Because even if the poster goes to the trouble of providing a translation of her birth certificate, it will still get forgotten in the drawer. This is Italy.

There is a huge amount of paper shuffling going on in the offices. Often an official will request something just to get rid of you for a week or two while you track the information down.

When I first signed on with the local doctor I was asked to provide my UK NHS number (Card). I produced my original Manila paper card that was given to me 35 years ago. She wouldn't accept it because it wasn't plastic and didn't have the Euro flag stamped on the top corner!!

I phoned my dad and asked him to fill out the form fro the EHIC holiday card and then waited for the card to be sent from the UK.

3 Weeks later I returned to the stupid woman's office. She filled out the forms and again asked for my NHS number, I verbally gave her it. She never asked for the plastic card. I never even took it out of my wallet.

No, no, no - this is not the way we do it Italy! Connie, you get down there, tell them it is not necessary to produce a certified translation of your English birth certificate because you have made enquiries and if that doesn't work, ask to speak to the "Responsabile".

My Italian CI (issued at Milan) ran out so I went to the Comune here for a renewal. Oh no, he says, we don't do CI for foreigners! And I had to explain to him that I could have one but they had to write "non valido per l'estero" on the back. He then went to his "Responsabile" and guess who was right?

You stick to your guns, girl!

Hands up all those drivers that have been stopped and told they are not allowed to drive in Italy on a UK driving licence by the intelligent carabinieri...

And who has had to explain to the carabinieri that the UK on the UK driving licence does not stand for Ukraine and no we do not have GB on the licence because UK stands for United Kingdom.

My OH who is Italian told me that the carabinieri have red stripes down the sides of their trousers so that they know when they get dressed that they have not put them on inside out.

I hadn't heard that one about the UK for Ukraine. But I know I must always wait ages when the bureaucrats have to fill in any for me because they can never find the UK or Great Britain or England or British Isles in the list of European countries. I help them out now and say: it's Regno Unito e Irlanda del Nord!

The first time I was stopped they looked very unhappy with my licence, they asked for my passport (before I had my ID card) then they asked why I had a english passport and a Ukrainian driving licence.

My wife went into teacher mode and pointing at the European flag on my driving licence asked the poor carabinieri when he thought the Ukraine had joined the EU. She then explained to him the difference between UK, GB etc. Asked him how long he had been in the police and then asked for my docs back.

I carry a piece of paper from their website that states that I am allowed to drive on my licence. It saves them 30 mins looking through their 4 inch book on driving rules.

Thank you so much for your help-our comune is Castiglione Messer Raimondo.
I'm led to believe that most comunes have their own rules and we Brits etc just have to comply with their requests!

Thanks-sick of paperwork! Here and UK!! Will investigate this.

The website for your comune is under construction so God knows when that will be finished and have the right info on it.

So ... I looked up Teramo Comune where it clearly says that autocertificazioni can be used for place and date of birth.

http://www.comune.teramo.it/servizi_..._info.asp?ac=1


Then I wondered if this was true just for Italian citizens so I looked it up and found this :

Le modalità previste di autocertificazione si applicano anche ai cittadini stranieri?

a) Per i cittadini della comunità europea si applicano le stesse modalità previste per i cittadini italiani (art. 5, Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica n. 403/98)

Actually - now I think of it, I've done some autocertificazioni for stuff like Telecom or Enel.

Good on yer, Lorna. Now Connie, don't be intimidated by those Italian officials and tell them we will all be up (or down, or round depending on our geographic position) because we have all had a good nose on google map to see where you live and they can get ready for the British invasion of .... what's that place called .. oh yes, Castiglione Messer Raimondo (henceforth CRM) bit of a tongue twister though , no wonder they haven't got their website going yet, must get writer's cramp. Thing is, Connie are you prepared for our arrival because we are going to be very tired, thirsty, hungry and cold by the time we make it to yours!

Imagine the consternation when producing the old paper licence in Cymraeg/English!! No photograph, no date of birth. I was asked how come I had an Italian CID and British passport if my licence was Dutch and driving a GB reg. vehicle. Poor lad couldn't get his head round it. Totally confused with idea of UK/GB, and other languages being used. Especially since he had stopped me for using my mobile whilst driving. It was my old RH drive Landrover; and it was my passenger that was using his mobile! He was quite miffed and just curtly sent us on our way.
ciao for now.
'o nonno

Right on the ball Lorna.
I have now found a way around any obstructive official, in any office, in any capacity. Scares 'em stiff : "allora, ora chiamo i carabinieri e faccio una denuncia per omissioni in atti di ufficio"
(ok, now I'm going to call the carabinieri and accuse you of dereliction of duty)
ciao for now,
'o nonno

wow, "dereliction of duty" - I like that. Mind you I had to google it, I thought you were knocking some building down! Learn English on here, too.

Things have changed though. While it is still equivalent, you must update your address and as this isn't possible with a UK one, you are required to swap it for an Italian one first.

This seems to contradict the advice given here before (hence a few threads on renewing of licences on trips back to the UK, one thread where someone claimed to have had correspondence from DVLC confirming that an out-of-date UK address was fine, etc).

Can you please tell us when and where (IT or UK) the legislation (or interpretation of it?) changed, ideally with a link to an on-line source.

Not on my pc Serrano, so I only get a few mins at a time, but we've talked about this before. If I remember rightly, someone from Como was stopped by CC. Though to date, I don't think anyone has been fined. And my gut feeling is, that if anyone did get fined and decided to go to court, they'd win. The problem is that for Italy, you have to notify your change of address and they send you a sticky to put on. Hence, if you do want to change your address, you have to swap it for an Italian one (it's just a straight swap) as there isn't a place for a sticky on a UK licence. An I've no doubt DVLC says that an out-of-date adress is fine. It's nothing to do with them. Am I clear???