Oh, Cheryl, such similar paths we have! Or maybe all of us brave souls who ventured to other lands undergo these trials and tribulations. I have three huge notebooks of paperwork from the U S, Italy and Spain. Thought I had everything for my Spanish income taxes until the darn government said they wanted an official document of my house taxes in Colorado from 1978 (the year I was married and considered a co-owner of my property with my husband). The Colorado treasury and assessor office considered my request for documentation to be ancient history and directed me to the historical documents on microfiche in the basement of the Denver Public Library. Kind of hard to travel there since I live in Spain. Pulling my hair out! For now, I will follow your suggestion to enjoy a cold ice tea, play with my dog and breathe in the clean ocean breeze.
Oh dear, that sounds like a real nightmare! Hope you can job the task out to someone in Colorado. It's true that you never know what some agency or entity will ask for, and whatever it is, it'll be the one thing you don't have, right? Wishing you luck and more iced tea and doggie time!
Solidarity over your permesso problem. I have been there! We were lucky enough to get to the end of our jure sanguinis journey fifteen years ago, but I remember so well how it felt to be stuck in the surreal no-man's-land of Italian bureaucracy. Now my husband and I are gearing up to move back to Italy after ten years in the Netherlands. We miss the people and the food and the weather, but we know we'll be trading in the punctuality and efficiency to which one does become accustomed. I keep reminding myself that there are always trade-offs. I hope you manage to get the long-stay permit against all odds!
Thank you, Sarah. I think those experiences scar us for life, no? I hope your move back here goes well and the culture shock isn't too bad. At least you know what to expect. In bocca al lupo!
Oh wow. Your permesso problem is sobering, to say the least. As for files, I am having the same problem. Things I’m SURE I files, are no longer where they should be- electronically or on paper. Only helpful thought (maybe) could they be attached to an email?
I wish I could say I'm glad I'm not alone, but I don't wish this on anyone! No, email doesn't factor in; these were papers stamped at the bank. But my commercialista is on it; he's getting copies for me from the Agenzia delle Entrate—or we hope so! He'll try on Monday.
I feel your pain (aka aggravation, anger and exhaustion). While we don't have the same tangle of citizenship and permessi to deal with, it's been an similar ordeal to get the Permanent Permesso.
We first applied two years ago at the five year marker. Passed the A-2 exam (relatively easy, by the way), took the civics class required by our questura, collected and organized all the documents. Seemed simple enough.
Oh no.
At that time the form gave you the choice off two boxes to check:
□ Permesso di soggiorno
□ Carta di soggiorno
Since we knew that the full legal title of the permanent permesso is Permesso di Soggiorno UE per Soggiornanti di Periodo Lungo (what a mouthful!), we checked box #1.
Wrong.
They issued a regular permesso with a two year renewal period.
(Picture head exploding)
It seems the OLD name for the Permanent Permesso was box #2.
Grrrr.
A year ago we resubmitted, checking box 2.
(Current forms offer more choices to check)
The EARLIEST appointment they had was November of 2024. Still 5 months away.
In the meantime the current permesso expired back in May.
This has complicated our SSN renewals, application for a bank loan, auto documentation... Che Casino!
So, we are waiting out the clock.
In the meantime my wife finally got her neopatente after studying the sample tests for three months.
At least you can get a two-year permesso; here it's impossible. I have friends who've checked that box and paid the fee for years, and never, ever, do they get a two-year PdS. No civics class is required here, but I did take one when I lived in Lucca, so if the questura wants that, I've got it. (I think; better look!) The earliest test date is September, which is why I said it'll take months. I'm going to do the B1 in case I end up naturalizing. Good luck with your permesso!
