A total of 21 organisations have called on Italian police authorities to reduce waiting times for residence permits, as currently, there are no appointments left before September 2025.
With the letter being directed to Florence Police Headquarters, the organisations have raised concerns about the non-efficient online booking methods, as well as residence permit renewal times stretching too long, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
According to Gli Stranieri, the letter also highlights that residence permit renewal times surpass those permitted by the Consolidated Law on Immigration, and unclear communications are further contributing to the long period of document issuance.
Foreigners to Wait Up to 2 Years for Appointments
Some of the issues pointed out in the letter included the long waiting period between appointments scheduled, which can be up to two years. Time spent processing requests for residence permits or even renewing them beyond the deadline has also hindered the process.
It is enough to highlight that, at the moment, the first appointments are set for September 2025.
The organisations also note that the online booking tools for appointments are not convenient, and it is difficult to access the service. Those who manage to access it can notice that appointments are scheduled weeks and months later.
The letter goes on to highlight the lack of unclear communication by the authorities.
To aggravate the already difficult situation – continue the signatory organisations – is added the difficulty of communication due to the assumption by the Immigration Office of a plurality of PEC addresses, the communications of which remain mostly unanswered, generating confusion between users and operators.
Delays in issuing residence permits for children or changing residence permits for another type can be a hassle for foreigners in Italy, as the group of organisations noted. Many of the organisations that signed the letter, which included organisations advocating for foreigners’ rights, requested a constructive discussion with the police authorities for years to improve the options offered to foreigners.
According to Eurostat, the EU Office for Statistics, Italy issued 337,788 permits in 2022, with the majority of those being issued for family reunification (39 per cent, 131,275). Around 7.5 per cent of permits issued in Italy were issued for education purposes and 19.8 per cent for employment purposes. In general, 9.7 per cent of all permits issued in the EU were granted in Italy.
As per nationalities, the main beneficiaries of residence permits in Italy were Albanians (10.3 per cent), Chinese (7.2 per cent), Russians (5.1 per cent), Pakistani (4.5 per cent), and Georgia (4.2 per cent).
