Kit permesso: how to file within 8 days

The kit (kit postale, kit permesso) is the application form with which you start the submission for a permesso di soggiorno: you ask to convert your national D visa into a permesso, that very plastic residence permit card. The same form is later submitted for renewal as well. Below is the procedure and the real questura timing based on community experience; this is not legal advice, verify the exact requirements on official sources.

If you are only planning your route, see how the kit fits into the overall path on the example of the lavoro autonomo steps - the kit is already the final stage after entry.

What is the kit permesso and how do you file it?

The kit permesso (kit postale) is a paper application in a Poste Italiane envelope with which you ask to convert a D visa into a permesso di soggiorno or to renew it. You pick up the envelope free at a post office, fill it in, enclose copies of your documents and hand it in at the Sportello Amico window within about 8 days of entry. In return you get the ricevuta, and later the questura invites you for fingerprinting and issues the plastic card.

How many days do you have to submit the kit after entry?

According to the community the kit must be sent within roughly 8 days after entering Italy on a D visa. The deadline is treated as hard: if you miss it, the permesso application may not be accepted and the legality of your stay will be left hanging. Filling it in can itself take several hours plus time for the document copies, so start right away and do not leave everything until the last day - the post office may be closed and the right envelope may not be in stock. Check the current procedure on questure.poliziadistato.it and portaleimmigrazione.it.

We landed, spent a couple of days recovering, and then realized that the clock was already ticking. It was a good thing we took the envelope on the very first day - hunting for it later would have been stressful.

The documents you enclose in the kit are almost never read at this stage - they are actually examined at the fingerprinting in the questura. So assemble two identical sets right away: one goes into the envelope, the second you bring in person to the appuntamento.

8 days: from entering the Schengen area or Italy

The official pages count the deadline from entry into Italy and speak of working days (checked 25.09.2026):

• Polizia di Stato: anyone arriving in Italy for the first time has to request the permesso within 8 working days of entering the territory of the State ("8 giorni lavorativi dal suo ingresso nel territorio dello Stato") - poliziadistato.it.
• Ministero dell'Interno: the permesso is requested within 8 working days, excluding Sundays and public holidays ("esclusi quindi la domenica e i festivi") - interno.gov.it.
• Poste Italiane: the application is filed within 8 days of entering Italy ("entro 8 giorni dal tuo ingresso in Italia") - poste.it.

None of these pages says anything separate about entering through another Schengen country: all three name Italy as the starting point.

The question comes up in the chats all the time: 42 messages from 2022-2025 link the 8-day deadline to the entry date, weekends or Schengen. People asked which date counts when entering through Finland (2023) and when they want a Schengen holiday before reaching Italy (2024); three times whether weekends count (2023, 2024, 2025). Advice from a 2025 chat: enter Italy not from another Schengen country but directly or through a third country, so that the passport carries a stamp with the entry date. Another member (2023) pointed out that hotels and rentals report their guests, and that for the questura the proof is the EU entry stamp.

Where to get the envelope and how many kits do you need?

You get the kit envelope at a Poste Italiane branch (yellow logo). According to the community it is convenient to go to the Sportello Amico window and tell the operator that you need a kit permesso (it is also called the kit giallo - the "yellow envelope"). If you do not speak Italian, prepare a translation of the phrase in advance. By community observations the number of envelopes in a branch is limited, and sometimes you have to look for them in several branches; they are handed out one per person, and you have to come for it in person. You take a queue ticket at the entrance on any topic - there is usually no separate "kit" option in the machine.

One practical hack from the chats: it makes sense to go for the envelope (and later to submit) at a branch in the "least immigrant" neighborhood, or even in the suburbs - the queue there is shorter and the envelope is more often in stock. In the central branches of big cities you often hear "the kits are out, no new ones have been delivered" or are told you need a separate appuntamento just to be given the envelope.

In the city center three branches in a row told me there were no envelopes. I drove to a post office in a residential district on the outskirts - they gave me the envelope right away and I submitted without a queue. So do not fixate on the branch nearest your home.

You need one kit per family member from roughly age 14; children under that are included in their parents' kits. If you are traveling as a family on different motives (for example, one on lavoro autonomo, the other on motivi familiari), each adult has their own envelope for their own motive. Check the procedure on poste.it.

What to put in the kit for the permesso?

The short answer according to the community: the completed modules (Modulo 1, for family often only it), the payment receipt, a marca da bollo of ~16 euro, copies of all passport pages (with the D visa and the entry stamp, if you got one), a copy of the D visa annotation, and for a family - marriage and birth certificates with an apostille and a sworn translation. The exact list depends on the motive and the questura.

The envelope usually contains the modules (Modulo 1 and Modulo 2), a receipt and an instruction sheet with a list of documents for each motive. Based on community experience the following is attached to the application:

• the completed modules (the person being reunited and children - often only Modulo 1);
• the payment receipt;
• a marca da bollo of around 16 euro per kit (bought at a Tabaccheria, a sign with the letter T, usually with cash);
• copies of all pages of the passport, including the D visa and the entry stamp if you got one (without a stamp the boarding pass proves the entry date - keep it);
• a copy of the annotation (the sticker/sheet) of the D visa issued by the consulate;
• for a family - copies of the marriage certificate and the children's birth certificates (with apostille and translation) and copies of their passports; on the apostille and the sworn translation see document legalization.

