Bureaucracy...the Italian way

All right, I was hoping to post the whole story, but I'm getting too many questions about my sweet little Fiat 500!

Here's the answer -- in less time than it has taken me to live it!

1.  I don't have it...yet.
2. To buy a car here, one must be an Italian resident (don't start asking me any questions or pointing out how ridiculous that is -- you're preaching to the choir).
3. To get residency is relatively easy, but...
4. One must show insurance coverage from one year...
5. ...underwritten by an Italian firm.
6. But! The Italian firms don't provide insurance coverage to non-residents!

So, the longer part of the (in my mind, rather funny) story is that everyone has been incredibly kind and helpful, but the City Hall (really, think INS) has been intransigent on the insurance issue.  The good news is that my lovely insurance agent (who has never met an R he would like to pronounce, and pronounces his L's like G's -- I rarely understand a word he says, and mostly nod or provide non-committal noises) has managed to persuade the underwriter to go ahead and insure us.

Here's the interesting thing:  insurance for one year for seven people, covering operations, meds, no deductibles, up to $125,000 per year per person will set us back about $3000.  We pay that per month in the US. And we have deductibles.  And some of us have expensive medications -- $60 per month just for the deductible.  The catch?  I still don't know if we'll be able to obtain all our meds...

The funny note for us today?

Another requirement is to show that you have 6000 euros in an Italian bank -- so that you can "support" yourself.  My real estate agent thought that it meant 6000 euros total.  As a precaution, I had a balance statement (required) AND a letter by my banker that said -- in his opinion -- that we had plenty of money to support the family for a year.

When I went to City Hall for the first time (with my real estate agent), the fellow behind the counter said that -- oh, no, it wasn't 6000 euros total.  It was 6000 euros for the first person, with a sliding requirement beyond that.  He didn't know what it would be for 6 people (Michael won't get residency, but rather a "permesso di soggiorno" -- meaning a visitor's permit).  He disappeared for rather a long time, while the agent (Marcello) and I raised our eyebrows at each other.

He finally came back with an answer: they'd never had a family this large try to become residents, so he had no clue how much we would need to have.  I showed him the bankers' letter, and he decided he'd be fine with that!

So, in the final analysis, I've been to City Hall 2 or 3 separate times, each time with a different advocate to plead on my behalf.  With any luck, the health insurance will clear this week (can we pray collectively about it?), and then I can get the residency!

Although it can be frustrating, let's compare this to my experience with the US INS.  As a naturalizing citizen, I elected to naturalize on my own recognizance (as it were) rather than on the score of being married to a citizen.  Nonetheless, when I finally had an appointment (after months of trying), my officer looked at me as though I were a worm and demanded that I bring the notarized marriage certificate back within an hour or she would restart the entire process at the beginning.  Bear in mind that it was a 25-minute drive each way, required finding (and paying for) parking, and entailed a wait to be seen in a room full of other hopeful supplicants who looked just as downtrodden as I felt. After that was worked out, they gave me an appointment for the swearing in: at 8:30 on July 4.  I went down there, despite having the feeling that it wouldn't happen -- and, yes, sure enough, the INS is  closed on that national holiday!

Going to city hall here means a 30 yard walk, going up a flight of steps, and talking to the person behind the counter.  The three trips combined have taken me maybe 40 minutes total. So, desire for my sweet little Fiat aside (yes, I can hear it calling to me and sending me loving messages, which I am returning with my whole heart), I think it's actually progressing.  Maybe.

Love,

Alexandra