One last visit to the Questura

Back when Paolo had his appointment to retake his fingerprints (required to obtain his permesso), the agent scheduled a 21/04 (April 21) appointment for him to pick up his carta di soggiorno elettronica (his residence card, which states the type of permesso he has - "familiare" or permission to live in Italy as the family member of a citizen, plus other identifying information that is stored in a biometric chip.  So when I received an email the other day saying that his appointment has been scheduled for 24/05 (May 24), I didn't know what to think - after all, we'd already be back in the US by that point.

Our translator didn't seem concerned.  "Oh, the agent probably just forgot to put it in the system, so they didn't know you already have an appointment.  It happens.  Don't worry, just go to the appointment we already scheduled," she said.  So we did.

Only to find out, when we arrived at the gatehouse, that we were not on the appointment list for the day.  I thought for sure we were going to be sent away - but fortunately, the same officer who scheduled the appointment happened to be on duty again today, and remembered us, so the guard at the gate let us in after all.  The translator was right; the agent did forget to put the appointment in the system. 

So, after taking Paolo's fingerprints yet again - to verify his identity as the person to whom the card was issued - he finally received his residency permit.

Official Italian Resident

I blocked out the personal info - but this is what the front of the card looks like

It seems a bit ironic that it was issued the week before we are scheduled to return to the US.  But at least now no one can question whether he's "overstayed" his allotted 90 days in the Schengen area on this trip.  And we have plenty of time to decide our ultimate residency goals.  

Our lease is up here at the end of next week.  We will be leaving our comune a bit before that, though.  Our plan is to head to Rome (well, Fiumicino, actually) this Sunday and turn in our rental car.  We will stay there until we fly to the US on Wednesday - assuming, of course, that we both pass the required Covid tests, and that our flight isn't canceled and/or rescheduled - it seems that's a potential issue, from what I've been reading in the US news.  In case you're wondering:  we certainly will be wearing our FFP2 masks on the plane, overturned mandates be damned.  

Questura Questions

I had emailed the questura in Campobasso a few weeks ago to clarify whether Paolo could travel outside of Italy as he waits for his official permesso document that he applied for back in February.  I knew that he could go back to the US and return to Italy with just his receipt; but I was getting conflicting information regarding travel within the EU and/or Schengen Area - the issue being that he has been in the Schengen Area more than the 90 visa-free days allowed to US citizens who are not residents.  While there aren't border controls as such between the Schengen countries, there's always the possibility of having our ID checked; also, the airlines require the passport information when booking flights.  I was hoping - and had been lead to believe - that he could travel (by "travel," I mean "fly) as long as he was with me, and we had other documentation such as my ID, our marriage certificate, his permesso receipt, etc.  But because I don't believe everything I read online, I contacted the questura to get an official answer.

Last week while we were in Bologna, I received a reply to my inquiry - sort of:  

"Buongiorno, con riferimento alla pratica in oggetto l'interessato deve ripresentarsi presso questo Ufficio Immigrazione il giorno 16.03 dalle ore 08.30 alle ore 12.00 per essere nuovamente sottoposto a rilievi dattiloscopici in quanto la prima acquisizione delle impronte non e' andata a buon fine. Nell'occasione verranno fornite tutte le indicazioni per la circolazione nei Paesi dell'Unione Europea. Per il Dirigente l'Ufficio Immigrazione"

Google Translate is so much fun:

"Good morning, with reference to the practice in question the interested party must return to this Immigration Office on 16.03 from 08.30 to 12.00 in order to be subjected to tyloscopic surveys since the first acquisition of the footprints did not successfully. On the occasion will be provided all the indications for circulation in the countries of the European Union. For the Manager the Immigration Office"

Fortunately, we are just a little smarter than Google Translate (and also, we certainly don't remember Paolo's footprints being taken), so we understood this to mean that for whatever reason, his fingerprints needed to be re-taken and that he should come in on March 16th to do so.  Note that there was no answer to my actual question included, although they did at least imply they would answer the question about travel when he has the prints redone.

I wonder how long they would have waited to tell us he needed to come back, if I hadn't reached out to them in the first place about something completely different?  Because Italy.

So off we drove to Campobasso this morning.  While there is no snow here in our comune, there is a little snow up in the mountains, some of which we had to drive over in order to get to our destination (luckily there was no snow on the roadways).  I took a few quick photos from the passenger seat as we were heading into town:

Not really any snow here, just a view of part of Campobasso itself

We learned that the questura isn't usually open to the public on Wednesdays - that is, they don't schedule regular appointments for passports, residency permits, immigration, etc. - it's by invitation only.  The nice thing about that is, since there are a lot fewer people there, you don't have to stand outside waiting for so long.  You still have to get past the slightly grumpy guard at the gatehouse to enter the complex though.

