'Will make you cry': Expat living in Italy shares cautionary tale about moving to the European hotspot
Life in Italy can present challenges to newcomers
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Moving to Italy is a dream that many people around the world romanticise, and it’s easy to see why.
Not only is the southern European country one of the most beautiful on the continent but it scores highly in the climate and food departments too.
However, Natalia Romashko claims that living in Italy isn't always what it's cracked up to be.
The YouTuber recently shared a damning clip about the country, highlighting several problematic elements about life in the hotspot.
Natalia struggled with various elements while living in Italy
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The expat claimed the first major downside is the Italian bureaucracy because the simplest administrative tasks take months to complete.
Natalia explained: “Italian bureaucracy will make you cry and beg for mercy, believe me.
“Consider that when I moved to Italy, I could already speak Italian quite well, and still it was quite hard for me to figure out how to do the documents, the residence permit and so on.
“Mostly all these problems with bureaucracy are a consequence of the fact that Italy is not very digitally advanced."
Natalia experienced these problems first-hand while applying for a residence permit which took months to complete.
She warned this could cause major inconveniences for anyone with trips planned soon after their arrival, as they won't be permitted to leave without the right paperwork.
Another challenge Natalia claims newcomers face is "food fascism", describing the judgment inflicted on those who eat differently from locals.
“Italians are very attentive about food,” she explained. “The problem is that Italians always care about what you eat.
“They always comment and they always judge you based on what you have in your plate in your cup.
“For example, in Italy, you can’t drink coffee with milk after 11am. You can’t drink a coffee with milk with your sandwich.”
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The expat highlighted several problematic aspects about life in Italy
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The third contentious factor Natalia believes needs careful consideration is the country's taxes.
She claims the tax system is a major deterrent for many foreigners because high reductions fail to “motivate people to work”.
The Italian government recently announced it would double tax for high earners who had recently moved from abroad.
It announced on August 7 that the tax would increase from €100,000 (£84,115) to €200,000 (£168,230).