Oh, Cheryl, such similar paths we have! Or maybe all of us brave souls who ventured to other lands undergo these trials and tribulations. I have three huge notebooks of paperwork from the U S, Italy and Spain. Thought I had everything for my Spanish income taxes until the darn government said they wanted an official document of my house taxes in Colorado from 1978 (the year I was married and considered a co-owner of my property with my husband). The Colorado treasury and assessor office considered my request for documentation to be ancient history and directed me to the historical documents on microfiche in the basement of the Denver Public Library. Kind of hard to travel there since I live in Spain. Pulling my hair out! For now, I will follow your suggestion to enjoy a cold ice tea, play with my dog and breathe in the clean ocean breeze.
Oh dear, that sounds like a real nightmare! Hope you can job the task out to someone in Colorado. It's true that you never know what some agency or entity will ask for, and whatever it is, it'll be the one thing you don't have, right? Wishing you luck and more iced tea and doggie time!
Solidarity over your permesso problem. I have been there! We were lucky enough to get to the end of our jure sanguinis journey fifteen years ago, but I remember so well how it felt to be stuck in the surreal no-man's-land of Italian bureaucracy. Now my husband and I are gearing up to move back to Italy after ten years in the Netherlands. We miss the people and the food and the weather, but we know we'll be trading in the punctuality and efficiency to which one does become accustomed. I keep reminding myself that there are always trade-offs. I hope you manage to get the long-stay permit against all odds!
Thank you, Sarah. I think those experiences scar us for life, no? I hope your move back here goes well and the culture shock isn't too bad. At least you know what to expect. In bocca al lupo!
I have one binder with all my important papers in them. My wife has 20. Guess which one of us can't find things when they're needed?
Hmmmm . . . .
Oh wow. Your permesso problem is sobering, to say the least. As for files, I am having the same problem. Things I’m SURE I files, are no longer where they should be- electronically or on paper. Only helpful thought (maybe) could they be attached to an email?
I wish I could say I'm glad I'm not alone, but I don't wish this on anyone! No, email doesn't factor in; these were papers stamped at the bank. But my commercialista is on it; he's getting copies for me from the Agenzia delle Entrate—or we hope so! He'll try on Monday.
🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
Sorry about the permesso mess (after all, there's no perMESSo without “mess”...), I hope things get sorted soon!
On the watercolours front, I gave my nephew a palette of A.Gallo honey-based watercolours for Christmas, he studies at liceo artistico and loves them!
Why didn't I think of that! It's perfect, and from now on I will try to write it that way: perMESSo. Glad to hear your nephew likes the Gallo paints!
I feel your pain (aka aggravation, anger and exhaustion). While we don't have the same tangle of citizenship and permessi to deal with, it's been an similar ordeal to get the Permanent Permesso.
We first applied two years ago at the five year marker. Passed the A-2 exam (relatively easy, by the way), took the civics class required by our questura, collected and organized all the documents. Seemed simple enough.
Oh no.
At that time the form gave you the choice off two boxes to check:
□ Permesso di soggiorno
□ Carta di soggiorno
Since we knew that the full legal title of the permanent permesso is Permesso di Soggiorno UE per Soggiornanti di Periodo Lungo (what a mouthful!), we checked box #1.
Wrong.
They issued a regular permesso with a two year renewal period.
(Picture head exploding)
It seems the OLD name for the Permanent Permesso was box #2.
Grrrr.
A year ago we resubmitted, checking box 2.
(Current forms offer more choices to check)
The EARLIEST appointment they had was November of 2024. Still 5 months away.
In the meantime the current permesso expired back in May.
This has complicated our SSN renewals, application for a bank loan, auto documentation... Che Casino!
So, we are waiting out the clock.
In the meantime my wife finally got her neopatente after studying the sample tests for three months.
Don''t even get me started on that subject!
At least you can get a two-year permesso; here it's impossible. I have friends who've checked that box and paid the fee for years, and never, ever, do they get a two-year PdS. No civics class is required here, but I did take one when I lived in Lucca, so if the questura wants that, I've got it. (I think; better look!) The earliest test date is September, which is why I said it'll take months. I'm going to do the B1 in case I end up naturalizing. Good luck with your permesso!