Italy’s Elective Residency Visa is surrounded by conflicting numbers and confident opinions, but only a few figures are actually published by consulates. This deep dive separates documented requirements from assumptions, explains where the €31,000 baseline comes from, why €38,000 for couples is a practical benchmark—not a universal rule—and why even long-time ERV “experts” are questioning the latest claims. If you want clarity rooted in official sources rather than anecdotes,

If you’re applying for a visa to Italy (or basically doing anything official across borders), you’ll run into this mysterious word: apostille. It’s not a pasta. It’s not a neighborhood in Florence. It’s a bureaucratic stamp of approval that tells a foreign government your documents are legit. In this post, I break down what it is, when you need it, and how not to screw it up — because nothing says welcome to Italy like your FBI background check being rejected over a missing s