How to get SPID in Italy as a foreigner 2026

SPID (Sistema Pubblico di Identita Digitale) is the Italian digital identity system: in essence a login and password that a private provider issues and with which you log into government (and sometimes private) online services. It is not email and not an electronic signature. For a foreigner the main question is not "how SPID works" but "how to get SPID if I so far have only a foreign passport": this is precisely where the real difficulties begin. This is an overview based on community experience, not legal advice; the set of providers and the recognition methods change, so verify the current details on spid.gov.it and agid.gov.it.

How does a foreigner get SPID in Italy?

SPID is issued by accredited private providers, and a foreigner usually needs a codice fiscale, an Italian identity document (a carta d'identita or an Italian driving licence - according to the community a foreign passport alone is almost never enough), an Italian phone number and an email. Identification is done online by video, at a provider's office or via the CIE. While you lack the documents, part of the public services can be reached via the CIE or CNS - see below.

Why you need SPID and where it is required

SPID was created as a single key to government online services. Instead of a separate login on every site, you set up an account once with an accredited provider and then log into many portals with this same SPID. In practice logging in by SPID (or its replacements) is required, for example:

• the Agenzia delle Entrate personal account - cassetto fiscale, payments, issuing invoices, the pre-filled tax declaration;
• INPS, including arranging ISEE;
• the regional medical portals ASL and the fascicolo sanitario elettronico - test results, booking a doctor, changing the attached medico di base;
• the comune website - applications for residenza, certificates and certifications;
• the portals of the immigration police and booking (prenotafacile);
• motorizzazione and ilportaledellautomobilista - booking the theory exam for the license, paying the imposta di bollo through PagoPA;
• ACI and PRA;
• the portal of the language exam for the permesso di lungo periodo (portaleservizi.dlci.interno.it);
• opening a bank account online;
• the Registro delle Opposizioni (the registry against spam calls);
• paying small medical co-payments through PagoPA - according to the community even the ticket for a doctor's visit (about 16 euro) some people couldn't pay online without SPID;
• even quitting a job - it is submitted online through a special platform, not directly to the employer.

According to the community this is one of the first digital tools worth setting up after obtaining the codice fiscale: without it many bookings and applications have to be done by phone or in person, which is noticeably longer.

What documents a foreigner really needs

The main fork for newcomers: will they accept you with a foreign passport. According to the community - in practice no. To register SPID, you need an Italian identity document, and the realistic options are a carta d'identita (CIE) or an Italian driving license. A single foreign passport (including a Russian one) is rejected at the identity-check stage time after time: the provider verifies the document against official databases, and an attempt to use only the passport fails verification (at one provider this is an error of the type "verification of the document against official sources failed").

From this follows the classic trap-chain. To get residenza and a carta d'identita, you need a permesso di soggiorno; and to properly arrange SPID, you need residenza and a CIE. Each document requires the previous one, and without a permesso SPID turns out to be simply unattainable.

The logic here is a closed loop: a carta d'identita won't be given without a permesso, SPID won't be given without a carta d'identita. It turns out that as long as there is no permesso, there is no way to get to SPID. I spent a week before I understood that I was beating against this wall in vain, and switched to the workaround.

I tried to arrange SPID through a postal provider for myself and my husband - and both of us got a refusal on the document check, because we applied only with a foreign passport. The conclusion is simple: without an Italian document SPID won't be issued, no matter how hard you try.

I was abroad with a national visa and a single foreign passport. I went around all the providers - each one required precisely an Italian identity card. And one person was told directly that "they don't work with Russians". So setting up SPID in advance, before arrival, didn't work out.

Some providers advertise webcam recognition, which formally does not require a CIE or tessera sanitaria, but this is a paid service and a valid identity document is still needed. Without a permesso and an Italian document SPID, according to the community, still cannot be obtained.

SPID providers: who issues it and how

SPID is issued not by the state directly but by accredited providers - private companies that AgID has allowed to issue the digital identity. According to the community these include Poste Italiane, Aruba, Sielte, Namirial, InfoCert, and others; they work more or less the same way, and most require Italian documents during the identity check. The full current list is always on spid.gov.it.

Several reference points according to the community:

• Aruba issues SPID for free if you already have a CIE - login by CIE takes literally a few minutes. SPID can also be generated after an identity check via CNS together with a carta d'identita.
• Poste and a number of others still require Italian documents at the verification stage.
• Webcam recognition (offered, for example, by Namirial) - is paid and still requires a valid identity document.
• Namirial separately advertises the issuance of SPID without a CIE and without a tessera sanitaria, but in practice this is the same paid video check, and some valid document is still needed.

