\n UK nationals who\u2019ve been resident in Italy since before Brexit can obtain a card proving their right to remain \u2013 but the process isn\u2019t always as smooth as they\u2019d like.\n <\/p>\n
When we recently asked Italy’s foreign residents about their experience of applying for a residency permit, there was one category that was a little different from all the rest: British citizens who’d arrived before Brexit took effect.<\/p>\n
Unlike those who relocated to Italy after 2020, pre-Brexit residents are entitled to a Carta di Soggiorno Elettronica (\u2018electronic residency card\u2019) demonstrating their right to stay in the country under the Withdrawal Agreement.<\/p>\n
The card is valid for five years in the first instance for those who’d been resident in the country for less than five years before Brexit, or ten years for those with permanent residency.<\/p>\n
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How to apply for permanent residency in Italy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n In theory, British citizens aren’t required<\/a> to get the card if they can prove they were already resident pre-Brexit via other documentation; in practice, it\u2019s almost impossible to complete any bureaucratic task in the country without one.<\/p>\n We received a range of responses from readers who’d applied for the carta, from one person who described it as straightforward process to another who said it aged them by a decade.<\/p>\n James in Umbria was one of the luckier ones.<\/p>\n He applied via registered email (known as PEC<\/a>) as soon as the card became available in 2021, and one month later received an invitation to an appointment at the questura (police headquarters), along with a list of documents to bring.<\/p>\n READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What is Italy’s PEC email and how do you get one?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe process was straightforward and the card was ready to collect about four weeks later,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Things also went smoothly for Dave, who moved to Bologna in 2020 and applied for the card in May 2021.<\/p>\n Like James, he was able to apply via PEC (as opposed to in person at the post office, which is required for most permesso di soggiorno applicants) and was invited to a\u00a0questura appointment not long after without running into any major issues.<\/p>\n Still: \u201cNow I need to work out the process to renew it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n As is often the case in Italy, whereabouts in the country you\u2019re applying can make all the difference.<\/p>\n In contrast to Dave and James\u2019s experience, Jill in Puglia says she found the Lecce questura (provincial police office) \u201cvery slow to answer PEC emails and give appointments.\u201d<\/p>\n One Bologna-bsed reader who applied in 2023 said they had \u201cblocked a lot of it out because it was so stressful\u201d \u2013 though in the end they received their permit in about three months, a far shorter processing time than that experienced by many applicants.<\/p>\n