How to Prepare the ISEE Parificato (DSU Grant)

What are the ISEE and the ISEE Parificato?

The ISEE (Indicatore della Situazione Economica Equivalente) is Italy’s official calculation reducing a family’s economic position to a single indicator. Italian citizens obtain it from their own tax and income records. For students arriving from abroad whose income is not in Italy, the “parificato” (equalised) version applies: because your family lives and earns in Turkey, that income and those assets are converted into the Italian format and calculated from there. The resulting ISEE value determines both your eligibility and the size of your grant.

Who draws it up?

A CAF office in Italy (Centro di Assistenza Fiscale) draws up the ISEE Parificato: it assesses the documents you present and produces the ISEE certificate in the Italian format. You therefore start the process either after arriving in Italy or by working remotely with a reliable CAF. Some regional agencies recommend their own partnered CAFs; settle in advance which CAF you’ll use and exactly which document set it wants, because requirements differ slightly from office to office.

Which documents are needed?

The ISEE Parificato takes a set documenting your family’s economic position:

• Income documents for everyone in the household (payslips, social security statement, tax certificate)
• Property and vehicle records (where applicable)
• Bank balance letters (usually dated 31 December)
• The full civil registry extract (showing the family’s composition)
• A rental contract or residence document

Every one of these must be apostilled and carry a sworn Italian translation. One missing or mistranslated document breaks the calculation. To assemble the set correctly in one pass, see our income documents page.

Why do most mistakes happen here?

Because the ISEE Parificato brings so many documents together, a gap anywhere in the chain tells on the result. The classic errors: a bank balance letter with the wrong date, one family member’s income document missing, no apostille, or the apostille–translation order muddled. Each of them miscalculates the ISEE value — and that either shrinks your grant or voids the application. Prepare the set against a checklist, complete and in the right order; there is no substitute.

Time and cost

Document gathering (the Turkey side), apostille, translation and the CAF procedure can together run to several weeks — so start before the DSU window opens. The cost has two parts: the CAF’s fee for drawing up the ISEE (the Italy side) and the apostille + sworn translation of the documents (the Turkey side). Translating the documents as a batch brings the per-page cost down — and the same translations serve both the ISEE and university enrolment.

The practical order, starting from Turkey

First gather the family’s income and asset documents; then have them apostilled at the governor’s office; then commission the sworn Italian translations of the apostilled documents; and only then have the CAF draw up the ISEE Parificato. Don’t break the order: translate an unapostilled document, or translate first, and the process can restart from zero. You can upload your income documents and see the batch translation price and turnaround in advance.

How does the ISEE value affect the grant?

The ISEE Parificato is not merely an eligible/ineligible gate; the calculated value directly sets the grant amount. The general rule: the lower your ISEE, the higher your grant band. Each region sets an upper ISEE threshold for eligibility plus an ISPE (assets indicator) threshold — and you must stay under both. Which is why an accurate calculation is critical: assets that look needlessly high, or an exemption left unclaimed, can push you into a higher band or out past the threshold altogether. Documents presented complete and correct protect both the eligibility and the amount.

Practical tips for working with the CAF

A few things smooth the CAF relationship. First, find out which CAF has experience with foreign-income (parificato) files; not every office handles them often. Second, get the required document list in writing and prepare exactly that list — a missing document is the commonest cause of delay. Third, keep the Italian translations terminologically consistent across documents; if the CAF sees conflicting wording between papers, it asks for clarification. Last, don’t leave the procedure to the application window: the ISEE takes time to issue, and the grant application needs it in hand.

When must the ISEE Parificato be ready?

Timing is the process’s most critical dimension. DSU applications generally close in late summer, and the ISEE certificate must exist at the moment you apply. The chain stretches backwards from there: the CAF needs translated documents, the translation needs apostilled documents, the apostille needs the originals gathered in Turkey — and the whole chain can run to several weeks. A realistic plan: start gathering documents by late spring at the latest, finish translation and apostille by mid-summer, and have the ISEE ready by summer’s end. The student who starts early is ready when the window opens; the one who starts late spends it scrambling for paperwork.

The difference between the ISEE Parificato and the ordinary ISEE

Italian students obtain the ordinary ISEE; students from abroad whose income is not in Italy use the “parificato” version — and the distinction matters, because the documents and the process differ. The ordinary ISEE feeds automatically from Italian tax and income records; the parificato is built from the foreign documents you present, converted by the CAF into the Italian format. It therefore takes more documents, more translation and more time. When you approach a CAF, say plainly that you need a “parificato” — if the ordinary ISEE process is started by mistake, your documents won’t fit and you start again. Knowing the distinction is what gets you through the right door.

Related document guides

The ISEE Parificato and the income-document process in detail, in our guide library: the ISEE Parificato document and the income documents list.

Frequently asked questions