A frequent confusion according to the community: the Aruba checklist for SPID includes items like "dispositivo di firma (for example a smart card)" and "PIN of the signature device". This does not mean that for SPID itself you must buy a hardware USB key: that path relates to issuance via CNS/firma digitale. If you go through webcam recognition or already have a CIE, a separate signature device is not required. A convenient scenario that is described: go through a short video identification at Aruba (about thirty minutes), get a CNS device, and generate the SPID itself later, when you have a carta d'identita in hand.

I got stuck on the Aruba checklist: there they asked for some "signature device" and a PIN for it, and I decided that without buying a USB key SPID couldn't be made. It turned out that's about the path via CNS - and if you go by webcam or already have an identity card, no USB key is needed. I wasted an evening on this for nothing.

The fastest workaround for those who have just arrived is not to torture SPID but to get a commercial CNS device right away, for example an Aruba key. It gives exactly the same access to government portals, but for it a codice fiscale and a passport are enough - that is, it can be obtained long before residenza becomes possible.

The prices and availability of the recognition methods are time-dependent; verify the current details on spid.gov.it.

Example: how a foreigner gets SPID in practice

Below are two hypothetical scenarios based on community experience. The values are synthetic, for illustration; verify the current set of providers and recognition methods on spid.gov.it and agid.gov.it. This is not legal advice.

Scenario A - when you already have a CIE (the simplest). A hypothetical "Regina" got the permesso, arranged residenza and a carta d'identita elettronica (CIE). The steps:

1. on the provider's site (per the community, Aruba, for example, issues it free if you have a CIE) choose SPID registration and the "recognition via CIE" method;
2. have an Italian mobile number, an email and a codice fiscale ready - they are entered in the form;
3. confirm identity via the CIE (usually with the phone reading the card by NFC and the CIE PIN);
4. set a SPID login and password - per the community the whole process takes a few minutes and comes out free.

Scenario B - video identification, when there is no CIE yet. A hypothetical "Artyom" has no CIE yet but needs access to the portals. A realistic path per the community is the paid video check or, often faster, a commercial CNS device:

1. choose a provider with webcam recognition (the service is paid - the tariff is time-sensitive, verify the current one);
2. book a video call; per the community it lasts about half an hour, the operator asks you to show a valid document to the camera (a valid identity document is precisely what is needed);
3. if all you have is a foreign passport, verification per the community often fails with a document-check error - then it is faster to get a CNS device (for which, per the community, a codice fiscale and a passport are enough) and generate the SPID itself later, once you have a carta d'identita.

An important caveat: "SPID for a fee" through an intermediary is usually not needed - if you have an Italian document, issuance is free at most providers and is done by yourself.

As soon as I had the CIE in hand, I made SPID in a single evening: I chose login by CIE, read the card with the phone via NFC, entered the PIN - and that was it, free. Before that, for half a year I thought it was unmanageable bureaucracy.

I tried the video check with only a foreign passport - it was not accepted, the document did not pass the databases. In the end I got a CNS device with the codice fiscale and passport, logged into the portals through it, and left SPID for later, when I would have the identity card.

SPID, CIE, and CNS: three interchangeable logins

On government portals there are almost always three login methods: SPID, CIE, and CNS. This is the key point: where there is a SPID login, you can usually log in through CIE or CNS instead.

CIE (carta d'identita elettronica, the plastic electronic identity card) increasingly acts as a full replacement for SPID: if a site has a "log in by CIE" button, SPID, as a rule, is not needed at all. Many in the community never made SPID - CIE lets them in everywhere it was required. Moreover SPID, according to the community, is gradually being wound down: it is planned to be replaced by CIE, and later by IT Wallet in the IO app. So the common advice is - if you already have a CIE, don't waste effort on SPID.

We decided from the very start not to make SPID. There's a CIE - and it logs in everywhere it was needed: the tax authority, INPS, the comune. And since SPID is going to be wound down anyway, I see no point in spawning another account.

CNS (TS-CNS - the chipped tessera sanitaria, or a commercial CNS device, for example a hardware key) - is the functional equivalent of SPID for logging into government portals. Its important advantage is that a CNS can be obtained early: according to the community - with a codice fiscale, a passport, and sometimes an Italian phone number, without residenza and without a carta d'identita. This is exactly why the CNS is the main workaround while you wait for the main documents. If the CNS role is played by a chipped tessera sanitaria, according to the community the chip is first activated (usually at the ASL, in some regions at a pharmacy), and logging in from a computer needs a USB card reader and the regional drivers - more in the article Tessera sanitaria and SSN.

