Obtaining an Italian permesso di soggiorno is a necessary hurdle for non-EU nationals planning to stay in Italy for more than 90 days, and is also one of the very first things you’ll have to deal with in the country as the request should be filed within eight working days of your arrival.
The permesso essentially connects your visa and passport information to your biometric data and place of residence, giving you legal grounds for remaining in the country.
There are several categories of permit depending on the reasons for your stay. For most permits, you’ll need to start the process by going to a post office with a Sportello Amico desk and requesting a ‘yellow stripe form kit’, or kit a banda gialla. You’ll then need to complete the forms within the kit, attach the required documents, and file the application at the same desk.
Some types of applications however (for instance, for permits for reasons of sport or medical care) cannot get filed at the post office, and must be filed at the local police headquarters, or Questura, instead.
But, whether you’ve filed your application at a post office or at the police headquarters, how can you check the status of your request?
Polizia di Stato website
There are two options available to foreign nationals wishing to check the status of their permit application, with the State Police (Polizia di Stato) website generally being the more popular one.
If you’ve filed your permit application at a post office, you’ll need to enter your personal file number (numero di assicurata) in the homepage box. This is a 12-digit alphanumeric code you’ll find on the application receipt (ricevuta) released by the post office (it’s usually located on the top-left corner, right above ‘password’).
If you’ve filed your application at the Questura, you’ll need to enter the registered mail code (numero di pratica). This is a 10-digit alphanumeric code figuring in the application receipt issued by the Questura (again, this is usually located in the top-left corner).
After entering the relevant code, you’ll access your personal profile page, which will display the current status of your permit.
There are four possible messages you may get on your screen: ‘invalid number of characters’; ‘not present in the archive’, ‘under discussion’; or ‘ready for delivery’.
Invalid number of characters
The numero di caratteri non validi message means that the code entered is incomplete or invalid.
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Make sure that the code has 10 digits if you’re entering the numero di pratica, or 12 if entering the numero di assicurata.
If the issue persists, it’s advisable to get in touch with the local Questura.
Not present in the archive
Non presente in archivio could mean different things:
- Your application hasn’t been registered in the portal yet (this may be the case for very recent applications, which haven’t been digitalised by officials)
- The application has been rejected
- The permit has already been delivered
If you get this message, it’s strongly advisable to contact the relevant Questura and ask for clarification.
Under discussion
Documento di soggiorno in trattazione means that your permit is being processed and it’s not ready yet.
Ready for delivery
Pronto per la consegna means that your permit is ready to be collected. This message will also generally show where you’re meant to pick it up (see below).
Immigration Portal
If you’ve filed your permit application at a post office, besides the Polizia di Stato website, you can also check your application’s status via Italy’s Immigration Portal (Portale Immigrazione).
You’ll need to click on Area Riservata Stranieri (personal area for foreign nationals) in the bottom-right corner and log in by typing in your user ID (top-right corner on the postal application receipt) under nome utente and your 12-digit numero di assicurata (top-left corner on your receipt) as password.
The status messages are the same as those on the Polizia di Stato page.
Where to collect the permit
If the permit is ready for collection, the Polizia di Stato or Immigrazione website will generally indicate the address of the office where you’re meant to pick it up.
In some cases, a text message including details on where to collect the permit is also sent to the applicant’s mobile.
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If the online portal shows that your permit is ready, but doesn’t specify where to collect it, it’s advisable to get in touch with the relevant Questura.
You can find the contact details for all Questure in Italy here.
How long does it take before I can collect the permit?
People applying for (or renewing) a permesso di soggiorno have long faced lengthy wait times, with some applicants describing the process as “the most frustrating experience ever”.
International residents in Italy have previously told The Local they faced wait times of up to ten months just to get an appointment at the local Questura (this is when officials review applicants’ documents and process their fingerprints).
Following the appointment, authorities have between 60 and 180 days to finalise the application and issue the permit.
According to Italian lawyers, applicants can contact their local Questura to ask for an earlier appointment but authorities are under no legal obligation to grant the request. All requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
READ ALSO: Is it worth paying for legal help to get your Italian residency permit?
Things are slightly different if you’ve already had your appointment.
Following 180 days (six months) from the date of the appointment, applicants can ask a lawyer to send an official email (PEC) to the relevant Questura, asking them to speed up the process (this is known as sollecito). If the issue persists, they can take up legal action.
Share your own advice, experience or questions on the subject of getting an Italian residency permit in the comments section below.
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In the Umbrian region under the jurisdiction of Perugia, we have not been receiving our Permesso di Soggiorno renewal cards until after the period it covers has already expired. The local Questura thinks this is no big deal and assures us that the receipts are honored (in Italy) until 60 days AFTER the expiration of the (yet unreceived) card!
Moreover, the status on the Polizia di Stato during the entire time that my husband was waiting for his card (after having been duly processed and fingerprinted at the Questura a year ago), was shown as “Non presente in archivio”. Repeated calls to the Questura confirmed that the application was indeed in process, yet the status on the website never changed from “Non present in archive”.
When my husband finally picked up the card, two weeks after it had expired, the only thing it was good for was to get the number on it to write into the application of his subsequent renewal application, which he could not do until he got his (expired) card. Meanwhile, left again with just the latest receipt and no card, he is legally not allowed to travel to or through any other Schengen Area country. Ex-pats are literally prisoners in Italy, and can only fly to and from non-Schengen countries.
Nancy – thank you for your comments. I seem to be in the same situation as your husband – I have been waiting now 14 months since application approved, fingerprinted etc. Polizia di Stato still shows ‘non presente’. PLEASE – (how) were you able to get any confirmation that it was ready to collect? I cannot get an answer at all when phoning my questura.
Sam – We hired a local attorney to keep on calling the Questura. In the end, they never even contacted us when the card arrived. Our attorney just found out accidentally on one of his periodic calls to the Questura.
When we went down there to collect, we inquired for other ex-pat friends of our who were anxiously waiting for their renewal cards. They checked, and told us theirs had not arrived yet, and expressed surprise at their concern, pointing out that they still had a month to go before the expiration!
Many thanks Nancy. It would be good if others here could report on their experiences – and especially the reliability of the Polizia di Stato website: does that horrible red cross and ‘Documento non presente in archivio’ ever change to the promised green tick and statement that your permesso is ready for collection?
Unfortunately, The Local’s article just repeats the official version of applying for a permesso, and contains errors. If you applied through the Post office with their ‘kit’, which seems to be how most people are allowed to apply, then it’s the codice assicurata (12 digits) that you need to check on your permesso status, not the ‘numero di pratica’; if you applied directly at the questura then it’s the numero pratica (10 digits).
Hi. Thanks for the message. You are correct. The pratica and assicurata were the other way around under the ‘Polizia di Stato website’ section. Apologies for the error. That’s now been rectified.
Best,
Giampietro
As it often happens with official websites, I egot the response there is no such number in the system. I checked the receipt. The number IS correct. It’s a bit concerning as my appointment was set for 18 months after my application. Unfortunately, I find official websites are often difficult to use and provide some information – just not quite enough – to do what you need to do. Postale’s SPID website ID process is one such indecipherable conundrum. So you just have to smile…
The Polizia di Stato website definitely is not a reliable source. After more than a year of ‘non presente’ on the website, I did what Nancy did (comments below) and asked a local lawyer to check for me. She came back very quickly with “the permesso is ready to collect and has been for many months”. Although the standard advice (as in the article) is to contact the questura in the case of ‘non presente’ I found that impossible – no-one answered the phone or emails.