RENEWING OUR PERMITS OF STAY - THE FINAL CHAPTER

I've written about the lengthy, complicated and more costly expense of renewing our permits of stay now that Italy is slowly entering the digital age. (You can read about the process, step by step HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE). Today was the big pay-off! Yes, it's true, we have our renewals, which now look like credit cards instead of the old fashioned paper forms of the past. Apparently all our information is embedded in the card, making the thought of losing it downright scary!

After visiting Orvieto for our fingerprints back in September, we'd been told to call back in about 2 or 2 1/2 months. When I called a few weeks ago, just over the two month mark, I was told that our permessi weren't back, but a quick check of the computer showed recent activity in Rome, and based on whatever the clerk saw online, told us they'd arrive in about ten days.

Because we picked olives with Belinda and Giacomo on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I kept forgetting to call. Combine this with the fact that the office is only open in the mornings and you can understand why I was determined to remember to call ASAP. Once I did remember to call I was told, yes, both permits were there. I was told to bring the receipts from the original mailing and our passports, and to come on Tuesday or Thursday only. I'd been expecting the Tuesday/Thursday restriction, and wanted to ask if I could come on Saturday instead, but decided not to push my luck - everyone in the office in Orvieto has been so friendly and helpful, and I didn't want to be remembered as the 'problem' foreigner!

We drove to Orvieto this morning, walked into an empty office and were out again, permits in hand, in less than ten minutes! We can now continue to live legally in Italy for another two years! Supposedly the next renewal will be easier, with some of the work being done on the internet using the account information on our card and the PIN numbers we were given. Hopefully we'll have sold our house long before then and won't have to find out!