Arrival paperwork

Permesso di Soggiorno: How to Apply in Italy (2026)

By Giacomo AmendolaFacts checked October 24, 2026

Who needs it

Non-EU citizens staying in Italy more than 3 months

Deadline

8 working days after you enter Italy

Where to apply

Post office kit for most visas; Sportello Unico with a work or family nulla osta; the questura for the rest

Cost, first permit up to 1 year

€116.46 through the post office (October 2026)

At the questura

Fingerprints, 4 passport photos, your visa documents

Time to issue

90 days by law; 60 days on average, per the Polizia di Stato

Check your status

questure.poliziadistato.it, after your fingerprint appointment

Who needs a permesso di soggiorno

You need one if you are not an EU citizen and plan to stay in Italy for more than 3 months. EU citizens register with the comune (town hall) instead, as Italian citizens do.

The permit lasts as long as your visa allows. It is a smart card carrying your photo, fingerprints and codice fiscale (tax code).

The steps and fees below apply everywhere. What differs by questura (provincial police headquarters) is the wait for the fingerprint appointment and for the card, and how crowded the office gets.

The deadline: 8 working days

Italy's immigration law (Legislative Decree 286/1998, art. 5) gives you 8 working days from entry to apply. The Washington embassy warns that missing the deadline might compromise your ability to reside legally.

Poste Italiane and the Los Angeles consulate write "8 days" without "working". Counting calendar days keeps you safe under either reading.

Which channel your permit type uses

Poste's list was last updated May 30, 2024. It includes special-case work permits under article 27, but the Interior Ministry decree of February 29, 2024 says digital nomads and remote workers apply directly at the questura. US consulates such as New York note that many questure also accept post office filings, so check your questura's website. Only you can file at the post office: lawyers and legal guardians must go to the questura.

What goes in the kit envelope

The kit has a yellow stripe and is available at every post office, one per person with ID. Fill it in following the instructions inside, or ask an authorized comune or patronato (welfare assistance office) to do it free.

Hand the envelope in open, show your passport, and include:

1. The completed application forms.
2. A4 copies of the passport pages with your personal data and your entry and exit visas.
3. The receipt for the bollettino (payment slip) covering the card and contribution.
4. A4 copies of the documents your permit type requires.

You can book a counter slot on poste.it or the Poste Italiane app.

What it costs

Fees per Poste Italiane and the Polizia di Stato (state police), as of October 2026:

A first permit of up to 1 year costs €116.46 in total; one of 1 to 2 years, €126.46. Under-18s pay no contribution.

At the post office: your receipt and appointment

The clerk gives you two documents. The ricevuta (receipt) proves you applied and carries your login for PortaleImmigrazione.it. The lettera di convocazione (convocation letter) gives the date, time and place of your questura appointment. If no date can be set yet, a raccomandata (registered letter) follows to your Italian address.

Keep the ricevuta with your passport. It lets you move around Italy, and for first permits for employment, self-employment or family reunification it gives the same rights as the permit. The ricevuta guide covers its limits.

At the questura: fingerprints, photos and documents

The law requires every permesso applicant to be photographed and fingerprinted. A Foreign Ministry decree of May 8, 2025 exempts some visa applicants from fingerprints: US and other G7 students, military staff at bases, and diplomats. That exemption covers the visa application, not this step.

Bring:

• your passport, ricevuta and convocation letter
• 4 identical, recent passport-size photos, which the Polizia di Stato lists as required
• your visa documents: the Los Angeles consulate says the questura wants the same ones you gave the consulate

Permits of 1 year or more also require an accordo di integrazione (integration agreement) with the state. Your codice fiscale is assigned through this application, so you need no separate trip to the Agenzia delle Entrate. See questura appointments.

Office conditions vary. Il Post reported in May 2026 that Rome's immigration office, in Tor Sapienza, is hard to reach by public transport. People came to apply for, collect or renew permits from 4 a.m., so plan the trip and arrive early.

How long it takes and how to check

By law, the questura issues the permit within 90 days of your application. For the permesso unico (single work permit), the limit is 30 days from a complete application. The Polizia di Stato's page, last updated January 2024, gives 60 days on average. While you wait, the law lets you stay legally even past 90 days, as long as you hold the ricevuta.

Two sites track your file:

1. PortaleImmigrazione.it, with the login on your ricevuta, until Poste Italiane finishes its part. Poste's free line, 800.200.309, covers the same stage.
2. The Polizia di Stato portal (questure.poliziadistato.it/stranieri), after your fingerprint appointment. Enter the 10-character file number or the 12-character numero assicurata (insured-mail number).

When the card is ready, an SMS gives the day, time and place to collect it.

Renewing your permit

The law asks you to apply at least 90 days before your permit expires; a 2019 Polizia di Stato page still says 60. Renewals for types on Poste's list go through the kit, with the same fees, and you give fingerprints again. The renewal receipt carries the same rights as the permit. See renewing a permesso di soggiorno.

Common problems and fixes

The card takes far longer than 90 days. Applicants in Rome, Bergamo and Padua report waits of 4 months to more than a year after fingerprinting. Several say their emails went unanswered. Keep the ricevuta with your passport and write to your questura's immigration office quoting your file number. Rome's questura lists a certified email (PEC) address for that office.

The status page shows nothing, or "not present in the archive". Applicants report this after fingerprinting and during long waits. Check the right site for your stage, as above. If the Polizia page stays blank, ask the immigration office in writing.

The appointment is months away, or no date was given. Applicants report questura dates set many months, even a year, after filing. Your ricevuta covers you meanwhile. Put your name on the mailbox at your declared address so the raccomandata reaches you.

Do you need help with this?

Most people can file the kit on their own, and authorized comuni and patronati fill it in free. It gets harder when your permit type is not on Poste's list, or when your questura's waits collide with work, study or travel dates.