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ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

Italy rolls out new ‘priority line’ for urgent passport requests

Italy launched a new online priority system for urgent passport requests after lengthy wait times cancelled thousands of international trips over the past two years.

Published: 8 April 2024 11:54 CEST
Passport, airport
An immigration officer checks a passenger's passport at an airport. Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP

The new booking system, officially called the Agenda Prioritaria (or ‘Priority Agenda’), was launched on the Italian State Police portal on Friday.

The priority line was to allow citizens in urgent need of a new passport to get their application (or renewal) appointment in under 15 days and a new document within a maximum of 30 days, according to media reports.

Priority booking will be available to applicants who can prove that they need a new passport for reasons related to health (for instance, planned medical procedures or visits), study (scholarships, research projects, admission procedures, etc.), work trips, or tourism. 

The launch of the new system came after applicants reported wait times of up to ten months for passport application appointments at their local police headquarters (Questura) last year, with delays largely attributed to post-Covid backlogs and higher numbers of citizenship requests.

READ ALSO: Italy grants citizenship to more people than any other EU country, study finds

It also followed recent reports that lengthy wait times for passport application or renewal requests caused the cancellation of nearly 170,000 international trips between 2022 and 2023, resulting in losses of up to 300 million euros for the national tourism industry.

The new priority line can be accessed by logging onto the State Police passport portal (available to people who have SPID or electronic ID card credentials) and selecting Appuntamenti Prioritari (‘Priority Bookings’).

READ ALSO: Will my children get an Italian passport if born in Italy?

Applicants will be asked to justify the urgency of their request by completing a self-certification (autocertificazione) form online. All documents will then have to be produced at the scheduled appointment at the local Questura.

Anyone found to have used the priority line without meeting the necessary requirements could face criminal charges, according to reports.

READ ALSO: Italian passport ranked world’s second ‘most powerful’

Italy issued a total of 2.75 million passports in 2023, up by around a million compared to any pre-Covid year on record, according to data provided by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi last January.

The trend seems to be continuing this year as Italy released over 412,000 passports in the first two months of 2024 alone.

Member comments

  1. Any chance there will be a provision for speeding up the proceed for getting a Permesso di Soggiorno? My Permesso will arrive after it has expired.

  2. Great! Now maybe the govt could turn its attention to the PdS renewal process. Sent in my application Sept *2022*, had my Questura appointment beginning of March *2023* , still waiting for my renewed card. The card I currently have expired 15 months ago. And I was hauled into a room in AMS and questioned when I tried to leave a month ago. Meanwhile … still paying my taxes.
    Thanks Italy immigration! 👏

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For members

ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

What are the pros and cons of having Italian dual citizenship?

For most international residents looking to stay in Italy for the long term, having dual citizenship is a bonus. But are there any drawbacks? Here's what the experts say.

Published: 24 May 2024 11:27 CEST
What are the pros and cons of having Italian dual citizenship?

Obtaining Italian citizenship and becoming a dual national is an attractive idea for many.

Not only does dual citizenship grant access to rights in Italy that residents don’t have, it also allows you to keep your rights in your home country (as long as your country allows dual citizenship.)

There are three main routes to obtaining Italian citizenship: naturalisation, ancestry, or marriage. The ancestry route, known as jure sanguinis or ‘right of blood’, is by far the most popular way to obtain Italian, or dual, citizenship.

READ ALSO: An expert guide to getting Italian citizenship via ancestry

The Local spoke to Elze Obrikyte, Senior Associate at Giambrone Law, and Jason LoPresti from Italian Dual Citizenship about the advantages and disadvantages to be aware of.

The benefits:

Freedom of movement

If you have Italian citizenship, this eases travel to not only Italy but to and within the Schengen zone for third-country nationals. You also benefit from freedom of movement rules allowing citizens to live and work in any of the 27 European Union member states. 

“Being an Italian citizen allows you to enjoy all the rights of European nationals without any particular restrictions,” says Obrikyte. 

“Italian immigration is rather strict, even if the new digital nomad visa will allow for more flexibility, but on the whole it is not easy for a third country national to transfer to Italy.”

