daniel_t

I'd like to share my experience of getting the new Carta di Soggiorno Permanente. The whole process took 19 months ('quick' by Italian standards?) from my first contact to picking up my residence card.

Long story short, I emailed the local immigration office in Lodi, Lombardy in January 2021. After a long wait and some phone calls, I was given an appointment for my residence card application in October. I had to visit a different police department on three separate occasions to have my finger prints taken for this card. Eventually, I managed to get through to the immigration office on the phone in July 2022 - I picked up my card a few days ago.

What happened during the process:

• Staff at the local post office insisted on giving me a pre-printed slip for 'Permesso di Soggiorno'. This didn't make a difference to my residence card application, nor did it cause any problem further down the line.
• The finger prints taking didn't take place on the day of my appointment. I was given a different date to visit another police department in the same town. (However, the final one did take place at the immigration office.)
• I wasn't given an application receipt or reference number. This is the reason why I had to ring up the immigration office last month to check if my Carta di Soggiorno Permanente was ready.
• Staff at the immigration office were polite despite their massive workload. It wasn't easy to speak to anybody on the phone or get an email reply, so you might need the world's patience and trust that your residence card will be ready one day.

I hope this helps whoever is going to apply for this new biometric residence card.

D

Lorna at Vicenza

19 months! 19 months! I do live in a smaller geographical area but still. I e-mailed my Questura for an appointment on June 9th last year, (appointment only because of Covid). On the 11th they replied (now that IS fast) giving me the 2nd of July to go in person with my papers, documents and photos and leave index fingerprints. They gave me a code that day in July to check their website for updates. I asked if the new card couldn't just be posted to me and they said not, I had to do another 32Km round trip to pick it up in person. I said: Ti pareva porca miseria, siamo in Italia, and the man at the counter laughed and replied, "vedo che lei Signora vive qua da anni!

On September 29th I wrote to the Ufficio Immigrazione saying, "I can see from your website that my new card is ready. Please advise when I can come to collect. They said: October the 5th.
That makes it a total timeline of what? 4 months? I have no idea why you went or who sent you to the local Post Office. It has eff all to do with them.
By the way, if you check your actual bit of plastic, it says: ART.18.4 ACCORDO DI RECESSO UE - UK.
AND, also AND ---- mine too is called a Carta Di Soggiorno PERMANENTE but it expires in ten year's time. Italy's version I guess of permanent.

daniel_t

Hi Lorna,

Sorry to hear you had to go all the way to Vicenza just to pick up your CdS Permanente, but good that you didn't have to wait for long.

My colleagues in Milan and Monza only waited a few months too, but it seems to me this CdS category was something new to the officers in Lodi. My very first appointment lasted an hour and a half because everybody was trying to figure out how the new system worked!

Yes, mine is the same as yours - it reads "Art. 18.4 Accordo di Recesso UE-UK" and is valid for ten years. And my trip to the post office - I was there to pay 30.46 euros as the fee.

Dan

Lorna at Vicenza

Oh yes, the payment. I asked the PO for the Permesso di Soggiorno slip, brought it home, scribbled something out and added something, paid it in a different post office and the Questura accepted it. I was quite surprised that Vicenza Questura knew what they were doing and apart from the pain of driving there twice, it was hassle free. The officer did check every page of my passport and called two other officers over to look at it too. I came to the conclusion that they'd never seen a horrible, new blue one before. I didn't ask them because the less said in places like that, the better usually. I haven't been to the Questura since the year 2000 and it's a sadder and more miserable place than I remembered with lots of foreigners looking anxious and scared.

dreamo

Has anybody any experience with the Chieti Questura? We started the application process in Pescara and it was all going really smoothly. Unfortunately we moved prior to getting the cards and the Chieti Questura have sent us to the PO to get a pack. It contains over a dozen sheets to complete, extra fees etc and this is just to get the appointment with Chieti Questura….. Surely this can’t be right?

Lorna at Vicenza

That's definitely not right. The PO pack is for the Permesso di Soggiorno for Americans and Nigerians for example and not us Brexit Brits. If you started in Pescara I would email them because presumably they sent your application and photos to Rome and it will be Rome who sends the new, plastic cards back to Pescara.

pugliese

Mine went very smoothly (wasn't expecting it)! Sent a pec for an appointment, got one 2 weeks later, did everything and received a receipt with a number which I had to insert on the Polizia di Stato website. When that said it was ready, I could go back to pick it up. That wasn't so good because it was a baking hot day and they made everybody wait outside. A woman came out with a box and we had to put our receipts in and they called you in at their discretion! The Ukranians had priority.

dreamo

Thanks so much Lorna, that is exactly what I thought but try telling the lady sitting behind her screen...... I guess I'll go back and hope somebody else is sitting there.... 🤞🤞 One can but hope 😊

fenman

Hi, how difficult is it to fill the kit from the post office for the permesso di soggiorno?
Am I right in saying that the kit needs to be sent before the questura appointment?
My understanding was that one needs to go to the questura within eight days of arrival in Italy.

P. S this would be for a new arrival

Lorna at Vicenza

A new arrival from where exactly?

fenman

uk

Lorna at Vicenza

I wouldn't worry about any kind of kit from the post office because you're going to need a visa first to move here.
If you're just coming for a holiday you won't need to go the Questura at all because you'll have passed through border control.

Lorna at Vicenza

Tell yer woman there to get updated and read this: https://www.interno.gov.it/sites/def...cum_brexit.pdf

C.2s

Hi Lorna, Fenman is planning a move here now. They started another thread asking what they needed.

Fenman - this thread is about the Carta di Soggiorno, which is an optional ID card for those of us who moved to Italy before Brexit. It's not obligatory. You will need to apply for a Permesso di Soggiorno. That is obligatory. It's a different process. Why they chose such similar names is beyond me!

The only Brits who'll have experience of this will be anyone who moved post Brexit. You might find some on this forum, but it might also be worth trying forums that have other fuori EU people (Americans for example) as they'll have a great deal more knowledge of the process you'll need to follow..

PS. Not having a Carta di Soggiorno is still not causing me any problems. Ok, I spent a minute explaining this to the border official at Pisa airport yesterday. "Yes I live in Italy. No, I don't have a Carta di Soggiorno. It's not obligatory. Here is my Carta Identità. No, I don't need a Permesso di Soggiorno..No, you shouldn't stamp my passport. Thank you very much. Have a good day." ... but it wasn't exactly onerous

dreamo

Thanks Lorna, that’s really helpful. I’ll give it a go, wish me luck x