Does it affect your Italian residency to leave Italy for a period of time? I am back in the US visiting for the first time since my move to Italy fifteen months ago, and when a home-town friend asked me, "does it affect your Italian residency to come back to the US?" I realized that the answer to this question should be in a post on this part of my site about how to move
Read MoreVisa & Permesso
Post #5 getting the Carta d’Identità
I am now the proud owner of an Italian Carta d'Identità. In Post #3 I talked about going to the Anagrafe office (Vital Statistics Bureau) to apply for residency after getting my permesso. The woman in that office had told me that the Questura (Police Station) doesn't know to tell foreigners that they must go to the Anagrafe after obtaining their permesso. She basically
Read MorePost #4 getting into the health care system
Italian Residency and the health care system Where are you on the path of your dream of living in Italy? Have you got your Italian residency yet? If you read my first post about getting the certificate of residency, you know that you have to wait 45 days after presenting yourself at the Vital Statistics Office, (Ufficio Anagrafe) and the residency certificate may or may
Read MorePost #3 What to do after receiving the Permesso
The Road to Italian Citizenship is Long It is long even when you have Italian grandparents, and when you don't have that, or EU citizenship, the road is ten-years long. I'm five months into my ten-year process and here's how it's stacking up: I received my coveted permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) in June about a month after I applied. Unfortunately, on June 9, a
Read MoreThe Integration Agreement: What your questura may not be telling you
Follow my blog with Bloglovin This is Post 1 of the Integration Agreement (that your questura may not be informing you about) My landlady hates it that I am considered an "immigrant" the same as the Africans and Bangladeshis and other huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Every time I'm in her car with her, she points them out. "Look," She says, gesturing toward the young
Read MorePost #2 What happens at the Permesso appointment
What will happen at your Permesso di Soggiorno Appointment? My process and what you can learn from it: Most expats get nervous about their permesso di soggiorno appointment at the questura (police office). But, because my paper work had been done by INAC, I was confident. What could go wrong? But then on an expat forum I was told to "have a thick skin" and "they will
Read MorePost #1 Preparing for the Permesso
How to get a "Permit to Stay" in Italy For non EU citizens: You need a visa first. You apply for that at the Italian Consulate in your jurisdiction in your home country. See the website for the consulate in your jurisdiction for more info. Upon arrival in Italy apply for a permit to stay. (permesso di soggiorno) Within 20 days of receiving the permit, go to the Anagrafe
Read MoreThe Cost of Moving to Italy
Moving Abroad (again) A year and nine months ago I moved from Qatar back to the United States. I came back exhausted. I was exhausted from the dust storms, the lack of fresh air and the tension of going to battle on Qatar's roads, and the rigidity of a culture I wasn't use to. I could have used years of being back home. It's so easy in Santa Cruz. Living at my
Read More