Temporary domicile: how it works and sample form

Temporary domicile: temporary residence in a place for study, work, health or family reasons, with a limited stay. Find out what it means and how to obtain it.

Many Italians, for various reasons, move every day for a period of time to a place other than their current one. The need for temporary residence may arise when moving to another city for a fixed-term work project, or to care for a sick family member in everyday life.

If you find yourself in a similar situation and are wondering how to handle the documents, perhaps you don't know that there is a specific self-certification form you can fill out in these cases to declare your temporary transfer.

The bureaucracy is very complex, we know that well. It often happens that we get confused between the concepts of residence, domicile and abode and we don't fill out the documents needed to certify where we live correctly.

Don't worry: in this article you will find all the necessary information on how to certify temporary residence.

What we talk about in this article:

• What is temporary residence
• What are the cases of temporary residence
• Temporary domicile declaration: content and sample form

What is temporary domicile

First of all, let's clarify the differences between residence and domicile:

• residence is the place where you officially live and which appears on your identity documents;
• domicile is, according to the definition of the civil code, the "place in where the person has established the temporary headquarters of his or her business and interests.”

What does it mean? If, for example, you live and work in Milan, your residence and domicile coincide. If, however, your home is in Milan and you are moving to Rome for work or family reasons, you can maintain your residence in Milan but your domicile will be in Rome.

Temporary domicile, on the other hand, is used to regulate all those transitory situations in which you find yourself leaving the place where you live to move to another place for a temporary period for work, study, or other reasons that we will see in more detail shortly.

If you find yourself in the position of having to declare your new residence, you need to present a self-certification of temporary domicile. You will find a certification template at the bottom of the article. Before we get there, however, let's analyze the cases in which it is possible to declare a new temporary address.

What are the cases of temporary domicile

The situations in which you can declare an address other than your residence cover a wide range of hypotheses, from work to health, from study to prison sentences. Here is a list of the main reasons that are usually considered valid for self-certification of temporary domicile.

1. Work reasons

This is the case in which you move for a fixed-term employment contract, or if the company you work for temporarily seconds you to another city to work on a project.

2. Reasons of study

These apply to all students who move to places other than the one where they live to attend university, a specialization course or a master's degree.

3. Assistance in case of illness

This applies to all those who leave their residence to move in with a family member and assist them in daily life due to an illness or a disabling condition.

4. Health reasons

Similarly, temporary residence also applies if you have to leave the place where you live to undergo medical treatment. This hypothesis also includes spa treatments in specialized locations.

5. Civil service

This case mainly concerns young people who sign up as volunteers in the civil service in a place other than the one where they usually reside.

6. Child custody

This is the specific situation for foster parents called to temporarily move to the place where the foster child lives.

7. Career military personnel

This is the reason envisaged for members of the military corps serving in a place other than the one where they reside.

8. Career military personnel

The last hypothesis concerns people who are serving a sentence under house arrest or in a semi-freedom regime in another place than where they reside.

Temporary domicile declaration: content and sample form

Now let's see how to certify temporary residence. Italian law does not require any obligation to declare one's domicile, even when it is different from one's residence.

In fact, the municipality only issues certificates of residence, while there is no official document relating to domicile. For example, you do not need certificates to receive mail at an address other than the one where you live.

However, there are several reasons why a person finds it necessary to certify that the place where they are domiciled is different from the one where they reside.

Let's say you have changed cities for a work commitment. You need to undergo medical examinations and cannot return to your place of residence. With a temporary self-certification of domicile, you are free to request the assignment of a new family doctor near you.

To be valid, the document must contain:

• all your personal information (date and place of birth and residence);
• the details of any family members moving with you;
• the new address and the reason for the move.

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