“Getting dual citizenship eliminates this.”

Voting rights

Often living solely as a resident in Italy does not grant you access to vote in local and national elections. Obrikyte says this is ‘extremely important’ for dual nationals as they should have a say in what happens in their country. 

READ ALSO: Italy grants citizenship to more people than any other EU country

LoPresti adds that dual citizens do not have to be residing in Italy to vote in national elections. They can live elsewhere and vote via mail (circoscrizione estero).

Tax benefits

While foreigners who are not resident in Italy can buy property, dual citizens who are not resident in the country can purchase a house with lower taxation rates. They have the same rights in this case as people residing in Italy.

“It is a definite bonus when buying,” says Obrikyte. 

READ ALSO: Five surprising things to know about applying for Italian citizenship via ancestry

Such reductions include less in VAT (IVA) and registration tax for a first home purchase.

Italian citizens or foreign citizens resident in the country pay a two-percent registration tax and four percent VAT, which is lower than the rate paid by non-residents. Italian citizens do not have to be living in Italy to be eligible for this rate.

Many people – US nationals in particular – are worried about double taxation if they obtain dual citizenship, but tax experts are clear that obtaining Italian citizenship in itself should not affect tax obligations in Italy and that tax treaties usually apply.

Employment opportunities

Having the right to live and work in Italy (or another EU member state) visa-free is a major advantage, the experts point out.

“Imagine you work for an international company in your home country and your ideal position opens up in Italy,” LoPresti says. “Of course the employer may favour someone who already has Italian citizenship as they won’t have to apply for a work visa.”

And should you want to apply for a job in the public sector in Italy, these are only open to Italian citizens.

“I think not only would this be advantageous in terms of work for the new Italian passport holder,” says Obrikyte, “but it would also be advantageous to them in a sense of belonging as they’d be part of working directly for the state.”

Italy, passport

Having Italian passport brings numerous advantages for third-country nationals. Photo by Cristian Sorto / Getty Images

Advantages for children

“One big thing which must not be forgotten is how having Italian citizenship may benefit future generations,” says LoPresti.

“Passing this along to your offspring and their offspring would be extremely beneficial.”

READ ALSO: Will my children get an Italian passport if born in Italy?

Unlike citizenship of some countries, such as the UK, Italian citizenship can be passed onto an unlimited number of generations – regardless of which country the future generations are born in.

The drawbacks

Renewing passports

“Renewing one passport is tricky enough,” says LoPresti. “Imagine having to renew two. Now that is a fair bit of work.”

Renewing an Italian passport is not known to be particularly quick or easy: Italy in 2024 introduced a priority line after waiting times for renewals rose to as much as ten months.

Time and effort

While applying for Italian citizenship by descent is the most popular option, it’s not always straightforward and waiting times are increasingly long.

“If you are deciding to go down the route of jus sanguinis, be prepared for the amount of documentation you will have to provide,” warns LoPresti. 

READ ALSO: Who is entitled to Italian citizenship by descent and how to apply for it

He adds it usually takes the longest to clear and carries the most requirements compared to other routes to Italian citizenship, particularly as documentation has to be from two countries rather than one.

High costs

Applications for Italian citizenship are not cheap, particularly if you need the help of a legal professional, which is very often the case.

“To do it properly with a lawyer may cost thousands,” says Obrikyte. 

For LoPresti, the amount depends on several factors: “The type of case an individual has, the package they are choosing, and the number of applicants (family members) they are adding to their application all amounts to the overall cost.

READ ALSO: Revealed: How much it really costs to get Italian citizenship via ancestry.

“The average cost to complete the services professionally is about $6,000-$13,000,” he adds.

“However, many people apply as a group with other family members in the bloodline so they can split and share the total costs, which can drastically reduce their cost per person.”

Either way, the experts agree that there are very few disadvantages to getting Italian dual citizenship. Despite the cost and time involved in applying, being an Italian citizen comes with numerous advantages, particularly if you want to live in Italy long-term.

Find more information in The Local’s Italian citizenship section.

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