coco

Hello all,

I'm italian and I'm going to Italy for 3 weeks with my Taiwanese wife.
We live in London and she has got the Shengen VISA for tourism.
It is a multiple entry visa. Anyway, my question is related to the residence permit. Italian laws (and also of the other Shengen states) require anybody going to Italy (even for tourism) to register to the "questura" of the place where you go to visit in Italy, in order to get a residence permit. This must be done within 8 days after you enter Italy.
Since we are going to be there only for 3 weeks and since the procedure is annoying (the nearest "questura" is 1 hour by car from the place where my parents live and they need documents...etc.etc...everyone knows how tedious are italian burocratic matters...)...does anyone know what happens if she doesn't register (by the way, after 3 weeks we will come back to London). Anyone as experience on that? My worry is: if during the stay the police checks my wife's passport (you never know, sometimes they stop you with your car, or similar situations.....), will they proceed with expulsion since she doesn't have the residence permit (even if she has regular visa sticker on the pasport)?
My question arises also thinking of all the times we travel around Europe and World and we never do such kind of registrations.
For example, in England you don't need residence permit for tourism or short stays.

Sorry, I've been to long....
Thanks.

Francesco

Alan Thomas Har

coco wrote:
    >
    > Hello all,
    >
    > I'm italian and I'm going to Italy for 3 weeks with my Taiwanese wife. We live in
    > London and she has got the Shengen VISA for tourism.

Try the following: http://www.ambitalia.org.uk/visainfo.htm

I think notification of the police is normally done for you when the hotel
receptionist asks for your passport. anyway, the ITalian Embassy web site hs contact
number and e-mail address.

Alan Harrison

Sjoerd

I would not worry. There are many rules in Schengen that are standardly ignored, and
your wife won't have problems if she doesn't have that Italian residence permit. (one
of the Schengen rules is that non-EEA passports should always be stamped on entry.
France, Italy and Spain usually ignore that rule also)

Sjoerd

"coco" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
    > Hello all,
    >
    > I'm italian and I'm going to Italy for 3 weeks with my Taiwanese wife. We live in
    > London and she has got the Shengen VISA for tourism. It is a multiple entry visa.
    > Anyway, my question is related to the residence permit. Italian laws (and also of
    > the other Shengen states) require anybody going to Italy (even for tourism) to
    > register to the "questura" of the place where you go to visit in Italy, in order to
    > get a residence permit. This must be done within 8 days after you enter Italy.
    > Since we are going to be there only for 3 weeks and since the procedure is annoying
    > (the nearest "questura" is 1 hour by car from the place where my parents live and
    > they need documents...etc.etc...everyone knows how tedious are italian burocratic
    > matters...)...does anyone know what happens if she doesn't register (by the way,
    > after 3 weeks we will come back to London). Anyone as experience on that? My worry
    > is: if during the stay the police checks my wife's passport (you never know,
    > sometimes they stop you with your car, or similar situations.....), will they
    > proceed with expulsion since she doesn't have the residence permit (even if she has
    > regular visa sticker on the pasport)? My question arises also thinking of all the
    > times we travel around Europe and World and we never do such kind of registrations.
    > For example, in England you don't need residence permit for tourism or short stays.
    >
    > Sorry, I've been to long.... Thanks.
    >
    > Francesco
    >
    >
    >
    > --

Punkreas

I am Italian and live in Italy and I have never heard of such a procedure. I
think you have incorrect information. If you are a tourist you do not need a
residence permit.

"coco" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email protected]...
    > Hello all,
    >
    > I'm italian and I'm going to Italy for 3 weeks with my Taiwanese wife. We live in
    > London and she has got the Shengen VISA for tourism. It is a multiple entry visa.
    > Anyway, my question is related to the residence permit. Italian laws (and also of
    > the other Shengen states) require anybody going to Italy (even for tourism) to
    > register to the "questura" of the place where you go to visit in Italy, in order to
    > get a residence permit. This must be done within 8 days after you enter Italy.
    > Since we are going to be there only for 3 weeks and since the procedure is annoying
    > (the nearest "questura" is 1 hour by car from the place where my parents live and
    > they need documents...etc.etc...everyone knows how tedious are italian burocratic
    > matters...)...does anyone know what happens if she doesn't register (by the way,
    > after 3 weeks we will come back to London). Anyone as experience on that? My worry
    > is: if during the stay the police checks my wife's passport (you never know,
    > sometimes they stop you with your car, or similar situations.....), will they
    > proceed with expulsion since she doesn't have the residence permit (even if she has
    > regular visa sticker on the pasport)? My question arises also thinking of all the
    > times we travel around Europe and World and we never do such kind of registrations.
    > For example, in England you don't need residence permit for tourism or short stays.
    >
    > Sorry, I've been to long.... Thanks.
    >
    > Francesco
    >
    >
    >
    > --

Ron Clarey

    >I am Italian and live in Italy and I have never heard of such a procedure. I
    >think you have incorrect information. If you are a tourist you do not need a
    >residence permit.

I tend to agree also you are a UK national and you are free to wander around Europe
with out a problem. I suggest that you forget about it and if anyone asks tell them
the truth. She is your wife after all. It would take a very pedantic cop to annoy a
tourist so much, I doubt if they will bother at all.

However if I am wrong don't blame me. Seriously if you are worried I suggest phoning
the Italian embassy in London and ask them.
--
Ron Clarey Translaters.net HTTP://www.translaters.net

Thomas Adams

"punkreas" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > I am Italian and live in Italy and I have never heard of such a procedure. I
    > think you have incorrect information. If you are a tourist you do not need a
    > residence permit.

But what do the hotel owners do with our passports? I had to give it to them
for 24 hours.

