I lived in Barcelona, Madrid, Nice — wandered around a block in each place, liked them all. I’ve also been to Italy, liked it too. I can’t for the life of me understand where this “gloomy” idea about Italy comes from. I’m considering moving to Liguria, planning to work in construction — anyone who lives there, explain what’s the catch?
Such mystique — why do people do this. Of the people I personally know who have been in Italy longer than 2–3 years, there are about 10–15, and they are all happy; nobody wants to leave, everything is going well for them. At the same time, negative reviews where someone whines always get a loud response — that’s where this image comes from. In terms of work and career, I noticed that Italy is not for careerists — the banking sector is complicated; I felt that when I handled the paperwork for the move myself. I can’t say anything specific about construction in Liguria.
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Did you live in the same places you’re describing? I get the banking headache, but what did you mean about the construction in Liguria? It was cut off right at the most interesting part.
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I’m from Savona, so I can speak specifically about Liguria. There’s work in construction — the housing stock is old and restoration is ongoing. A couple of years ago there was a Superbonus (superbonus) boom; it’s quieted down now, but the basic demand for renovations hasn’t gone away. The market is small — the same crews keep circulating, and the first couple of years are spent building up a client base by word of mouth.
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I actually wanted to ask about the construction — the legal side. You can register as an artigiano, but when I dealt with Italian bureaucracy for my move you really understand why Italians themselves say “don’t do it, you’ll go crazy.” In construction, artigiano is the standard form, but there’s INPS artigiani — fixed contributions from the very first day of work regardless of whether you have any income or not. You have to budget that in advance.
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An emergency fund is essential — people rarely say that outright. If you don’t have a decent one, it’s a road to nowhere, because a former resident of Russia won’t be able to live like Nigerians, and you have to pay INPS artigiani from day one regardless of income. As for tools and materials, that’s a separate issue — the range at Brico and Leroy Merlin is really disheartening compared to what I’m used to. In Genoa the selection is a bit better, but you still end up ordering a lot online or hunting for small local building-supply stores.
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The labor market in Italian construction is small — a migrant’s only way to attract clients is by price. A local craftsman who speaks Italian and already has a client base will always win the decent jobs. I lived there before moving to the US — foreign specialists are more accepted there, but here for the first year or two you’ll be working in the lower-priced segment until you build up a name.
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Electrical work is a separate matter — it has its own certification, and without it you can’t officially work as self-employed. We have a similar situation — my husband is an electrical engineer and also knows everything about construction and repairs; we dealt with this issue when we moved. An Italian diploma isn’t necessary, but recognition of qualifications is not a quick procedure, and without the language you won’t get anywhere — clients, Camera di commercio, all communication is in Italian.
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It’s the same with plumbing — it’s a licensed profession, and without local training and the official certificates you can’t work legally; it’s not just a matter of recognizing a diploma from Russia. I dealt with this when I was looking into setting up as an artigiano — there really is a separate procedure, and it’s not quick. And language is absolutely not optional: Camera di commercio, clients, any official communication — everything is in Italian.
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Specific specialization is very important here — finishing work and general renovations are one thing, while electrical work or plumbing are legally something completely different. For general renovations, an artigiano (artisan) is normally set up with an ATECO code and registered with INPS Artigiani from day one, whereas licensed specialties require separate recognition of qualifications — and that’s not the same process as simply filing paperwork with the Chamber of Commerce (Camera di commercio). When I helped with this, I realized the first thing to determine is the exact specialization, because the whole package and the entire sequence of actions depend on it.
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I looked into this for myself — I’m planning to work in construction, and lavoro autonomo and artigiano are different statuses with different ATECO codes and different registrations in the Camera di commercio. For construction you specifically need artigiano, and that has to be included in the business plan already at the visa application stage. If you go through lavoro autonomo as your initial entry route, converting to artigiano later is a separate procedure with its own timelines — not just a simple paperwork change.
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and also regarding INPS artigiani — a minimum fixed contribution of about €4,000 per year from day one, regardless of income. if the first six months are without clients, that’s an extra line in the budget on top of rent and everything else.
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