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Beat the queues: 19 bits of Italian bureaucracy you can do online

While Italy isn't ready to swear off paperwork just yet, there are a growing number of official matters that you can get done online.

Beat the queues: 19 bits of Italian bureaucracy you can do online
Doing admin online is getting easier in Italy - slowly. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Dealing with the patchwork of national, regional and municipal offices that make up Italy’s public administration is without a doubt one of the downsides of daily life here.

And for foreign residents, the extra immigration procedures, language barriers and unfamiliarity can make the whole thing that much harder to navigate – especially if you don’t live in Italy full-time.

The good news is that Italy is trying – slowly – to move more of its administration online, a task more urgent than ever amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

While we can’t save you from the admin itself, we’ve looked for ways you can save yourself a trip in person by doing basic Italian bureaucracy over the internet. 

Make appointments for essential visits

Ok, so there are still many things you can only do in person in Italy – like registering your residency for the first time, requesting an ID card or applying for an Italian passport.

But that doesn’t mean you have to turn up when the office opens and settle in for a long wait. Check online booking system TuPassi to seek if you can make an appointment for the service you need. 

To apply for an ID card, book an appointment at your comune via the Interior Ministry’s website. Or if you’re an Italian citizen and you need a passport, you can book an appointment here to drop off your application and give your fingerprints at the local police station.

Get a digital ID (SPID)

Italy’s ‘Public Digital Identity System’ or Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale (SPID for short) is the digital equivalent of a passport: a personal, verified ID that you can use to identify yourself when doing anything official online.

You’ll need it to login to many official websites as well as the government’s public services app IO, so it should be one of the first things you tackle if you plan to do admin remotely. Alternatively you may be able to use your electronic ID card (CIE) plus your smartphone to login: find out how here.

Getting your SPID involves applying via one of the companies accredited by the government to provide it, and while the process varies by provider, some allow you to do the entire verification process from home. Click here for a full guide.

READ ALSO: What’s the IO app and what can you use it for?

Photo: IO.italia.it

Get a certified email address (PEC)

You’re probably familiar by now with Italian officials’ fondness for requesting that important correspondence be sent by registered post. But you can save yourself trips to the post office by using the digital equivalent: ‘Electronic Certified Mail’, or Posta Elettronica Certificata (PEC).

It’s basically an email account that you have to show official ID to set up. Messages you send from it are certified with a date and time stamp to show when you sent it and when it was received, and they have the same legal value as a physical lettera raccomandata (registered letter).  

You can get your own PEC address – for a monthly or yearly fee – from one of the official providers listed here.

Get a digital signature

While some bureacrats will no doubt insist on handwritten signatures until the end of time, Italian law recognizes electronic signatures on several important legal documents, including employment contracts, commercial agreements, certain public deeds, and others. 

Several companies are accredited to provide legally valid digital signing services in Italy, which add a two-step verification process when you sign a document electronically. Find a list here

Calculate your codice fiscale

Your codice fiscale or tax code is a personal identification code you can be asked for in Italy for all sorts of things, from opening a bank account to paying bills or even shopping online.

READ ALSO: Codice fiscale: How to get your Italian tax code

If you don’t already have one you’ll need to go to your local tax office, if you’re in Italy, or your nearest Italian consulate if you’re overseas. But in the meantime, since the code is generated according to your name, gender and date and place of birth, it’s possible to work out what it will be. Use an online tool like this one to figure out yours.

Note that you’ll still need to ask the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) to assign you a code, even if it ends up being identical to the one you calculated. A codice fiscale calculated online is not official and may be incorrect.


You can’t always avoid a trip to the Italian tax office, but you can at least make an appointment. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Change your residency within Italy

If you move to Italy from overseas, the first time you register your residency will involve visiting the anagrafe (registry office) in person. 

READ ALSO: Italian residency: Who needs it and how do you get it?

But it gets easier from there. If you’re moving within Italy, many comuni now allow you to notify them of your new address by email (in fact, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, this is the only way some registry offices are accepting residency requests).

Check your local comune‘s website for a dichiarazione di residenza (‘declaration of residency’) form and send a completed copy, along with scans of the necessary proof of address and ID, to the email address indicated. In some cases you may be required to send the application by PEC.

Request official certificates

Italy is gradually digitalising its vast database of official records and, depending on how advanced your local registry office is, you may well be able to request certificates of residency, marriage and birth or other important documents online.

Visit your comune‘s website to find out if they offer you this option. If so, you’ll probably need to login securely using either a SPID or CIE, then request the certificate, pay the marca da bollo (stamp fee) if you want a version that includes an official stamp of certification, and download the document as a PDF.

Apply for Italian citizenship

Once you’ve gathered all the documents you need to apply for Italian citizenship, you can apply online via this official portal, attaching scans of the relevant documents along with the application form and a receipt for the application fee, paid by bank transfer to the Interior Ministry.

