Social Allowance for Elderly Foreign Nationals Over 67 in Rome

In a nutshell

The Social Allowance (Assegno Sociale) is a monthly payment from INPS (Italy's social-security agency — pensions, unemployment, family benefits) for people aged 67 or over with low incomes. No contribution history is required: it's a minimum income guarantee for anyone who doesn't have an adequate pension. The 2026 amount is €538.68 a month, paid over 13 months, totalling €7,002.84 a year. Non-EU foreign nationals face two additional requirements: 10 years of continuous legal residence in Italy and an EU long-term residence permit.

At a glance

Cost	Free (also free through a Patronato)
Timeline	Apply up to 1 month before turning 67. Payments start the month after the application. INPS processing: 60–120 days.
Where in Rome	Online at inps.it with SPID/CIE, or through a free Patronato, or via the INPS contact centre on 803 164
Documents	Identity document, EU long-term residence permit, tax ID, historical residency certificate, income declaration, IBAN in the applicant's name
2026 amount	€538.68/month × 13 months = €7,002.84 per year

Who can apply

You must meet all of the following conditions.

You are at least 67 years old. The minimum age applies to everyone — Italian and foreign nationals alike. You can submit the application up to one month before your birthday: payments begin from the month after you turn 67, so don't leave it too late.

Your income is low or zero. If you live alone, your annual income must be below €7,002.84 to receive the full allowance. If you are married, your spouse's income is added and the threshold rises to €14,005.68. With zero income you receive the full amount; if your income is partial, you receive the differential top-up — the gap between what you earn and the threshold. The following do not count as income: your primary home, the indennità di accompagnamento (attendance allowance), severance pay (TFR — severance pay accrued during employment in Italy), and welfare benefits such as ADI or SFL.

Non-EU nationals: 10 years of continuous residence required. Law 388/2000 (art. 80 c. 19) requires you to have lived in Italy legally and continuously for at least 10 years before applying. Short trips abroad for holidays or family visits do not break the continuity. However, if you were removed from the civil register (Anagrafe — civil-registry office at the Comune, handles residency) due to a prolonged absence exceeding 12 consecutive months, the count resets to zero.

Non-EU nationals: you need an EU long-term residence permit. A standard residence permit for work or family reunification is not enough. You need the EU long-term residence permit (permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo), the former carta di soggiorno, which is obtained from the Questura (police headquarters — also issues residence permits) after five years of regular residence. If you don't have it yet, get it before applying for the allowance.

EU or EEA citizens? The 10-year requirement does not apply to you, thanks to the EU equal-treatment principle.

Recognised refugee or subsidiary protection status? The 10-year rule does not apply (INPS practice confirmed by Constitutional Court ruling no. 52/2022). Your refugee or subsidiary protection residence document is sufficient.

Documents you need

• Valid identity document or passport
• EU long-term residence permit (front and back), or equivalent document for EU citizens, refugees, or family members of EU citizens
• Codice Fiscale (Italian tax ID — your personal 16-character code, used for almost everything)
• Historical residency certificate (certificato di residenza storico) from Comune di Roma, proving 10 years of continuous residence (free when requested for pension purposes)
• Income declaration (RED form completed at a CAF) or self-declaration of your income and your spouse's income
• AGO form (INPS self-declaration on personal and income status)
• IBAN in your name
• Household composition certificate (self-declaration acceptable)
• Marriage certificate or self-declaration of marital status
• If you receive a foreign pension: documentation of the amounts converted to euros

How to apply, step by step

One month before turning 67: check your eligibility. Go to a free Patronato (free union-run office helping with social-security and immigration paperwork) — ACLI, INCA, ITAL, INAS, ENASCO — with your documents. An adviser will verify whether you have the 10-year residency, whether your EU long-term permit is valid, and whether your income falls within the threshold. Doing this early matters: if your permit has expired, you'll have time to renew it before lodging the application.

