Healthcare questions depend crucially not just on your citizenship, but also on the type of contract. Broadly, all contracts here can be divided into true work contracts ("contratti subordinati") and contracts which formally do not constitute true employment ("contratti para-subordinati"). Currently, contracts are devided as follows:

• True empolyment ("subordinati"): All permanent contracts, RTD-A, RTD-B, RTD-TT, Contratto di Ricerca, Incarico di Postdoc
• Non-empolyment relationship ("para-subordinati")": Assengio di ricerca, Incarico di ricerca, Borsa di ricerca

A central difference here is that many of the non-employment type contracts are tax-free. This makes them cheap to use for the department/grant/INFN/budget, which explains why they are popular. However, this budget saving measure comes with restrictions in empolyment rights as you can see below.

There is a large range of EU rights, such as the right to equal treatment in health care, which only apply if you are in another EU country for work. By working on a non-employment contract, you lose certain EU rights, which in particular means that Italian health care is not assured.

The rules are in continual flux, but as of 2026 this is the status if you assume a university contract:

For EU citizens on para-subordinato contracts, as of January 2026, it has been forbidden for universities to pay for healthcare. This means that there is currently no easy way to refund healthcare coverage in this case, at least for people paid through UniPD funding. INFN contracts and contracts on external funding may differ, as it is not clear how far reaching the current ban is. And yes, this creates the unfortunate situation in which an EU national has even fewer rights than a non-EU national.

The guide here assumes that you are a non-Italian citizen and you are hired on a contract in which you don't pay normal taxes (i.e., para-subordinato). This is true for most postdocs and PhD students. If you have a contract in which taxes are paid, then health care is included in that and you do not have to arrange a separate payment. For non-Italian citizens, it is nonetheless necessary to register before you can get the insurance and you health care card, even if you are paying taxes.

Note that registration to Italian public healthcare is always for a full calendar year, from January to December. You would pay for the whole year even if you start in December. Therefore, if paid separately, it is only economically feasible if you sign up at the beginning of the year. Also, know that you cannot register for healthcare before the year has actually started. Be careful if (when) this creates a gap in your coverage.

Expect all officials to only speak Italian, as English skills outside of the department cannot be relied upon. Bring a friend if necessary. The exception is the UNIPD office, which could help you in English. See the links found in Other sources of help.

WARNING: It appears that the process has changed since the writing of this guide. If your fee is paid for by the department, they may now pay it directly instead of sending you to the postoffice. Please update the steps accordingly so we avoid difficult double payments. Do not pay anything to post office before clarifying if this is necessary in your case. In all cases, be certain who will refund you and make sure to have their approval before you go ahead with anything.

The process of signing up for the city (i.e., the residence) is linked to the process of signing up for health care so these two processes must be done in parallel. This is because payment of the health care fees is required in order to complete the registration for the city, which is in turn is required in order to sign up for the health care. Here you can encounter a circular dependency. Follow these steps carefully to break the loop:

1. The first step is to pay the healthcare fee
   1. Talk to your secretary to calculate the correct amount you have to pay for health care. She can also tell you what to write on the form. You can either get the form to fill in from your secretary or directly at the post office.
   2. Go to a post office to pay the fee. Note that this requires you to pay an amount likely exceeding 2000€ either with your credit card or in cash, so make sure beforehand that you can perform such a large payment with your payment method. They will give you a receipt of the payment that you will have to hold on to (very important).
2. With the receipt for the health care payment you can now register your address with the city:
   1. Fill out the required documents. If you are a EU citizen, you can find the document here: https://www.padovanet.it/informazione/cittadini-dellunione-europea-italia-circolazione-e-soggiorno. If you are non-EU, look around the padovanet.it webpage for your corresponding document.
   2. At the very least, the copies of the following documents are required:
      1. Fiscal code document
      2. Rental contract for your accommodation
      3. Work contract
      4. Receipt of payment of the health care fee
      5. Copy of your passport / official ID card
   3. Buy a "marca da bollo" of 16€, which you can get at any kiosk. Be aware that you will have to pay in cash. There is a place you can buy it right next to the department: https://goo.gl/maps/MUadZkYquZQLuFYQ9
   4. Go to the city office, Ufficio Demografico e Anagrafe at Piazza dei Signori, 23 to complete the registration. Do not attempt to send the documents by email as this will take weeks or months. This will give you a document that recognizes your residence in Padova and registers you in the public registry.
3. With your residence in Padova properly recognized you can now complete the registration for the health care:
   1. Book an appointment to sign up. This can be done at the dedicated office where they are used to handle researchers. Alternatively, you can also go to the public office.
      1. For the UNIPD office, go to https://web.unipd.it/international/booking-area/ulss-unipd/
      2. For the public office, go to https://ulss6euganea.prenotami.cloud/
         1. It no longer appears possible to book the appointment online. The link is dead.
         2. The relevant office is probably via Scovregni 12, but this might change if you live sufficiently far away. See the list of offices here: https://www.aulss6.veneto.it/index.cfm?action=mys.elenchi&tipo=5&id=19&content_id=507
         3. The public office can also take you without an appointment, but they only allow a very limited number of people to go this way. Therefore, to go without an appointment, you must show up as soon as the number assignment opens. As of writing this, this is 07:30 on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at via Scovregni 12.
         4. As of writing this, the health office requires you to wear an FFP2 mask, so bring one.
   2. When you go to the office they will ask you which doctor you will be assigned. If you wish to have any influence on who will be your general practitioner then find one first.
   3. Prepare the required documents. Postdocs have been asked the following documents:
      1. Fiscal code document
      2. Receipt of payment of the health care fee (tip: if they complain about the amount paid, try explaining that the secretary calculated the amount for you)
      3. Documentation of your income in the preceding year
      4. Your passport / official ID card
      5. Work contract
      6. Rental contract
      7. The papers they gave you when you registered at the city
4. Go to your appointment, after which you should now be officially registered and have public health care!

For extra credit, about 20 days after completing your residence registration, you can apply to receive an Italian ID card (the CIE). This is not required, but may simplify beaucratic things in the future. If you are interested in this, see Advanced topics. It is not nearly as hard as anything else on this page.

Yes, it's not a one-time-only problem. You will have to renew your healthcare registration each year. Fortunately, repeat registrations are simplified by your residency already being sorted out.

Notice: If you have a SPID, it is now possible to do the registration entirely online. Go to this link: https://www.aulss6.veneto.it/Sportello-amministrativo-distrettuale and then choose sportello online under "Iscrizione S.S.N. o rinnovo". Unfortunately, this is not likely to help you with your first registration as it is not possible to get the SPID until at least several weeks after the city registration.

Note: It is apparently now possible to log in to INPS with the official digital ID of other EU states. Look for something called eIDAS. Please add details here if you try this.

Here I can only speak for people with a contract with the University.

You have to go to the INPS website (<https://serviziweb2.inps.it>) and register for an account with a password. There are several ways to register, I was told to use the "PIN" authentification. The login is your Italian Tax Code, and the password is what is called the PIN.

In order to get the PIN, you have to call +396164164 to fix an appointment at INPS Padova (via Delù, 3). At the appointment they will ask you for your Italian Tax Code, and give you the first part of the PIN by email and the second part of the PIN by hand.

Then, go to the INPS website (<https://serviziweb2.inps.it>) thanks to your PIN and put your information to activate your account.

Once activated, apply for a "gestione separata" (Iscrizione dei lavoratori parasubordinati alla Gestione Separata) on their website by filling out a very short form. Note that the date to put in "modulo parasubordinato" is the starting date of your contract. Once the application is successful, download the ticket and send it to the department's Secretary.

Italians generally have an official, digital ID known as an SPID. This can be used to complete official procedures entirely online. However, if all you want to do is a postdoc and are already registered in the city, then you might not need this. The same is true for the official, Italian mailbox used for official communications, the PEC. See Advanced topics.