.
In your question you have not specified the type of permit you have. The maximum period you can stay away from Italy varies depending on the type of permit you have. For instance, holders of Permits of Stay valid for two years can leave Italy and stay away for more than six month, but in any case they can’t stay away for a period that is more than half the validity period of their permits. In other words, if you have a Permit of Stay for subordinate work which is valid for two years, you can stay away consecutively for a maximum period of one year.
Please note that if your permit expires when you are still abroad, you’ll be required to apply for re-entry visa in order to re-enter Italy. You can apply for this visa at the Italian Embassy/Consulate in your home country.
At the time of applying for re-entry visa, you must show the expired Permit of Stay and inform the Consular official of the date by which you must return to Italy.
In order to apply for the re-entry visa, your Permit of Stay must not have expired for more than 60 days. This deadline can be prolonged for a maximum of six months but only in case of proven serious health problems of the permit holder, spouse, a relative up to the first grade, and for those who must meet the obligations of carrying out military service in their home countries. After this period, it will no longer be possible to be issued the re-entry visa.
