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RESIDENCY PERMITS

Can you travel abroad while waiting for an Italian residency permit renewal?

If your Italian residency permit has expired and you face a long wait for a new one, you may have heard contradictory things about whether or not you can travel abroad. We look at what exactly the rules say.

Published: 5 December 2023 13:40 CET
Updated: 7 December 2023 14:49 CET
Can you travel abroad while waiting for an Italian residency permit renewal?
Italian residents travelling home for the holidays are often concerned that they could face difficulties at the Italian border on their return if their residency permit has expired. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

This is a question many people in Italy have at the moment as waiting times for appointments to renew residency permits are getting longer, with many applicants now reporting a wait of up to 10 or 11 months.

After this appointment, the new permit usually arrives within a couple of months, or just a couple of weeks in some cases – but this plus the long wait for appointments leaves many of Italy’s international residents without a valid permit for long stretches of time.

So, during that waiting period, are there any restrictions on travel abroad within the Schengen zone, or back to your (non-Schengen) home country?

As with so many other things in Italy, the answer you get seems to depend on who you ask.

Several of The Local’s readers have recently reported that immigration officials told them in no uncertain terms that they cannot travel until they get their new permesso di soggiorno.

READ ALSO: ‘I feel trapped’: How long waits for residency permits are affecting people in Italy

Mike from the US applied to renew his elective residency permit (permesso di soggiorno per residenza elettiva) earlier this year and faced another long wait, after initial delays with his first permesso.

“We were told we should not travel outside Italy without the permit, that the application and receipt would not be sufficient,” he said.

As we reported on The Local last week, this is not such an unusual situation for international residents to find themselves in.

We heard from several students from the US who told us they were unable to travel home for Christmas as they had not yet received their Italian residency permits and had been told not to travel without them.

However, many other readers got in touch in response to that article to say that it should be fine to travel without the permit if you have your ricevuta (the receipt you got from the Italian post office when you applied for your permit renewal) and that this has not been a problem for them.

“Just avoid Schengen countries as you’re not allowed to travel through them,” said one reader. “I’ve travelled back to the UK with just the receipt, no problem.”

So what exactly are the rules on leaving and re-entering Italy from a Schengen country or from a non-Schengen country without a valid permesso di soggiorno?

Unfortunately, they’re more complicated than they might initially seem.

First permesso or renewal?

One thing that causes confusion is the fact that the rules differ slightly for people who are waiting for their first residency permit than for those awaiting a renewal.

The rules also vary depending on the type of residency permit you have, at least when you’re waiting for the first one.

The Italian Polizia di stato (State Police) website says that you can leave and re-enter Italy while awaiting your first residence permit for the reasons of employment, self-employment, or family reunification if:

  • You show your passport or equivalent travel document, along with the entry visa specifying the reasons for your stay (employment, self-employment, or family reunification) and your ricevuta;
  • You do not transit through other countries in the Schengen zone;
  • You “leave and re-enter Italy through any Italian external border crossing point.”

The website does not specify what the rules are for those waiting for other types of permits, such as those issued based on elective residency or study visas.

Meanwhile, people waiting for renewal of their residency permit (no reasons are specified here), or for an EC residency permit for long-term residents, can leave and re-enter Italy if they have the following documents:

  • the ricevuta certifying the submission of the application for renewal; 
  • the expired residency permit;
  • their passport or other equivalent travel document.

In the case of renewals, there is no mention of not being allowed to transit through or travel within the Schengen zone.

So can I travel without my residency permit?

If you’re sure that you meet all of the stated requirements, and you have not been advised otherwise, you should in theory be able to exit and re-enter Italy without any problems.

But if you have a type of permit that’s not mentioned here, such as a permit issued for study, then the rules are less clear.

If you’re in any doubt, or have been warned that you can’t travel abroad by an immigration official, then you should seek further advice before attempting to travel. Your country’s consulate in Italy should be able to advise on how the rules may apply in your circumstances.

READ ALSO: How the rules on renewing Italian residency permits have changed

Further confusion arises from the fact that, in Italy, the written rules are often left a little vague and open to interpretation, and they don’t always seem to match the way things work in reality.

Italian border guards and other immigration officials have a lot of individual discretion when it comes to interpreting these rules, which means that they may not be applied consistently – and that each official may tell you something different.

If you’re sure you meet the requirements to travel, our advice is to bring as many documents with you as possible to prove your residency status, and be prepared to answer the border guards’ questions politely.

Please note that The Local is unable to advise on individual cases. For more information on how the Italian immigration rules may apply in your situation, consult your local Questura (provincial police headquarters) or your country’s consulate in Italy. See further details on the Italian State Police website.

Member comments

  2. As someone waiting 11 months for a renewal appointment, I’m troubled by the lack of clarity about traveling in Schengen countries . Are the other Schengen countries the source of a prohibition, or is Italy? Such a restriction on someone seeking an initial Permesso makes sense. The applicant has not yet been vetted by a Schengen country. But someone waiting for a renewal has been vetted. Does anyone have good information on the reason for this prohibition? Has anyone successfully traveled?

  3. Can anyone confirm that the internet portal of the Polizia di Stato can be relied upon as indicating when a permesso is ready to collect. My (first) application for a permesso was eventually approved five months ago, and the website just consistently reports “Il documento di soggiorno non è presente in archivio.” Not very reassuring!