Get your historical residency certificate. You can download it from the Roma Capitale Anagrafe portal using SPID or CIE, or collect it in person at the Central Registry Office (Via Petroselli 50) or at any of the 15 Municipio registry offices. For pension purposes it is free; for other uses a €16 marca da bollo (revenue stamp you stick on official forms) is required.

Submit the application to INPS. You have three options:

• Online at inps.it in the MyINPS area, under "Pensione di cittadinanza, Assegno sociale, Pensione sociale": upload scanned documents as PDFs.
• Through a free Patronato: they handle the whole process for you at no charge. Patronatos in Rome include INCA CGIL (Via Buonarroti 12), ITAL UIL (Via Po 162), ACLI (Via Marcora 18/20), INAS CISL (Via Po 21), ENASCO Confcommercio (Viale Pasteur 10).
• INPS contact centre: call 803 164 (free from a landline, Mon–Fri 8am–8pm, Sat 8am–2pm) or 06 164164 from a mobile.

INPS processes the application in 60–120 days, cross-checking against ANPR (Anagrafe Nazionale — national civil registry database), the tax registry, and the residence-permit database. If anything is missing, INPS will ask for additional documents: respond within 30 days.

Payments begin from the month after the application date, not from your birthday. The 13 monthly payments arrive on the first banking day of each month to your IBAN.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Don't apply too early. INPS only accepts applications up to one month before you turn 67. Submitting earlier leads to automatic rejection.
2. Check your EU long-term permit first. Without it, INPS will reject the application. Contact the Rome Questura — Immigration Office well in advance.
3. Respond to the annual RED income form. INPS sends this form every year to verify income. If you don't respond within 60 days, payments are automatically suspended.
4. Don't declare false or incomplete income. INPS cross-checks with the tax registry and international databases under bilateral agreements. False declarations lead to repayment demands and criminal consequences.
5. Don't confuse the Social Allowance with the Pensione di Cittadinanza, which was abolished on 31 December 2023. They are different benefits.
6. The allowance cannot be exported. If you move abroad permanently, you lose the entitlement. Absences exceeding 29 consecutive days trigger suspension; after a full year of continuous absence, the allowance stops.

Special cases

You receive a foreign pension. Your home-country pension counts as income (converted to euros at the ECB rate). If it is less than €538.68 a month, you are entitled to the differential top-up: for example, with a pension of €200 a month, INPS pays the remaining €338.68 to bring you up to the minimum.

You spent some time abroad in the last 10 years. Short holidays or family visits abroad do not break the continuity. However, if you were removed from the Italian civil register for an absence exceeding 12 months, the count starts from scratch.

You have a small Italian INPS pension, not zero. If you receive an Italian old-age pension below the threshold, you should not apply for the Social Allowance but for a different benefit (the maggiorazione sociale top-up or the minimum pension supplement). A Patronato can help you work out what suits your situation.

You are married to an Italian citizen or have Italian children. This does not exempt you from the 10-year requirement: Law 388/2000 makes no exceptions for family ties with Italian nationals. EU citizens, however, are exempt.

You can combine the Social Allowance with the attendance allowance. If you have a recognised severe disability, you can receive both: the Social Allowance (income-tested) and the indennità di accompagnamento (€562.70/month in 2026, not income-tested).

Official sources

• INPS — Social Allowance
• INPS — Social Allowance amounts 2026
• INPS — Pension revaluation 2026
• Ministry of the Interior — EU long-term residence permit
• Roma Capitale — Anagrafe
• Constitutional Court ruling 50/2019

Legal references: Law 8 agosto 1995 n. 335 art. 3 c. 6; Law 23 dicembre 2000 n. 388 art. 80 c. 19; D.Lgs. 286/1998 art. 9; DL 25 giugno 2008 n. 112 conv. L. 133/2008; L. 22 dicembre 2011 n. 214 art. 24; Constitutional Court ruling no. 50/2019; Constitutional Court ruling no. 52/2022; INPS Circular no. 5 of 14 January 2026.