If you are a foreigner for Italy and you think to enter to Italy, you must provide the documentation required to explain the reasons and duration of their stay as well as, in some prescribed cases, the availability of adequate economic means and lodging. In some cases you need a visa, application for which can be made at the Italian Diplomatic and Consular Representations in your country of residence.

Visa request: The European citizens do not require visa. People from other countries must ask about the "Shengen" visa at the embassy or the Italian consulate, at least with a month of anticipation. The foreign students who do not belong to the European Community bring their application request, at the Italian diplomatic-consular representatives, from April to June.

Required documents: The authenticated copies of following documents must be enclosed:

• Last diploma of high school studies and legalized translation, attendance certificate of the second year of superior education;
• Health insurance (with the exception of the citizens of the European Union);
• Passport with entrance visa mentioning "studies";
• Authenticated copy of the stay permission (for the citizens that do not belong to the European Community)
• If possible, a certificate of the Italian language, granted by the University of Rome or the University of Perugia or Siena.

The requests are transmitted to the universities, trough the diplomatic delegations. Students have eight days since their arrival to go to the Police headquarters (Questura) to obtain the stay permission mentioning "studies".

Visa Schengen: It is a universal visa for those that visit Europe, that allows them entering to all the countries of the Community, excepting the United Kingdom.

Throughout the year, apart from Festivals, businesses are open at the following hours:

Offices: Mondays to Fridays: 08:30am - 13:00pm and 15:00pm - 18:00pm
Banks: Mondays - Fridays: 08:30am - 13:30pm and 14:45pm - 16.15pm
Stores: Mondays to Saturdays: 09:00am - 13:00pm and 16:30pm - 19:30pm

Bank business hours in Italy. Bank business hours are regulated across Italy. Business hours for banks in Italy begin at 8:30 and continue until 1:30pm when they close for lunch. These banks open again in the afternoon only for one hour from 3.30pm. Banks in Italy are open from Monday to Friday.

Business hours in Italy. Business hours in Italy oscillate depending on the nature of the enterprise and the location of these in italy. While business hours for most government operations are more or less standardised across the country, there is some variation in opening times between the north and south of Italy. Generally, things in the south of Italy tend to stay open until later in the evening. Below we've outlined as accurately as possible the business hours for various places you might need to use while in Italy.

Shop business hours in Italy. Shops in Italy usually open their doors at 9:00am and stay open until among 1:00 and 2:00pm when they close for lunch. Afternoon shop opening hours are generally from about 4:00 to 8:00pm. Most shops open for at least a half day on Saturday while others treat it as a normal working day. Few shops are open on Sundays. Large supermarkets and department stores are the exception to this and many of them open for half a day on Sunday while throughout the rest of the week they are open from 10:00am to 7:30pm.

Pharmacy business hours in Italy. Pharmacies in Italy generally open their doors at 9:00am to 12:30pm and from 3:30pm until 7:30pm. Most pharmacies are open on Saturday mornings although it’s strange to find them open in the afternoon on a Saturday and Sunday. There is always at least one pharmacy in every area that is open at any given time. There will usually be a sign on the door of any closed pharmacy stating where the nearest open pharmacy at that time is.

Every town and city has at least one or two local holidays in Italy. Many Italians take their holiday in August yet; some businesses close for the entire month, others for one or two weeks, Everything, excepting traffic headed for the beach, slows down and the Versilian coastline becomes a temple to sunburn. National holidays are on the 1st and 6th of January, Easter Monday, the 25th of April, May the 1st, August the 15th (stay away from roads and rails!), November the 1st, and finally the 8th, 25th and 26th of December.

The most popular holidays in Italy are:

January-1 New Year's Day
January-6 Epiphany
January-6 Nollaig Bheag (Little Christmas)
April-8 Easter Sunday
April-9 Easter Monday
April-25 Liberation Day
May-1 Labor Day
June-2 Republic Day
June-24 St. John's Day
June-29 St. Peter & St. Paul Day
July-11 St. Rosalia Day
August-15 Assumption Day
September-19 St. Januarius Day
October-4 St. Petronius Day
November-1 All Saint's Day
November-4 National Unity Day
December-6 St. Nicholas Day
December-7 St. Ambrose Day (Milan Only)
December-8 Immaculate Conception
December-25 Christmas Day
December-26 St. Stephen's Day

Italy is a famous place for its essence of romance, rich culture, passion for cuisine and fine wines, its contemporary fashions and awesome landscapes. With regions so diverse as the rolling hillsides in Tuscany, the colourful coastline of the Amalfi Coast and the dramatic scenery surrounding the Lakes, this wonderfully distinct country has the power to leave a lasting impression on all who dare to explore it. There is always a reason to celebrate in Italy, whether it's an historical event, religious holiday, or festival.