The agent at the questura said that the issue with the fingerprints is that the two sets taken at the time of his appointment were then sent to Naples where they are somehow analyzed - and whatever computer program they have that does this flagged the sets of fingerprints as not matching!  Huh?!  Sigh.  Because Italy.  So once again, he had a set of prints taken at the window by the agent; then a second set taken in another office by a different agent in a lab coat - a rather cranky woman who complained that we (our interpreter and I) were talking too loudly; we were standing outside the building so she must have some kind of superhero-level hearing but whatever.

We finally got the definitive answer to the question about whether Paolo can travel to another EU and/or Schengen country while waiting for his permesso:  no.*  That is too bad, because it would have been nice to hop over to Germany for a few days while we are here.  On the other hand, since we were at the questura, we had an opportunity to confirm that the permesso will allegedly be ready before we head back to the US at the end of April.  We were able to make an appointment to pick it up on April 21.   It's too bad it won't be ready sooner - but it is what it is.  Because Italy.  Let's hope that Paolo's fingerprints match this time!!  👐

*I suppose, if we wanted to be sneaky about it, we could, theoretically, drive.  But there's always the chance we'd run into some issue where ID needs to be presented.  Also, we don't have the special sticker for the rental car that would be required if we were taking it to another country.  Plus, gas prices are crazy here - we pay about €2,25 ($2.47) per litre here (so over $9 per gallon if my math is correct).  And anyway, it would be much too long of a drive - my bladder can't hold out as long as Paolo's - he rarely wants to stop for pee-breaks.  Drives me nuts.

Passaporto e Permesso

 "Got three passports, couple of visas/You don't even know my real name..."

-Talking Heads, Life During Wartime

Well, I have two passports, not three - and it certainly wasn't no party, and it wasn't no disco, and it definitely wasn't no foolin' around...but I did it!  I finally have my passaporto italiano!  I'm so excited I think I will post another picture of it:

There are some slight differences between the US passport and the Italian one (other than the obvious ones of country and color).  For one thing, the Italian passport lists my town of residence (though not the street address). It also lists my height (in cm, which kind of makes me feel a bit taller) and my eye color.  By the way, according to the clerk at the questura here, there is no such eye color as "hazel," so for Italian purposes, my eyes are listed as grigi (grey).  The Italian passport includes two photos, not just one.  The biggest difference between the two passports is, of course, my name - because Italian women do not have the option to change their surname when they marry, it reflects my maiden name (as do all my other official Italian documents).  

There's an interesting website called Passport Index where you can compare passports of different countries.  As of this writing, Italy is ranked #2 in the world in terms of where you can go; the US is ranked 6th (taking Covid into account).

My passport was actually issued a few weeks ago, but was sent to my service provider's office rather than to my apartment address.  Since Paolo had an appointment to apply for his documentation today, I opted to have our translator bring it with her to give to me when we met for his appointment, rather than trust it to Poste italiane.

Now that I am a citizen, complete with ID and passaporto, I can live here (or anywhere in the EU), and/or come and go as I please.  I don't have to worry about the 90/180 day rules.  As the spouse of an Italian/EU citizen, Paolo has some limited rights as well - as long as he has the proper paperwork.  So today, we headed into Campobasso, the provincial capital, so he could present his documentation at the Immigration office in the questura, in order to receive a permesso di soggiorno per coniuge di cittadino italiano (residence permit for the spouse of an Italian citizen).

The questura opens for business at 9 AM; we were advised to get there by 8:30.  When we arrived at 8:20, there was already a line outside the gatehouse!  I was a little surprised, because I wasn't expecting it to be so busy - after all, Molise is not a very populous region (I think only Valle d'Aosta has fewer people).  But there must have been at least 10 people waiting in line when we arrived, and more showed up after we did.  I use the phrase "waiting in line" very loosely, as according to my personal observations, Italians don't really queue, they just mill about.   Our translator (today it was Saya again) joined us shortly after we arrived; she had all the relevant paperwork with her (we'd coordinated this last week).

At 9 AM the gatehouse opened and there was a rush to the front of the "line;" we did get through relatively quickly (after Saya and I presented our Green Passes for scanning, and Paolo's CDC vaccination card for review).  Paolo was given a little ticket (like you might get at the the deli counter); he was #76 (I couldn't puzzle out how the numbering system worked; there were not actually 75 people ahead of him, but whatever).  We walked around the gatehouse and down the side of the questura building, and entered a little outdoor courtyard to continue our wait.

