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UPDATE: Brits in Italy to get EU biometric residence card from January

Italian authorities have announced a new electronic ID document proving British nationals have residency rights in Italy. Here are the details.

Published: 22 December 2020 11:04 CET
Updated: 29 December 2020 09:08 CET
UPDATE: Brits in Italy to get EU biometric residence card from January
Italy has announced a new way for Brits to prove their residency rights. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Italy's Interior Ministry has announced that a new electronic 'tessera' or ID card will be available from January 2021 proving the rights of British citizens resident in Italy.

The card will be available to British citizens who have registered or applied for Italian residency by December 31st 2020.

READ ALSO: Italy confirms post-Brexit visa rules for British nationals

This is the long-awaited EU card that identifies the holder as having rights protected under the Withdrawal agreement.

“From January 1st, British citizens resident in Italy as of December 31st 2020 will be able to request, at the Questura (police headquarters) of their area of residence, a document in digital format based on the provisions of art. 18, paragraph 4, of the Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union,” read a statement from the Italian Interior Ministry.

“In line with the indications set at European Union level, the new digital document will guarantee easy recognition of the rights provided for by the Withdrawal Agreement in favour of British citizens who have registered their residence in Italy before 31 December 2020.”

The card will be valid for five years for those with less than five years residence at its date of issue, or ten years if you have permanent residence.

The new tessera costs €30.46 plus a €16 stamp (marca da bollo, available from newsagents).

To apply, UK citizens will need:

  • an identity card (carta d’identità) or passport
  • your certificate proving you are registered in the anagrafe of your comune of residence (attestazione di iscrizione anagrafica, or attestazione di soggiorno permanente if you have that)
  • if you recently applied to be registered as resident but do not yet have the certificate or attestazione from your comune, you will need to show a copy of your application to your local comune for registration (iscrizione anagrafica) as that will evidence you applied on or before December 31st 2020. 
  • 4 passport-sized photographs
The Interior Ministry has published further details of the new card and how to apply for it in both Italian and English.
 
Your local Questura's website should have “a dedicated electronic channel to book an appointment in order to submit the application”, according to the Interior Ministry.
 
During the appointment your “biometric data will be enrolled”, it states.
 
“At present it is not compulsory,” to have the card, citizens' rights group British in Italy said.
 
“There is no deadline for getting it and no fine for not having it.”
 
“However, it will be the best evidence that you are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. It is in an EU-wide format so, even though it will be in Italian, border guards in other countries will have no difficulty in recognising it.”

“Also given how highly devolved much of the public administration in Italy is, it may be that in due course some officials will not accept that you are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement without it.”
 
“However we have been told informally by Italian government reps that there is no rush to get it immediately,” British in Italy noted. “It is going to be issued by the Questura and for them it will be a new process.”
 
 
“Given the problems many Comuni had issuing the Withdrawal Agreement attestazione, we think it is a good idea to wait until the Questura staff have had some training and some experience of issuing it.”

The EU-wide card was announced after the Italian 'WA attestazione' document, which British residents in Italy have been advised to obtain in order to prove their residency status.

So should you apply for the card if you already have the 'WA attestazione'?

“In our view it is a good idea to get both the WA attestazione (from your comune) and the biometric tessera (from the Questura when it becomes available),” British in Italy said.

“The Italian Government has said that the WA attestazione was only a temporary document issued until the rules for the EU-wide tessera came out,” however, they note, “the WA attestazione is still valid and is still evidence that you are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement.”

READ ALSO:  

The European Commission announced early this year that it would create the EU-wide biometric residence document for all British nationals living in the bloc by the end of the post-Brexit transition period.

Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, it is up to each EU country to decide whether to require UK nationals to apply and obtain a document proving their residence rights under the Brexit deal.

The EU-wide residence document is expected to have the same format in all member states, and will look much like residence permits for other third-country nationals.

Identity cards are commonly used in most European countries alongside passports, and are often needed when accessing public services.

UK citizens who are not registered as residents in the Italy by 31st December 2020 will not have their rights ensured by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
 
In order to move to Italy and register as residents after that date, they would instead have to apply for a residence permit as citizens of third countries.
 
Italy last week also announced details of a new long-stay visa for British citizens.
 
For further information, please see the British Embassy’s Living in Italy guide.
 
If you need assistance with applying for Italian residency you can contact the IOM,  the UN's migration agency, which is currently helping British nationals in Italy prepare for Brexit.
 
See The Local's Brexit section for more updates.

Member comments

  1. I have recently tried to purchase a car from a dealer, they have informed me that they require the new electronic residency. The Questura are overrun with immigrants seeking residency and have little or no time for genuine residents upgrading to the electronic version.

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BREXIT

Will Brits in Italy face travel problems under new EES passport system?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but will this create more headaches for non-EU nationals who need to prove their Italian residency rights?

Published: 30 April 2024 16:36 CEST
Updated: 4 May 2024 08:15 CEST
Will Brits in Italy face travel problems under new EES passport system?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is possible) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is an enhanced passport check at external EU borders.

You can find a full explanation of the new system and what it means for travellers HERE.

Those crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities, including facial scan and fingerprinting.

Several groups are exempt from EES, and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

A European Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

READ ALSO: What will EES passport system mean for foreigners living in Europe?

But there have understandably been questions about how this exemption will work in practice.

Most airports, ports or terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will now have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It appears that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths.

What does this mean for travel between Italy and the UK?

It seems that nothing will therefore change for those who already have to show their Italian residency documents along with their passport when travelling to and from the UK (or another non-EU country) in order to avoid having their passport incorrectly stamped.

UK citizens who were legally resident in Italy before the end of the Brexit transition period are in a somewhat unusual position, as Italy is one of a handful of “declaratory” countries in the EU where getting a post-Brexit residency card (Italy’s is known as the ‘carta di soggiorno‘) was optional, rather than compulsory.

The British government has long recommended that British nationals who were resident in Italy before Brexit should obtain the card as it’s the easiest way to prove residency rights and avoid delays at the border.

In practice, many of Italy’s British residents have since found that the post-Brexit residency card is also necessary in order to complete various bureaucratic procedures within Italy.

READ ALSO: EES: Could the launch of Europe’s new border system be delayed again?

But will the EES system mean that the card now becomes a de facto requirement when travelling between Italy and the UK?

The British government has not issued any updated guidance on the matter in light of the introduction of EES, and the British Embassy in Rome did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Local.

Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a ‘carta di soggiorno’ than it is now.

As always, our advice is that getting the card, if you haven’t already, will probably save you a considerable amount of time and trouble, both within Italy and when travelling.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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