READ ALSO: 

If your submission is accepted, you’ll be summoned to your nearest police headquarters (if you’re in Italy) or consulate (if you’re abroad) to show the original documents and sign the application in person.

Log back in to the same website to check the status of your application.

Apply for a nulla osta for a work or family reunification visa

Employers who want to hire a non-EU national, or non-EU residents in Italy who want to bring over their dependents, can request an entry authorisation called a nulla osta from the Interior Ministry using this website. The nulla osta then allows the applicant to request a visa from their nearest Italian consulate. 

You can use the same website to apply to convert a student visa into a work visa, or to book the language test you need to pass to apply for a permanent residence permit. 

Check on the status of your residency permit application

If you’ve applied for a permesso di soggiorno, you can check how your request is advancing by entering the file number or registered mail code on the State Police’s website

Access your healthcare records

If you’re registered with Italy’s national health service, the SSN, you can consult your own records online via what the government calls a fascicolo sanitario elettronico or ‘electronic health record’. You’ll find the details of care you received at both public and private facilities, if they’re connected with the regional health system.

The service is available in every region of Italy: find a link to electronic records in your region here. Most require a SPID or CIE to log in.

READ ALSO: Who can register for national healthcare in Italy?

Since Italy’s regions each control their own health systems, it varies considerably which other healthcare services you can access online. Eventually the goal is to allow every patient in Italy to book doctors’ appointments online and/or via app, switch GPs and pay medical bills over the internet, get prescriptions in electronic form and consult doctors remotely.

Several regions offer at least some of these services already: try searching “Servizio Sanitario Regionale” + the name of your region to find out what is available where you are. If you’re looking specifically for an online booking service, search “Centro unico di prenotazione” or “CUP” along with your the name of your region.


Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Replace a lost health card

You can’t apply for your tessera sanitaria online, nor can you renew it online once it expires – more’s the pity.

READ ALSO: Tessera sanitaria: How do you apply for or renew your Italian health card?

But if you’ve mislaid or damaged your card while it’s still in date, you can order a replacement via the Revenue Agency’s website. You’ll need to log in using a SPID or CIE, or your existing credentials if you have them.

Register for social security, check your records and apply for benefits

All contributors to Italy’s welfare system can check their social security records by logging in to the National Social Security Institute (INPS) website using a SPID or CIE.

If you’re not registered with INPS via an employer but are eligible to pay social security contributions on income in Italy, you can register yourself online here.

You can also apply for a number of benefits online, including:

Find a full list of INPS services available online here

Declare and pay your taxes

Register on the Revenue Agency’s website and you should be able to calculate, declare, pay, check and claim back your taxes online. You can use a SPID or CIE to log in.

Find a full list of online services available here. If what you need isn’t available, you can book an appointment to speak to your nearest tax office in person.

If you’re an employee in Italy and file a pre-filled income tax return (Form 730), you can also access a dedicated portal here

Cancel your TV licence fee

The TV licence fee is automatically added to electricity bills in Italy, so if you don’t own a TV or are exempt (because you’re over 75 and have very little income, for instance), you’ll need to opt out. 

READ ALSO: How to pay or cancel your Italian TV licence fee

That involves filling out a form and submitting it to the tax office – which you can do online, if you’re registered on the Revenue Agency’s website. You can also use the service to request a refund if you’ve been wrongly charged the licence fee. 

Calculate and pay your vehicle tax

Car owners can find out how much regional or provincial vehicle tax (bollo auto) they owe using this online tool from Italian drivers’ association ACI. 

Most drivers can pay it online too, though the service isn’t yet available in every region: register on ACI’s website to get started.

ACI also offers a number of other online options to check records, order certificates and calculate costs that are useful if you’re buying or selling a car, or driving for work: find a full list here.

Sign up for cashback from the government

As a way to boost consumer spending and encourage electronic payments, the last government launched a cashback scheme that allows shoppers to earn 10 percent of their spending back if they pay by card.

READ ALSO:

You can register for the scheme using either one of Italy’s payment apps or the government app IO – though purchases will only count if they’re made in person, not online. Find our full guide here.

Check property registry records

If you’re buying, selling or paying tax on property in Italy, you might find yourself in need of cadastral records – a register of property ownership and value.

These are available online via the Revenue Agency’s website, where you can request information on  ownership, boundaries, building plans, classification, mortgage status and more. You can also order certificates and apply to correct any errors in your property’s cadastral records. Learn more here.

Access company records and send electronic invoices

Registered business owners can store digital copies of all their company records on the Italian Chambers of Commerce’s Impresa.Italia website. The Chambers also have a separate website you can use to send, receive and store electronic invoices. Both services are free, accessible using a SPID, and can be linked up.