We waited outside in the cold (low 40sF) until about 10:45, because there was only one person working the immigration counter.  Because Italy.  Once it was finally Paolo's turn, it went smoothly, if a bit slowly.  We handed in copies of the documents they require:  our estratto per riassunto del registro degli atti di matrimonio (extract of our marriage information recorded in my comune); a copy of every page of Paolo's US passport (yes - every single page, including the blank ones); a copy of my Italian ID card; a copy of my lease for the apartment here; some bank statements (to show he can support himself); a Dichiarazione di ospitalità or "hospitality letter," a form I had to sign that confirms that I'm letting him live with me; and a dichiarazione di soggiorno straniero - a foreigner's declaration of stay.  He also had to supply two Italian passport-sized photos, as well as a bollettino postale (it is the form that confirms the fee has been paid - kind of like a receipt that you fill in yourself - in this case, €30,46), and a marca da bollo (€16 tax stamp).  It seems as if everything needs a tax stamp in Italy.

The officer slowly shuffled through the documents and entered information into his computer; then after scanning two fingerprints (one from each hand), he handed us the very flimsy and not-at-all-official-looking-but-they-swear-it-is receipt for the permesso.  The actual permesso document will allegedly be ready...sometime in the next four months.  Because Italy.  There is a number on the receipt that you can enter into the questura's website to check to see whether it is ready to be picked up.  They do not mail them, as they must verify one's identity via fingerprints before releasing the document.  However, the receipt serves as a temporary permesso document; in fact, we were told that lots of people never bother to go back and pick up their actual permesso.  

We thought being handed the receipt indicated we'd reached the end of the appointment - but we thought wrong.  We had to go back outside (brrr!) and wait until called by another officer - this one wearing a lab coat - who scanned fingerprints from all of Paolo's fingers, as well as his palms.  I'm not sure what the lab coat was in aid of, as I can't image you get very dirty just scanning fingerprints all day.

We returned home about 13:00, lunchtime here.  Now that Paolo has proof that his permesso is being processed, we don't have to worry about anyone questioning his right to be here, and/or why he's been here longer than 90 days.  Not that we were too worried about it - except that time we were lollipopped.  Now maybe we will think about doing a little cautious traveling, especially now that Covid numbers are looking a bit better here (*knocks on wood*). 

In other news:  we heard that there is another American couple here in our comune!  They are living around the corner from us.  They only arrived a day or two ago, so we haven't met them yet, but I am sure we will soon.  They are also here for citizenship recognition.  They hail from the Philly region, too.  Small world!

12/31/2021: Happy New Year's Eve

We returned from Lecce last Monday via train; we wore our FFP2 masks as required and also had our temperatures checked at the station prior to boarding.  And there was no mold on the apartment walls when we returned, yay!

During the last month, Italy has tightened up their Covid protocols several times to include, among things,  1) wearing masks outdoors; 2) requiring the use of FFP2 masks on all public transportation and in most venues (theaters, stadiums, and so on); and requiring the "Super" Green Pass for indoor dining, museums, sporting events, going to the gym, and for just about anything else taking place indoors.

Pretty much everyone wears either an FFP2 or a surgical-type mask (the change to requiring the FFP2's in many circumstances is really recent).  Personally, I like the FFP2 masks better anyway - I feel like they fit my face better, and the ones I purchase have a metal piece with foam cushioning that you can bend to fit across your nose, meaning eyeglasses don't fog up.  They're a little pricey - about €1 a pop - and I buy them in boxes of 10.  I recently read an article stating that the government is mandating that the price drop to €0,50 per mask.  You see very few people without masks anywhere (yes, of course there are Covid-deniers, anti-vaxxers, and anti-maskers here in Italy, as there are everywhere...but there doesn't seem to be as many of them, they don't seem as vocal or at least they don't get as much press as in the US, and we really haven't knowingly encountered any here - that is, we haven't seen any protesters or people blatantly disregarding the rules).

Green Pass (confirms you're either fully vaccinated, or have proof of recovery from Covid, or have tested negative for Covid within the last 48 hours) vs Super Green Pass (confirms you're either fully vaccinated or have proof of having recovered from Covid) hasn't been an issue for us.  Neither one of us has one, of course, as we are not on the national health scheme, and we haven't yet figured out whether we - or at least I - can use our CDC vaccination cards to have a Super Green Pass generated (there's a lot of conflicting info floating around the internet about this).  Note that these "passes" are QR codes, not paper passes like those issued in the US.  But we have not had any trouble with showing our CDC cards + US passports when asked for a Green Pass - Italy says that these are acceptable for Americans to present.  We've had to show our CDC proof of vaccinations cards any time we've dined indoors, gone to a museum, checked into a hotel, and taken the train.  

