Questura, Take 2

Yesterday Alexandra and I returned to Perugia to get my Permesso di Sogiorno. The first time we went we had wrong directions from Google Maps and missed the cutoff time for getting a numbered ticket. It was very much like showing up at the DMV for a Saturday driving test after they have given out all of the appointments for the day.

This time we knew where the Questura was, we knew about the cute little Mini Metro, and Alexandra had even found out about the bus that leaves from directly outside our apartment at 6:30 AM and gets us to the Mini Metro in Perugia in perfect time.

Success! We got a ticket!





Unfortunately that was all we got unless you count lots of hand waving, rapid Italian, and exasperated expressions from the woman behind the glass. Two months of collecting paperwork have been insufficient even to start the process.

After much hard work on Alexandra's part it was established that additionally we need:

* A document from the Commune indicating that Alexandra's demographics are on file. Remember that this is my permission to be in Italy and she is just my sponsor.

* A document from the Commune proving that she is an EU citizen. Apparently an EU passport, while required, does not prove citizenship.
* A translation of our marriage certificate. Clearly a certificate filled out in an Official EU language is unintelligible.

* A document indicating that I have my wife's permission to live in the our apartment. We already have a document from the surveyor about the size of the apartment and how many people are living in it.

* Photocopies of EVERYTHING. They cannot accept originals. We think that is because they don't want the trouble of returning anything, but it is very different from in the United States.

By the way, every one of those documents requires that you purchase a tax stamp. Italians may not collect income tax effectively, but they do know how to collect taxes for every official service provided.

Michael