BRITISH WIFE & NON EEA HUSBAND RESIDENT IN ITALY. PLS RE

[oraake]

My good mate is married to a non eea national resident in Italy.
They've been married for 18 mths now. She visits him frequently in Milan but unfortunately he has been unable to come down to the UK.
She is in the process of applying for him to join her in the U.K but this is being stalled by the delay in the release of his "carta sojourner" (sort of the ILR here in the U.K) by the italian authorities.

My questions are:
1. how does she go about applying i.e forms, documents needed etc
2. Would he (non eea person) need to provide this "carta sojourner" in making this application?
3. Would they be better of applying here in the U.K or in Italy?

Your usual constructive comments would be most welcome.
Thank you again.

[vinny]

If he wants to settle in the UK with his British citizen wife, then he may apply for a spouse visa (281) from Italy.

Subsequently, he may apply for settlement on Form SET(M) (287) no sooner than 28 days (4 weeks) before the 2nd anniversary of his initial entry into the UK and prior to his spouse visa's expiry date. Do read the requirements of Form SET(M), and any updates, as soon as possible.

However, how long has he been resident in Italy? Will he be eligible for Italian citizenship any time soon?