I finally registered SPID for my child - I feel as if I single-handedly defeated all this bureaucracy. For half a year it seemed impossible. If it worked out for me, it will work out for anyone, the main thing is not to give up at the first refusal.

If you plan to arrange a CIE and use these logins, see the detailed breakdown in the article PEC and CIE.

The codice fiscale codes problem (135 versus 154)

A separate and very frequent trouble is the discrepancy of the country codes in the codice fiscale. For those born in the USSR the country-of-birth code may turn out different ("154" versus "135") in different documents - CF, permesso, CIE, tessera sanitaria. The comuni increasingly insist (citing the Ministero dell'Interno) on code 135 for those born in the USSR, whereas the consulate and the Agenzia delle Entrate allow keeping the code of the current country. When the codes do not match, this blocks the issuance of the carta d'identita, the search for a patient at the doctor's, and the arrangement of SPID.

It helps to bring an apostilled and translated birth certificate or a "stessa persona fisica" certificate (that it is one and the same individual) to force the system to assign the correct code. It is convenient to break down the structure of your codice fiscale and verify the parts in the tool:

How to replace SPID while there are no documents

If there is no permesso and Italian document yet, but you already need access to the portals, according to the community these paths work:

• A CNS device (a commercial key or a chipped tessera sanitaria) - the same login to public services, but available earlier: a codice fiscale and a passport are enough.
• CIE - as soon as it is in your hands, a separate SPID will most likely no longer be needed.
• CAF or a trusted person - some applications (for example ISEE) can be submitted through CAF or with the help of a resident acting by power of attorney.
• A login from the laboratory for test results - to simply view ready test results online, SPID is often not needed: the laboratory issues a separate login, password, and a link to the codice fiscale. True, regional medical portals differ - some (for example ER Salute) let you in only by SPID.

A separate warning according to the community: sometimes people are offered to "make SPID for a fee" through an intermediary. If you already have an Italian document, the issuance of SPID is free at most providers and is done by yourself - so there is usually no point in overpaying for what you can arrange yourself; what can be paid is at most the remote video check.

I was persistently advised to "arrange SPID for a fee" at some firm. I dug in my heels and did it myself through a provider, since I already had the identity card - it came out free and without intermediaries. It makes sense to pay at most for video recognition, if you really have no time.

A separate important case is nulla osta al seguito and family reunification: an online application to the prefettura can be submitted only by a person physically present in Italy and holding SPID or CIE. So an applicant abroad needs either a trusted resident in Italy acting by power of attorney (notarial, translated and certified), or an application through CAF. More in the article about reunification and coesione.

ISEE can be submitted through SPID, directly on the INPS website, or through CAF; it takes into account income, property, and dependents for the two years before submission (for example, for 2026 the data of 2024 is taken).

PEC: certified mail - what it is and what it's for

PEC (posta elettronica certificata) is a separate thing, not SPID: certified email, equal in legal force to a registered letter with acknowledgment (raccomandata A/R). Government bodies are obliged to reply to a PEC within the set deadlines, whereas an ordinary letter is often simply ignored. It is a paid subscription: sending messages is free, but for the mailbox itself an annual or monthly fee is charged.

PEC providers according to the community: Aruba (aruba.it), Poste Italiane (addresses @postecert.it), Namirial, TIM, pec.it. By price the following reference points were encountered: at Namirial about 2 euro in the first year, then on the order of 19 euro; Aruba is not infrequently cited as "about 5 euro", but in practice it comes out more expensive; the electronic signature via pec.it - on the order of 46 euro. All sums are time-dependent - verify the current details at the provider.

An important feature: a PEC can be opened from outside Italy, without Italian documents, even with a Russian or Belarusian phone number - a codice fiscale is enough (some arranged it at a hotel address). Sometimes the verification goes by video call (it is conducted in Italian and they ask you to show a printed codice fiscale with a QR code), but many report that PEC works even without passing the video check. One pitfall: if in your CF the place of birth is encoded as "URSS/USSR", in the form you need to choose precisely the USSR, not Russia, otherwise the form produces an error.

PEC is the only channel that the questura actually replies to, and often within about three days. For me opening a PEC became a turning point: only after that did I manage to officially correspond with the school, the university, the telecom operator, and the immigration office. Ordinary letters went into the void.

I made a PEC from abroad on a D visa. The mailbox itself started working, but the identity check was accepted only on Italian documents - and the provider simply refunded me the verification fee, leaving the unverified mailbox working. So I was able to write through it even without completed identification.

