Agreed with the rest, you must speak Italian.
But I don’t think this is really a strange thing, I mean it is Italy, you can’t expect any host country to make the effort with you in English and you not do the same.
I disagree that the bureaucracy is terrible, this to me feels like a stereotype that was once true and now just gets repeated by people who haven’t had to do anything official recently.
It can be slower than elsewhere, yes (although faster than France!), but in the last couple of years there’s been a massive digitisation of services and a lot of things can now be done online.
Even the things you need to do in person, in my personal experience, were painless (getting the electronic ID card, registering with the comune, converting drivers licence, etc)
Life in general, if you have a decent job you can live pretty well. Getting said decent job can be hard, but if you have some experience in your sector, speak the language play English, good jobs can be found.
It’s shit for new graduates, which is why young Italians leave, but once you’ve got experience or skills to sell, it’s not bad.
As with everywhere, depends on your sector, role, and qualifications.
Milan is a very “non-Italian” city, it’s pretty bland compared to elsewhere. It’s also very expensive, and cold in winter. Unfortunately that’s where a good percentage of the jobs are (but that doesn’t meant you can’t find something elsewhere, I’m in Rome)
Services for citizens or anyone with a SPID can be quite efficient nowadays. However, let’s not forget the slow and inefficient residence permit procedure that all non-EU citizens must endure yearly. That is and has always been like this. The only improvement in the last decade has been the addition of an appointment system for every step, and the creation of offices where you can ask for the status of your procedure.
Agreed with the rest, you must speak Italian. But I don’t think this is really a strange thing, I mean it is Italy, you can’t expect any host country to make the effort with you in English and you not do the same.
I disagree that the bureaucracy is terrible, this to me feels like a stereotype that was once true and now just gets repeated by people who haven’t had to do anything official recently.
It can be slower than elsewhere, yes (although faster than France!), but in the last couple of years there’s been a massive digitisation of services and a lot of things can now be done online.
Even the things you need to do in person, in my personal experience, were painless (getting the electronic ID card, registering with the comune, converting drivers licence, etc)
Life in general, if you have a decent job you can live pretty well. Getting said decent job can be hard, but if you have some experience in your sector, speak the language play English, good jobs can be found. It’s shit for new graduates, which is why young Italians leave, but once you’ve got experience or skills to sell, it’s not bad. As with everywhere, depends on your sector, role, and qualifications.
Milan is a very “non-Italian” city, it’s pretty bland compared to elsewhere. It’s also very expensive, and cold in winter. Unfortunately that’s where a good percentage of the jobs are (but that doesn’t meant you can’t find something elsewhere, I’m in Rome)
Services for citizens or anyone with a SPID can be quite efficient nowadays. However, let’s not forget the slow and inefficient residence permit procedure that all non-EU citizens must endure yearly. That is and has always been like this. The only improvement in the last decade has been the addition of an appointment system for every step, and the creation of offices where you can ask for the status of your procedure.
There’s loads of places you can get by without speaking the local language well.
Here in Switzerland in the cities you can get by with just English comfortably. I do speak a bit, but I’m not great.
Do you have local friends?
Nope