Foreigners with a Residence Permit
Foreign citizens regularly residing in Italy and their dependent family members with a regular residence permit are entitled to assistance provided by the National Health Service (hereinafter NHS), with equal treatment and equality of rights and duties with respect to Italian citizens with regard to the contribution to be paid, the assistance provided by the NHS and its validity over time. To obtain this assistance, you must register with the NHS.
Registration can be mandatory or voluntary.
Compulsory registration (according to criteria completely similar to Italian citizens) concerns non-EU foreigners, in compliance with the rules relating to entry into Italy or who have requested the renewal of the residence permit, who are:
- employees (company or domestic)
- unemployed persons registered on the employment lists
- self-employed
- prisoners and internees
- married to Italian citizens
- children in foster care or awaiting adoption
- embassy employees
- non-EU foreign priests who work for the dioceses of Lazio
- present in Italy for family reasons and family reunification
- political refugees or stateless persons
- present in Italy for asylum or asylum request, both political and humanitarian
- pending acquisition of Italian citizenship
- with residence permit for elective residence
- regularly staying while waiting for the renewal of the residence permit
- housed in reception centres
- with extension of residence permit for health reasons
Voluntary registration takes place against payment of an annual flat-rate contribution for non-EU foreign citizens with a residence permit of more than three months (or even shorter in the case of students or people placed on an equal footing) who do not fall within those who are registered by right to the SSN and that is:
- students
- au pairs
- religious
- foreigners accredited by our country and working in the embassy
- other categories that can be identified, by exclusion among those not entitled to compulsory registration
The flat-rate contribution refers to the calendar year, reduced and non-fractionable.
Students and au pairs may, however, request a shorter period, paying a reduced contribution (enrollment is not extended to dependents, unless the full contribution is paid for the period exceeding three months).
Required Documents
The documentation required for registration includes:
- valid residence permit (or request for renewal of the same)
- certificate of residence or declaration of actual residence or self-certification;
- tax code or self-certification of the same
- receipt of the payment slip (current account in the name of the Lazio Region no. 370007 – Ministerial Decree 8.10.96)
Registration with the NHS (both compulsory and voluntary) must be carried out at the ASL (Local Health Authority) of the area in which you reside. If you are not in possession of the residence, you can register with the ASL of the territory in which you have your residence.
At the time of registration, the health card is issued, an essential document to obtain the benefits and services provided by the ASL and the affiliated medical facilities. Registration is valid from the date of entry into Italy until the expiry of the residence permit, it is extended to dependents (with the exception of foreign detainees).
Foreigners Awaiting Regularization
Foreigners who have applied for regularization or for whom the declaration of emergence of irregular work has been submitted (pursuant to Law No. 189 of 30 July 2002) are entitled to mandatory registration and, in addition to the documents relating to the residence permit, residence and tax code, they must submit to the competent asl the documentation certifying the request for regularization or the declaration of emergence and a certificate of the foreigner’s personal data. This registration is valid every six months and is renewable.
Following the presentation of the residence permit, this registration will no longer be temporary, but will have the same duration as the residence permit.
The right to temporary registration with the SSN also extends to minor, resident children of foreigners who have applied for regularization and are awaiting the issuance of a residence permit. For registration, the foreigner must issue to the territorially competent ASL a declaration of the personal data relating to the minor children residing, with the indication that the latter are at their own expense. The duration of this registration is six months and coincides with that of the declaring parent.
Useful news for all other types of foreigners who are entitled to compulsory registration
Documents to be submitted to the ASL to which they belong:
- Residence permit or renewal request
- Tax code (or self-certification)
- Certificate of residence (or self-certification). In the absence of residence, the declaration of actual residence is sufficient, as shown by the residence permit
- Copy of the payment of contributions to the NHS
- Declaration in which the foreigner undertakes to communicate to the ASL any change in their status
Foreigners without a Residence Permit
The law provides that foreigners present in the national territory not in compliance with the rules relating to entry and stay are ensured, in public and accredited services, urgent and essential outpatient and hospital care for illness and accident and that preventive medicine programs are extended also to foreigners not regularly staying.
In particular, the following are guaranteed:
- the protection of pregnancy
- the protection and health of the child
- vaccinations
- international prophylaxis interventions
- the prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases
For foreigners without a regular residence permit, the ASL of the territory in which you reside issues a card (card for Foreigners Temporarily Present S.T.P.), with which you can access all the health services to which you are entitled. Applicants without sufficient economic resources will not have to bear any burden, except for the fees for participation in the expenditure on an equal footing with Italian citizens. As regards the assessment of the conditions of poverty, a self-declaration will be authentic (see chap. II) the state of indigence on the part of the person concerned.
The STP card is valid for six months and is renewable in the event of the foreigner’s stay in the national territory. It is valid in all ASLs, Hospitals, Scientific Research and Care Institutes (IRCCS) and University Polyclinics in the region where it was issued. It entitles you to outpatient and inpatient sickness and accident benefits and pharmaceutical care; it does not entitle you to the use of your GP.
In case of loss, a new card is issued.
Cultural Integration
At the ASL Frosinone, the program for the Promotion of Cultural Integration within the framework of the Right to Health in the Immigrant Population is active
