Living in italy?

Im self employed [work online] and want to move to italy.Do I have to have a long term visa?I will not be looking for work there but just want to live there for awhile.Can I do this? I'm an australian citizen.

To stay more than 3 months in Italy you have to have a visa. Being Australian you can get a working/holiday visa which last 1 year (but you can only have it once in your life and it's not renewable), with this visa you can work legally for 6 months. Otherwise you can get a study visa, but that means you have to enroll in a school or university in Italy, this visa last for as long you are studying and you can work legally as well. Work visas are very hard to get and you need an employer in Italy to sponsor you to get one. Since you don't want to work here your easiest option is just to stay as a tourist and leave the country every 3 months and come back in (just go to another country close by). Speak to the Italian consulate in your city for more detailed information and/or go to the website: http://www.ambcanberra.esteri.it/Ambasci...

first u obtain a visa for italion emmbasy in australia than you must go to itly

just get a 3 month visa at the airport and come...even if you stay more than 3 months don't worry we are not like the swiss, we won't come for you and kick you out, we're to lazy and quite franctly don't care if you want to leave or not...but watch out for rents, Italy has the most expensive rental averages in the world. I think Milan and Rome are the most expensive cities to rent only after Tokyo!!!

you could start going there for a couple of months and try.. it's not sure you'll like it! (l hope you will because l'm italian!).
in my opinion you could live in florence.. really beautiful.. it's worth living there or, if you prefere a more chaotic and exiting life, Milan

good luck!

If you go without a visa you might want to leave the country ever 3 months. However, I lived there for 9 months with a student visa but my roommate from the US has been there for over 2 years without anything more then her passport and has not had a problem. Just don't get caught.