The Schengen shuffle in Italy

If you love Italy but you feel a permanent move is not right for you at the moment, or you don’t want to be subject to the obligations coming from a permanent residency in Italy, mainly related to tax, or if you don’t fulfil the strict requirements of a long stay visa, you may want to consider to do the Schengen shuffle.

The Schengen shuffle is this very program where people stay in Italy for up to 90 days in a 180-day period, then go back to their country (or to a non-Schengen country) and come back to Italy for another 90 days in another 180-day period.
People from countries that do not require a visa to enter Italy for short term stay usually choose to do the Schengen shuffle. You find the full list of countries whose citizens do not require a short term visa at this link.

It’s important that you do not go over the 90 days in each 180-day period or you may be denied entry to any Schengen country the next time you come back.
There is a number of online tools to keep track of your days in the Schengen area, these are just two of the many available:

https://ec.europa.eu/assets/home/visa-calculator/calculator.htm?lang=en
https://www.visa-calculator.com/

Doing the Schengen shuffle wouldn’t prevent you from buying a holiday home in Italy, so that every time you come back, you come back to your own place.

This article is not exhaustive and is a guidance only.

If you need more info about the Schengen shuffle or on how to move to Italy, do please get in touch for a consultation.

Barbara De Benedittis Relocation and Legal in Italy