Ken Blake

Thomas Adams <[email protected]> wrote:

    > "punkreas" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >> I am Italian and live in Italy and I have never heard of such a procedure. I think
    >> you have incorrect information. If you are a tourist you do not need a residence
    >> permit.
    >
    > But what do the hotel owners do with our passports? I had to give it to them for
    > 24 hours.

They just copy the information that's on it. What they do with that information,
I'm not sure.

There's no reason why they needed your passport for 24 hours. They were just slow
getting to the copying.

--
Ken Blake Please reply to the newsgroup

Elly

"Ken Blake" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email protected]...
    > Thomas Adams <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > > "punkreas" <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >
    > >> I am Italian and live in Italy and I have never heard of such a procedure. I
    > >> think you have incorrect information. If you are a tourist you do not need a
    > >> residence permit.
    > >
    > > But what do the hotel owners do with our passports? I had to give it to them for
    > > 24 hours.
    >
    >
    > They just copy the information that's on it. What they do with that information,
    > I'm not sure.

The procedure is this:
- first copying the information from your passport for the hotel database;
- the hotel gives the information from the passports about all their guests to the
police (the police department that deals with checking information - in search of
criminals, illegal immigrants - something like that, anyway);
- the hotel gives the information from your passport (not all, just name, date of
birth, nationality and the length of your stay) to the local tourist office - they
need it for tourist tax (which is included in the price of the room and goes to the
budget of the national tourist office) and for the statistics database - in order
to find out, for example, what is the period of the year when they have the highest
number of British tourists; how long do they stay for... Basically they use this
information for research and future marketing.

Elly

Barbara Vaughan

Elly wrote:
    >
    > "Ken Blake" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Thomas Adams <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >
    > > > "punkreas" <[email protected]> wrote:
    > > >
    > > >> I am Italian and live in Italy and I have never heard of such a procedure. I
    > > >> think you have incorrect information. If you are a tourist you do not need a
    > > >> residence permit.
    > > >
    > > > But what do the hotel owners do with our passports? I had to give it to them
    > > > for 24 hours.
    > >
    > >
    > > They just copy the information that's on it. What they do with that information,
    > > I'm not sure.
    >
    > The procedure is this:
    > - first copying the information from your passport for the hotel database;
    > - the hotel gives the information from the passports about all their guests to the
    > police (the police department that deals with checking information - in search of
    > criminals, illegal immigrants - something like that, anyway);
    > - the hotel gives the information from your passport (not all, just name, date of
    > birth, nationality and the length of your stay) to the local tourist office -
    > they need it for tourist tax (which is included in the price of the room and goes
    > to the budget of the national tourist office) and for the statistics database -
    > in order to find out, for example, what is the period of the year when they have
    > the highest number of British tourists; how long do they stay for... Basically
    > they use this information for research and future marketing.

And any foreigner who isn't staying in a hotel (such as the original poster's wife,
who is staying with the OP's family) is technically required to report to the local
police to give them the information that the hotel would have forwarded, so the
original poster was not mistaken. However, I really doubt that there would be any
sort of a problem if she didn't do that, especially if she is in the company of the
OP. I would profess ignorance of this law if questioned. The worst that might
happen is that they would inform the young woman that she was required to report to
the police.

However, I have no direct experience except my own. When I moved to Italy, I had a
temporary residence permit stamped in my passport because I had just married an
Italian man (in the US). I reported to our town hall to have my name registered as a
resident. When the temporary residence permit was about to expire, I went to the
questura (police station) to ask about getting a more permanent residence permit. I
then found out that I had been supposed to report to the police station immediately
upon arrival in Italy. They told me that all foreigners were required to do this.
Later I mentioned this to the people at the town hall and it was news to them.

The policeman at the questura solved the problem by lying on my request for a
residence permit, saying that I had just arrived in Italy.

Barbara

Goerz

"Ken Blake" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email protected]...
    > Thomas Adams <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > > "punkreas" <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >
    > >> I am Italian and live in Italy and I have never heard of such a procedure. I
    > >> think you have incorrect information. If you are a tourist you do not need a
    > >> residence permit.
    > >
    > > But what do the hotel owners do with our passports? I had to give it to them for
    > > 24 hours.
    >
    >
    > They just copy the information that's on it. What they do with that information,
    > I'm not sure.
    >
    > There's no reason why they needed your passport for 24 hours. They were just slow
    > getting to the copying.

Hotel owners in Italy must send their guests' data (name, address, etc) to the local
police station. This is not just for foreigners, but for Italian guests too (so it
has nothing to do with a residence permit). This practice was introduced in the '70s
as a measure against terrorism and it's still in effect today. Hotels are not
entitled to keep your passports or ID cards, they just need to copy the data; they
usually do this overnight, when they have plenty of time, that's why they ask you, as
a courtesy, to leave them your passport. You should always get your passport back in
the morning, if you don't, ask for it, sometimes they just forget. Regards, Goerz

Elly

    > The policeman at the questura solved the problem by lying on my request for a
    > residence permit, saying that I had just arrived in Italy.
    >
    > Barbara

LOL!!! That was very, well... Italian of him!

Luca Logi

Barbara Vaughan <[email protected]> wrote:

    > I then found out that I had been supposed to report to the police station
    > immediately upon arrival in Italy. They told me that all foreigners were required
    > to do this. Later I mentioned this to the people at the town hall and it was news
    > to them.

In theory, the law applies to everybody in a lot of situations. When you buy an home,
the seller is required to notify police that the house (and the possibility of living
in it) was sold to you (this is usually done by the notary registering the contract).
If you rent an home, the landlord again should notify the police about this.

Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail: [email protected]