If you’re looking for another company’s records, meanwhile, you can search the Chambers of Commerce online database (access basic information for free, or pay to register for complete records). 


Save yourself a wait at the Post Office by doing more admin online. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

For any services managed by regional or municipal authorities, like health care and schooling, more options are available in some parts of Italy than others: it depends what your regione or comune has transferred online.

Check your local authority’s website to find out what you can access where you are. 

Is there an important online service we’ve missed? Let us know and we’ll update this list. 

Member comments

  1. As non residents with a holiday home in Italy (which we pay IMU and TARI on) – is it even possible to get a SPID or CIE? We have codice fiscali. Everything I read suggests you have to be resident or an Italian non-resident. Grateful for any advice as online servicing for taxes etc would be super useful!

  2. Hi Nicola – I don’t have an answer to your question, but if you do find some good advice on this topic I would be very grateful if you could share back here! My husband and I have the same question that you do 🙂

  3. Good Morning. We have had a house in Umbria for 32 years and are UK residents. We have been trying for months to get an appointment at the Consulate in London to apply for a long stay visa. Has anyone got any tips? We can’t find a way of filing documents to at least get the ball rolling. There are no slots available to book in for an interview. If we crack it I will let the community know! Thank you.

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Five signs you’ve settled into life in Switzerland

Getting adjusted to Swiss ways is not always easy for foreign nationals, but with a lot of perseverance it can be done. This is how you know you’ve assimilated.

Five signs you've settled into life in Switzerland
No lint: Following laundry room rules is a sign of integration in Switzerland. Photo by Sara Chai from Pexels

Much has been said about Switzerland’s quirkiness, but when you think about it, this country’s idiosyncrasies are not more or less weird than any other nation’s — except for the fact that they are expressed in at least three languages which, admittedly, can complicate matters a bit.

However, once you master the intricacies and nuances of Swiss life, you will feel like you belong here.

This is when you know you’ve “made it”.

You speak one of the national languages, even if badly

It irritates the Swiss to no end when a foreigner, and particularly an English-speaking foreigner, doesn’t make an effort to learn the language of a region in which he or she lives, insisting instead that everyone communicates to them in their language.

So speaking the local language will go a long way to being accepted and making you feel settled in your new home.

You get a Swiss watch and live by it

Punctuality is a virtue here, while tardiness is a definite no-no.

If you want to ingratiate yourself to the Swiss, be on time. Being even a minute late  may cause you to miss your bus, but also fail in the cultural integration.

‘The pleasure of punctuality’: Why are the Swiss so obsessed with being on time?

Using an excuse like “my train was late” may be valid in other countries, but not in Switzerland.

The only exception to this rule is if a herd of cows or goats blocks your path, causing you to be late.

A close-up of a Rolex watch in Switzerland.

Owning a Rolex is a sure sign you’re rich enough to live in Switzerland. Photo by Adam Bignell on Unsplash

You sort and recycle your trash

The Swiss are meticulous when it comes to waste disposal and, not surprisingly, they have strict regulations on how to throw away trash in an environmentally correct manner.

Throwing away all your waste in a trash bag without separating it first — for instance, mixing PET bottles with tin cans or paper — is an offence in Switzerland which can result in heavy fines, the amount of which is determined by each individual commune.

In fact, the more assiduous residents separate every possible waste item — not just paper, cardboard, batteries and bottles (sorted by colour), but also coffee capsules, yogurt containers, scrap iron and steel, organic waste, carpets, and electronics.

In fact, with their well-organised communal dumpsters or recycling bins in neighbourhoods, the Swiss have taken the mundane act of throwing out one’s garbage to a whole new level of efficiency.

So one of the best ways to fit in is to be as trash-oriented as the Swiss.

READ MORE: Eight ways you might be annoying your neighbours (and not realising it) in Switzerland

You trim your hedges with a ruler

How your garden looks says a lot about you.

If it’s unkempt and overgrown with weeds, you are clearly a foreigner (though likely not German or Austrian).

But if your grass is cut neatly and your hedges trimmed with military-like precision (except on Sundays), and some of your bushes and shrubs are shaped like poodles,  you will definitely fit in.

You follow the laundry room rules

If you live in an apartment building, chances are there is a communal laundry room in the basement that is shared by all the residents.

As everything else in Switzerland, these facilities are regulated by a …laundry list of “dos” and “don’ts” that you’d well to commit to memory and adhere to meticulously.

These rules relate to everything from adhering to the assigned time slot to removing lint from the dryer.

Following each rule to the letter, and not trying to wash your laundry in someone else’s time slot, is a sign of successful integration.

Voilà, the five signs you are “at home” in Switzerland.

READ MORE: French-speaking Switzerland: Seven life hacks that will make you feel like a local

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