To PEC you can connect a domicilio digitale so that Italian bodies (in theory) send notifications there - convenient while you are abroad. The setup of domicilio digitale itself may require logging in via CIE/SPID/CNS, but you can use the PEC mailbox without them.

Frequent pitfalls

• A letter TO a PEC address sent from ordinary mail is often rejected - you usually need to write also from a PEC; and conversely, some ordinary government mailboxes refuse to accept letters sent from a PEC.
• Questuras not infrequently ignore even letters from a PEC, despite the legal obligation to reply - so PEC raises the chances but does not guarantee a reply.
• SPID credentials cannot be handed over to accountants and assistants - it is illegal and dangerous. Delegate through a formal delega or let the person log in alongside you with your credentials.
• Banks and financial offices usually accept simply the plastic codice fiscale card when you open SPID or carry out operations.

The main caution about SPID: never give the login and password to a lawyer or accountant. If you have already given them - immediately change the password. For help there is the formal power of attorney - delega; everything else is the risk that your digital identity will be disposed of without you.

Through SPID I opened a bank account entirely online, and with three years of free service on top. For me it was precisely SPID that turned out to be the key that opened remote banking without a single trip to a branch.

Related articles

• PEC and CIE - the electronic identity card and certified mail.
• Codice fiscale and residenza - the first steps and the country codes.
• Tessera sanitaria and SSN - the medical card and its CNS function.
• Reunification and coesione - submission to the prefettura through SPID/CIE.
• Taxes for the self-employed - the Agenzia delle Entrate personal account.
• Banks and money - opening an account online.
• SPID without CIE: which provider to pick - a comparison of providers and identification methods.

Official sources

• spid.gov.it - the official SPID portal: the list of providers and the arrangement methods
• agid.gov.it - Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale: levels, rules, the transition to CIE
• interno.gov.it - the Ministry of the Interior: CIE and identity documents
• agenziaentrate.gov.it - codice fiscale and cassetto fiscale
• poste.it - PosteID and PEC from Poste Italiane

Frequently asked questions

Can you get SPID with only a foreign passport, without an Italian document?

According to the community - in practice no. At the identity-check stage providers verify the document against official databases, and a single foreign passport (including a Russian one) is usually rejected (some produce a document-validation error). What you really need is an Italian document - a carta d'identita (CIE) or an Italian license. Verify the requirements on spid.gov.it - this is not legal advice.

Do you need SPID if you already have a CIE?

According to the community often no: where a website has a CIE login, SPID is usually not required at all. Many who have an electronic CIE identity card consciously did not make SPID. Moreover, SPID is gradually being wound down in favor of CIE. Clarify on agid.gov.it.

How do you replace SPID while there is no residenza and identity card?

According to the community the fastest workaround is a CNS device (for example a commercial key or a chipped tessera sanitaria): it gives the same login to government portals as SPID, but it can be obtained earlier - usually with a codice fiscale and a passport, without residenza. This is not legal advice, check with the provider.

How much does SPID cost?

According to the community basic registration at most providers is free (for example, Aruba issues SPID for free if you already have a CIE). What can be paid is convenient remote recognition by webcam. Verify each provider's current tariffs on spid.gov.it.

Can you give the SPID login and password to an accountant or lawyer?

According to the community - categorically no: handing over someone's SPID credentials is not allowed, it is illegal and risky. If you have already handed them over - change the password. The correct way is to arrange delegation through a formal delega or to log in together with your own credentials in your presence. This is not legal advice.

Do you need to buy a signature device (smart card) to make SPID through Aruba?

According to the community - not necessarily. The items about the 'dispositivo di firma' and its PIN in the Aruba checklist relate to issuance via CNS/firma digitale. If you arrange SPID through webcam recognition or you already have a CIE, a separate USB device is not needed. Verify the current arrangement methods on spid.gov.it - this is not legal advice.

Related materials - Digital services (SPID, PEC, CIE)

• SPID, PEC and CIE in Italy: where to start
• SPID without CIE: which provider to pick
• PEC and CIE in Italy: how to get them
• Codice fiscale (tax code) for foreigners

Next stepCodice fiscale calculatorCompute your codice fiscale and see each part explained (unofficial aid).

Documents for this topic

• Screenshot of the CertificaTO portal (Turin): list of civil status certificates
• Mod. APR/4 and APR057: residenza change checklist
• Mod. APR057: owner's declaration of consent to a residenza change (Turin)