Identity card, passport and lost documents

The electronic identity card (CIE)

Who can have one

Anyone registered with the civil registry of an Italian municipality, citizenship aside. A foreign citizen resident in Lucca, EU or not, can therefore hold an Italian CIE, and it is convenient: a card-format document, accepted everywhere, that doubles as a key to online services.

One difference matters: a card issued to a non-Italian citizen is not valid for travel abroad. It identifies you inside Italy; it does not take you across a border. For travel you keep using your passport; EU citizens, within the EU, also their national ID card.

How to apply

By appointment at your municipality of residence, often through the Interior Ministry's booking system. Bring:

• a recent passport photo meeting ICAO standards (light background, face forward, no dark glasses);
• your old identity card, if you have one, or the police report if it was stolen;
• a valid residence permit if you are a non-EU citizen;
• your tax code.

Fingerprints are taken if you are over twelve.

Validity

Age at issue	Duration
Under 3	3 years
3 to 18	5 years
Adults	10 years

The card expires on your birthday following the duration, not on the exact issue date. It can be renewed from 180 days before expiry.

The passport

Italian passport

Issued by the Questura (or a local police station) and only to Italian citizens. If you do not hold Italian citizenship this section does not concern you: your passport remains your own country's.

Appointments are booked on the Polizia di Stato's online agenda. In some municipalities and many small-town post offices the service has been decentralised, and the application is filed there.

You need: a passport photo, an identity document, the administrative contribution of €42.50 paid by postal slip, and the electronic revenue stamp of €73.50 — €116.00 in total. Fingerprints are taken.

For a minor, the consent of both parents is required, even if separated; failing that, authorisation from the guardianship judge.

Your own country's passport

It is renewed at your country's embassy or consulate in Italy. Almost always in person and by appointment, because fingerprints and a signature are needed. Many countries have an embassy in Rome and consulates in only a few cities; honorary consulates offer assistance but usually do not issue passports. Sweden, for example, issues them only at the embassy in Rome.

If you are not an EU citizen, a valid passport is also what you need to renew your residence permit: letting it expire blocks both.

If your passport expires while you live in Italy, move early: appointment waiting times at the embassy can be long, and without a valid passport several Italian procedures stall.

When a document disappears

The sequence never changes

1. Block whatever can be blocked: payment cards (your bank's hotline), SIM (your operator), digital logins.
2. Report it to the Carabinieri or the Polizia di Stato.
3. Request the duplicate from the office that issued the document, bringing the report.

Theft and loss are not the same word

• Furto: someone took it. Reported as a crime.
• Smarrimento: you lost it. Reported as a loss.

Both are filed with the Carabinieri or the Polizia di Stato, free of charge, with an identity document or — failing that — by verbal identification.

There is also the Polizia di Stato's Denunce Online service, accessed with SPID or CIE (including through the IO app). The two cases work differently:

• for the loss of documents, phones, cards and number plates the report is completed entirely online, with no office visit: the filed document appears in your personal area within 96 hours and is valid for requesting duplicates;
• for theft, and for fraud, computer crime and online defamation, it is instead a preliminary report that must be formalised at a police station within 48 hours by appointment. That part is still at a pilot stage and is not available everywhere.

Keep a copy of the report: it lets you get around while waiting for the duplicate, and it protects you if the stolen document is used by someone else.

If it happens while travelling

If your passport is stolen outside Italy, your point of contact is your country's embassy or consulate in the country you are in, which can issue an emergency document. EU citizens whose country has no post there can turn to the embassy of any other EU country. If it happens in Italy, it is your embassy in Italy. If you are not an EU citizen, report it to the Questura too: without a passport you cannot renew your residence permit.

Children's documents

• A CIE for a minor is applied for at the town hall with the child present and both parents, or with written consent from the one who cannot attend.
• Validity is shorter (see the table above): children's cards expire often, and are discovered expired at the airport.
• For a minor travelling abroad the checks are stricter: travelling with one parent only or with third parties may require the other parent's consent or an accompaniment declaration.

Common mistakes

• Waiting for the expiry date to renew. Six months' lead time is the prudent rule, especially for the embassy.
• Skipping the report because "it was only the health card". Without a report many duplicates are not issued, and you are exposed if the document is used.
• Assuming an Italian CIE lets you travel. For a non-Italian citizen it is not valid for expatriation.
• Losing the CIE PIN. It can be recovered, but that is another procedure: file it with the PUK somewhere safe immediately.