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RESIDENCY PERMITS

‘Huge setback for non-EU workers’: Plan to make it easier to move around Europe fails

EU governments have failed to agree on a reform of EU long-term residence rules that would have made it easier for third-country nationals to move within the European Union.

Published: 8 March 2024 13:33 CET
Updated: 8 March 2024 21:34 CET
'Huge setback for non-EU workers': Plan to make it easier to move around Europe fails

Opposition to the planned changes from France and Belgium – which holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council this semester – proved decisive. In the end negotiations reached a deadlock and the planned reform – which would essentially have made it easier for non-EU nationals to live and work in other Schengen area countries – was dropped.

German MEP Damian Boeselager, the lead negotiator for the European Parliament,  was left angry by the failure and shared the news this week with colleagues in the home affairs committee.

“This is a huge setback for everyone who hoped Europe would finally understand the necessity to update its migration laws and become more attractive for international talent,” he said.

“The long-term residence directive… was adopted first in 2003 and has not been updated since. But the Council was not willing to accept any of the substantial improvements that the European Commission proposed… Instead, it seems that one national government, in particular, threw all its negotiation power and size to build a blocking minority,” he added.

“I am of course super sad for all the work that has been put into this… But I think the real tragedy lies outside this house and that is, in two different areas.

“First, for the millions of third-country nationals already living in Europe who would have been subject to the improvements, but also for all those who are considering to come to Europe and now might decide against it. And second, for the thousands of businesses and start-ups that hoped that there would be easier procedures and less waiting times and who have been deprived of the chance to make Europe more competitive.”

Little-known EU residence status

Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can acquire EU-wide long-term residence if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years. They also must not have been away for more than 6 consecutive months and 10 months over the entire period. (British citizens covered by the Withdrawal Agreement benefit from different rules on absences in comparison to permanent residence, but it is not clear what impact they would have on qualifying for EU long term residence. We are seeking clarification.)

In addition, they have to prove to have “stable and regular economic resources”, health insurance and can be required to meet “integration conditions”, such as passing a test on the national language or culture.

In theory the status, which was created to “facilitate the integration” of non-EU citizens who live in the EU on a long-term basis, grants some free movement rights. However, in practice, this is not the case as different rules on residency apply in each EU country and most applicants are simply unaware the EU status exists.

In an interview with The Local last year, Damian Boeselager, a member of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament, said that free movement for non-EU citizens was still an “illusion”.

“The truth is that Europe needs labour migration in all areas and all skill levels and therefore, if we want to be more attractive, we should make it easier (for non-EU citizens) to move from one member state to the next,” he argued.

In 2020, 23 million third country nationals – 5 percent of the EU’s population- were living in EU member states. Of these, more than ten million held a long-term or permanent residence permit.

INTERVIEW: Why it must be made easier for non-EU citizens to move around Europe

‘Time was against us’

The European Commission had proposed in 2022 to simplify EU long-term residence rules. Under proposed measures, non-EU citizens would have been able to cumulate residence periods in different EU countries to reach the 5-year requirement, instead of resetting the clock at each move. The plan would have meant all periods of legal residence would have been fully counted towards the 5 years, including those spent as students, beneficiaries of temporary protection or on temporary grounds – which is currently not the case.

Integration tests should not have been too burdensome or expensive, nor should they have been requested for long-term residents’ family reunifications. The Commission had also proposed to extend from 12 to 24 months the possibility to leave the EU without losing the status, with facilitated procedures to re-acquire it after longer absences.

READ ALSO: What is the EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non-EU nationals?

The Commission’s proposal had to be agreed by the European Parliament and Council, which is made of representatives of national governments.

The Parliament supported the Commission and sought to further relax rules, asking to cut the residency requirement to obtain EU long-term residence from five to three years.

But when it came to the EU Council it proved harder to reach an agreement.

The representatives of EU governments only agreed to cumulate residence periods of up to two years in other member states and only in certain circumstances, such as for EU Blue Cards or other permits for highly qualified employment.

EU governments also wanted to continue requiring “integration conditions” and to “assess the situation of their national labour markets.”

The Council and the Parliament had to reconcile their positions to agree the final text of the law. But after months of discussions, the Belgian Presidency said this week there was not “enough support” from EU member states to continue talks.

Belgium’s Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Nicole De Moor, said: “We have to realise that time is against us on this subject. We are nearing the end of the legislative term… we had a lot of discussions, but unfortunately at this point in time the water is too deep.”

A key factor of disagreement was the possibility to cumulate residence periods in different EU member states. France in particular was against it as this would have clashed with the idea of integrating long term into French society, an EU diplomat told The Local.

Other countries were concerned by the ability to exchange information to verify residence periods. Austria, on its part, was against the inclusion of family members in the scope of the directive.

Overall, The Local understands, with the European elections looming there was not appetite among EU governments to relax such measures.

What happens next

The file could now remain pending until another presidency puts it back on the Council agenda, but this is unlikely to happen soon, as the next Presidencies will be held by Hungary and Poland. The European Commission could also decide to withdraw the proposal with a view of presenting a new one, but that won’t happen until the next Commission takes office.

The article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

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