Part one · 2 steps
Visa & residency
Start the Elective Residence Visa (ERV) path
Italy's route for retirees. Plan on roughly $2,999/month of provable income — pension, Social Security, dividends — and expect the consulate to want it documented. The current read:
From our Lecce research
As of 2026, official minimum is ~€31,000/yr for a single applicant (~$2,950/mo), +20% for a spouse (couple ≈ €38,000/yr) and +5% per dependent. Critical catch: income must be PASSIVE and stable — pensions, Social Security, annuities, rental, dividends — employment or freelance income does NOT count, and savings alone don't qualify. Consulates apply real discretion and many want to see more than the floor, plus a 1-year lease or owned property. Renewable, leads toward long-term residency. Year-of-figure: 2026.
Read the full Lecce profile →Get key documents apostilled + certified-translated
Birth/marriage certificates, background checks — start early; it's slow, and every residency application wants them.
Our visa paperwork guide →Part two · 3 steps
Healthcare
Map your care in Lecce
Know where you'd go before you need it — the hospital for something serious, the specialist, the pharmacy that speaks English. Here's our current read:
From our Lecce research
Italy's SSN is highly ranked and cheap for residents (~€400/yr to enroll); private top-up runs €100–250/mo. Day-to-day and acute care is solid at Lecce's regional hospital, Ospedale Vito Fazzi (listed in the US Embassy's medical directory). But for genuinely world-class/complex care you travel: Bari's university hospitals are ~90 min by train, and the top national centers are in Rome/Milan. English-speaking doctors are scarce outside private clinics — you'll often want an Italian-speaking helper or a bilingual private GP.
Read the full Lecce profile →Know what Medicare does — and doesn't — cover abroad
Original Medicare generally doesn't cover care outside the US. Whatever your plan becomes, it has to answer that gap.
Medicare abroad, explained →Compare international / expat health insurance
See what international health plans actually cover — and what they cost.
Part three · 5 steps
Money & taxes
Pressure-test your Lecce budget
A comfortable month in Lecce runs about $2,353 for a couple, at current exchange rates. Build your own version on top of that base — your rent tier, your healthcare, your flights home — and see what's left over.
Build the real monthly number →Understand US taxes as an expat in Italy
You still file US taxes abroad, and FBAR applies once foreign accounts pass $10,000. The country side matters just as much:
From our Lecce research
Italy taxes residents on WORLDWIDE income. Standout incentive: 7% flat tax on all foreign-source income for 10 years for new-resident foreign pensioners — but requires 5+ years prior non-residence AND registering in a municipality under 30,000 people (threshold raised from 20,000 in Apr 2026), so Lecce city (~95k) is excluded; nearby Salento towns qualify. US–Italy tax treaty in force; US persons still file with the IRS and use foreign tax credits.
Read the full Lecce profile →Set up low-fee international money transfers
Bank wires quietly cost 3–5% in bad FX; specialists are far cheaper.
Have someone check the retirement math before you commit
Plan day-to-day cash + card access (and a backup card)
Check your cards' foreign-ATM fees before you go, and carry a backup card on a different network in case one gets swallowed.
Part four · 4 steps
The scouting trip
Book the Lecce reconnaissance trip
Not a vacation — a rehearsal. Rent in an ordinary neighborhood for a few weeks and live a normal week: groceries, buses, a doctor's appointment, a quiet Tuesday. Getting there and back:
From our Lecce research
No direct US flights. Nearest airport is Brindisi-Salento (BDS), ~40 min away, well-connected to Rome and Milan; from there it's a transatlantic hop. Realistic door-to-door from the US East Coast is ~13–16 hrs with one (often two) stops. Fine for an annual visit home; not somewhere you pop back to the States on a whim.
Read the full Lecce profile →Compare trip insurance for the scouting trip
Read the safety picture for yourself
Lecce sits under a US State Department Level 2 (“exercise increased caution”) advisory. Check the current one before you book, then weigh it against the on-the-ground picture:
From our Lecce research
Italy sits at US State Dept Level 2 ("Exercise Increased Caution," raised from Level 1 in 2025) — a blanket EU-wide terrorism/civil-unrest posture shared by France, Germany, UK, not an Italy-specific warning. Violent crime in Lecce/Salento is low; the realistic risks are petty theft and pickpocketing in tourist zones and occasional non-violent property crime. Comfortable for a 55–70 couple, including walking at night in the centro storico.
Read the full Lecce profile →Test the season, not the postcard
Every place has a month the brochures skip. If you can, scout in the worst one:
From our Lecce research
Classic Mediterranean: long hot summers (Jul–Aug regularly ~32–34°C/90°F+, humid, and much of town closes for August holidays/riposo), mild winters (~7–10°C/40s°F, damp, windy, essentially no snow). Spring and autumn (16–21°C/60s–70s°F) are the sweet spot. Not warm year-round, but no real cold.
Read the full Lecce profile →Part five · 6 steps
The move itself
Rent first — live a full season before you even think about buying
The single biggest regret-saver. The market isn't going anywhere.
Book a short-term furnished rental for your landing
Give yourself 1–3 months to find the right neighborhood.
Decide what to ship, store, or sell
Shipping a household is expensive; many movers regret over-shipping.
Re-home your US mail before you go
Banks, the IRS, Medicare — the mail keeps coming after you leave. Keep a US address you check from anywhere, or hand the whole job to a service.
Sort pet import + airline requirements early
Timelines for vaccines and paperwork can be months.
Our pet-move guide →Scan and cloud-back-up every key document
Passports, prescriptions, insurance cards, the marriage certificate — one folder you can open from any phone, anywhere.
Part six · 4 steps
Settling in
Find your people in Lecce
Loneliness is the #1 reason people move home — build the community before you build anything else. What's already there:
From our Lecce research
Real but modest and Italian-integrated — nothing like the turnkey Anglophone scenes of the Algarve or Costa del Sol. A growing trickle of American/Northern-European retirees (partly drawn by the 7% tax towns), some Facebook groups and Salento expat meetups, but you will be the foreigner who learns Italian, not one of a crowd. Best for someone who wants immersion, not an expat bubble.
Read the full Lecce profile →Join the expat community before you arrive
Start the conversations months before the flight.
Our community guide →Set up a local SIM + home internet
If your phone's unlocked, an eSIM can cover you from day one; sort home internet once you have an address.
Start the language — even 20 words changes everything
Italian is what your daily life will run in — the clinic front desk, the market, the neighbors. A head start pays off from day one.
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