Q&A: How do I renew my pre-Brexit Italian residency card?

We applied back in October for a March renewal. The questura did not respond to numerous PEC emails, the phone number was continuously engaged (there was only one hour available per day for calls) and no response to social media enquiries. We ended up having to visit the questura office just to make an appointment and what a scrum we faced! (and it was 40 minutes away by train). Now got an appointment in mid July – terrible.

Although the Embassy advice says you have to arrange an appointment at your local Questura to begin the renewal process this is not strictly true. The renewal documentation is issued by the Post Office. Once filled in and the necessary supporting documentation and payment is in place you pay a visit to the Questura on the appropriate day, here in Biella that is Tuesday morning. The officer told me how long it would take and they emailed me when it arrived. It took 8 weeks but that included the Christmas/New Year holiday period. I had no problems at all.

I applied for a renewal 60 days before my permit expired. At the appointment they only wanted 2 photographs not 4 and no maraca da bollo. The agent who was dealing with it didn’t know that the new permit should be for 10 years. I was told that it would take 4 to 5 months to process (seems a ridiculous amount of time to me) and so far 3 months have gone by and no news.