As far as we're concerned, this is all to the good!  Nothing is 100% of course, but we do feel reasonably safe with all these measures in place.  Here in our comune, it's not such an issue as we're not exactly in the midst of a bustling metropolis; there are no big crowds to worry about when we do go out.  We mostly cook at home, occasionally getting take-out pizza from the place down the street, but when we were in Rome and in Lecce, we did eat outdoors as often as possible.

I wrote all of the above not for the purpose of agitating anyone who might disagree with certain Covid measures, or to make some kind of political statement, or whatever; but simply to describe what the rules are currently like here.

Moving on...

As I said, we returned home on Monday; on Tuesday 12/28, I had to go to the town hall to sign off on my birth and marriage information, as the entry of same into the town's official records is now complete.  Note that birth, marriage, and death records are maintained at the comune level (unlike, say, in PA where birth and death records are filed at the state level, while marriage records are filed with the county offices).  As well as having computerized records, the information is also entered into actual, physical books:  the Registro degli Atti di Nascita (Register of Births) and the Registro degli Atti di Matrimonio (Register of Marriages).  There is also a Registro degli Atti di Morte, but "I'm not dead yet...I don't want to go in the cart...I feel fine!"*

Registro degli Atti di Nascita

Registro degli Atti di Matrimonio

Unfortunately, I was told that they won't give you a copy of your entries in the books unless you have some kind of pressing need (often court-related).  The modern-day entries into these seemingly old-fashioned books are typed.  I happen to have copies of some of my ancestor's entries from their respective comuni that were hand written.  As an example, here is my great grandfather's birth record entry (top of left-hand page):

I did, however, get a copy of my estratto per riassunto del registro degli atti di nascita, as well as a copy of our estratto per riassunto del registro degli atti di matrimonio - basically, extracts of the information in the birth and marriage record books, respectively.

The marriage record is particularly important, as now Paolo finally has an appointment to obtain his permesso to allow him to remain in Italy as my non-EU citizen spouse.  Nicoletta has been trying to get this appointment for some time, knowing that since he is not an EU/Schengen area citizen, he has to abide by the 90/180 day travel rules:  he can only stay within the Schengen Area for 90 out of every 180 days.  I think his 90th day is January 24th.  Because Italian bureaucracy is what it is, the first available appointment for him is February 8th.  Yes, that is outside the 90 days, but with a receipt from the questura showing he has an "appointment," plus our marriage record, he has the right to remain beyond the 90 days for now (because he has proof of a pending appointment and he can prove he is married to an Italian citizen, should any official question it in the meantime).

I have "appointment" in quotes above because there is no set time - basically, we have to show up on the day and wait until we're called in.  Because Italy, I guess. 

I should mention that we do have tickets for a flight to the US for 1/19.  I booked these back when I booked our incoming flight to Italy, and made sure they were flexible and could be changed without penalty, not knowing how long the citizenship process would take, what Covid would look like, and so on.  The airline has already changed our flight on us - I'm not sure why (I'm guessing Covid-related), but I've been notified that the flight out of Rome is now departing much earlier in the day (something ridiculous like 6 AM) and we also now are scheduled to have a 4+ hour layover at Heathrow.  No thank you!  As of now, chances are quite high that we will be changing these tickets and not returning to the US in January, and will keep Paolo's appointment at the questura.  There are some other things we need to consider regarding just how long we will actually remain in Italy, so stay tuned for updates on that.

My own appointment at the questura to apply for my Italian passport is scheduled for January 11.  

Speaking of official documents and the like:  yesterday afternoon, our landlord knocked on the door to deliver a piece of mail that somehow was delivered to...some address other than ours...and subsequently somehow made its way to him, to give to me (gotta love small town life!).  In the envelope was my official codice fiscale card - I didn't know it would be so official and plastic (unlike a paper US social security card).  The front of it looks like this (with my tax number blacked out):

The EE for "Provincia" (province) just indicates that I'm foreign-born.  Every province has an accepted two-letter abbreviation; for example, the province in which we live, Campobasso, is abbreviated as CB.

We have no plans for New Year's Eve tonight.  Back in the US we don't usually do anything for NYE other than watch Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen get tipsy and ring in the new year on CNN.  We do have a bottle of Prosecco, so there's that, anyway.  I think most of the usual big, crowded celebrations are canceled here in Italy anyway, as large crowds and so forth are not really allowed at present.  

Buon anno a tutti!  🥂🍾 🥳

*for those who missed the reference, click here.