Permanent residency in Italy or France from Australia
 

My wife & I, in our mid 50's and our 18yr old daughter are wanting to live in Italy or France for a number of years. We have an independent income and so don't need to and don't want to work in Italy or France. Can you please give us some direction as to what we need to do. We are travelling over to Europe in December for a few months and whilst we are there, we would like to travel to Italy and France to perhaps see some Migration Lawyers/Consultants. Can you make any suggestions as to a good Migration Consultant/Lawyer who can speak English that we could meet whilst over there. If there are any good websites which may help we would appreciate that or if there are any pitfalls that we need to look out for. We have read that in order to gain Residency, one of the things that we need is a long term rental lease for a home or apartment, but how can we get this prior to gaining residency??

First (and most important) step would be to contact the nearest French or Italian consulate/embassy in Australia.

You mention you will be travelling in Europe for a few months. Are you aware that as an Australian you cannot spend more than 90 days in the Schengen countries?

Your first task is to gain permission to live in Italy or France in the first place. Only after many years of residence can you apply for permanent residence. The red tape required to gain the permission to stay is truly monumental for Italy, and it starts with applying for a long-stay visa in Australia before arriving in Italy. This is your first big hurdle, requiring a ream of documents including certificate of good health, criminal record clearance, medical insurance and financial means. An interview is also normally required. Then after arrival in Italy, you must take steps to apply for permission to stay (permesso di soggiorno), first at the local police (questura) and then at the town hall (commune). You do require a deed for a property you've bought or a rental contract, as well as documentary evidence of financial independence (bank statements, letter from a bank officer duly translated into Italian etc) and whatever other documents they require (vary from place to place, from one staff member to another).
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/moving/default.asp
but websites are no substitute for an advice from an experienced lawyer used to dealing with Italian or French residency for Australians.
Procedure for France may be less onerous, but you still have to obtain your long-stay visa in advance.

Don't forget also to sort out your tax situation and health insurance - you will not be automatically covered by the French or Italian health service just because you are living there, and don't want to be paying tax in both Australia, source of your income I assume, and France or Italy, which you could well end up doing if you aren't careful.
Do you speak French or Italian? It will make it easier to deal with all the red tape if you do, and will make settling into the country in question a lot easier once you have jumped through all the hoops.
What is your 18 year old daughter intending to do- go to university or work or what? She will need to check her Australian qualifications are recognised in which ever country you choose, and she'll have to learn the language pretty quick to be able to cope with uni, and will need a work permit if she intends to work.
What are you planning on doing with your time? Sitting around doing not a lot gets boring pretty fast.

www.expatica.com may help you with the basics, but as Alec says you need to get good advice from someone who knows the law. Start with the embassies in Australia.

Don't forget you can only be in the Schengen area for 90 days without a visa.

For Paris try Jean Taquet from a Survival Kit to Paris
www.jeantaquet.com

He helped some American friends of mine move to Paris. He can advise lawyers, paperwork, etc. E-mail him and see what he says.

You might look into the possibilities that the French have for a residency visa which doesn't allow you to work, but you can live and get a bank account, etc. I've heard of a number of folks getting such a visa from the US.

You'll need a lawyer and it sounds like there are a few recommendations above.

Permanent residency these days in FR and IT comes in two flavors- local and EU.

The EU permit (http://www.diyexpat.com/visa%20guide/eupermres.html- basic info, but may get you started) can be applied for after five years of residency and allows you to move around. The rights now are a bit confused, but this may clear up over time.