According to the community the list in the kit's own instruction is sometimes shorter than what is actually asked for at the fingerprinting. For example, for some digital activities the instruction asks for the minimum (a passport copy and the consulate certificate), but at the questura they may also ask for the rental contract and proof of income.

A separate question is changing your passport. According to the community the kit can be submitted with the "old" passport you entered on (it holds the D visa and, if you got one, the entry stamp), and if the passport changes between submission and fingerprinting, the discrepancy of numbers is resolved at the questura. If your passport is about to expire, the chats more often advise changing it not just before submission but only after you receive the plastic, so as not to multiply discrepancies along the way - but this is a community observation, not a rule.

The kit had an instruction with a list for each motive. I have lavoro autonomo, and besides a passport copy and a copy of the consulate certificate there was nothing else on the list. But just in case I dragged the full package to the fingerprinting - and it paid off, they asked to see the apartment contract.

All amounts and the set of documents according to the community are time-dependent and depend on the motive and the questura; verify the current details on questure.poliziadistato.it. It is convenient to assemble the package for your motive and city through the documents tool:

Proof of address for the kit is, as a rule, a registered rental contract or a dichiarazione di ospitalita from the host.

Example: what to put in the KIT for lavoro autonomo

Below is a worked-through look at the envelope on the example of a self-employed person. All values are synthetic, for illustration; verify your own set against the instruction in the envelope itself and on questure.poliziadistato.it - this is not legal advice.

A hypothetical case: "Timur" entered on a D visa for lavoro autonomo, say on 3 March, rented a flat and has already obtained a codice fiscale. Based on community experience, this is what ends up in his envelope:

• Modulo 1 - filled in with a black pen, in block capitals, one letter per box; in the country-of-birth code field, for someone born in the USSR, he enters a variant that does not reduce to "Russia" (per the community this is code 135), not 154;
• a marca da bollo of ~16 euro (the amount is time-sensitive, verify the current one) - bought at a Tabaccheria (a sign with the letter T) with cash; he does not affix it in advance - the post office operator does that after checking;
• copies of all passport pages, and separately the spread with the D visa and the entry stamp, if there is one;
• a copy of the D visa annotation (the sticker/sheet from the consulate for the lavoro autonomo motive);
• a copy of the codice fiscale, and the module has his Italian mobile number and the address with a postal code (CAP) written in;
• proof of address - a registered rental contract or a dichiarazione di ospitalita (it is precisely the address that determines the questura).

Step by step, how this usually looks: (1) pick up the envelope at Poste Italiane via the Sportello Amico window, and per the community it is easier at a branch away from the center; (2) go over Modulo 1 in pencil first, then trace it with the pen; (3) assemble a second identical set of copies - you bring it in person to the fingerprinting, because what is enclosed in the envelope is often not examined at this stage; (4) come in person, hand in the envelope, pay the fees and pick up the ricevuta with the fingerprinting date. The timing, fees and exact list are time-sensitive and depend on the motive and the questura - verify the current details.

I laid everything out by the instruction from the envelope: Modulo 1, a passport copy with the stamp, a copy of the consulate sheet, and the rental contract. I put a second identical set in a separate folder for the fingerprinting - and it was the right call, at the post office they barely looked into the envelope.

The most important thing for me turned out to be the address and the CAP in the module: it was by them that the questura was assigned. I checked the address-to-questura mapping in advance, so that the meeting would not later be rescheduled to a different questura and cost me weeks.

How to fill in the kit correctly?

According to the community the form is filled in strictly with a black pen, in block capitals, one letter per box. The envelope is not sealed and the stamp is not affixed in advance - the post office operator does this after checking the data. It is convenient to go over it in pencil first and then trace it with the pen. You will need an Italian mobile number, a codice fiscale and the address of temporary residence with a postal code (CAP) - it is precisely the address that determines the questura for taking your fingerprints. How to obtain a codice fiscale and arrange residenza is in the article on codice fiscale and residenza.

According to the community there is a subtle trap here: the same city may belong to different questure depending on the specific address. There have been cases where a person entered an address that he thought belonged to "his" questura, got an appuntamento there, and at the appointment it turned out the address was actually assigned to a different questura - and they refused to hold the meeting, rescheduling the date at the correct questura (that is, losing weeks or months). So it is worth checking in advance which questura your address belongs to, rather than assuming.

We submitted the kit at the first address, and they assigned us a questura. Then we did an ospitalita at another address - and it turned out it belonged to a completely different questura. We came on the old appuntamento - they turned us away and rescheduled us to the new one. Check the address-to-questura assignment before submission, it saves months.

A walkthrough of a real module helps you lay out the modules and not get lost in the fields:

Codice stato for people born in the USSR

A separate typical trap for those born in the USSR is the country-of-birth code field (codice stato nascita). According to the community the correct code for those born in the USSR is 135, and the wrong code 154 (Russia), which is sometimes entered through carelessness, later blocks the issuance: the case goes to Rome for printing, Rome sees the mismatch and stalls it. Because of this people wait for the plastic for six months and longer. To avoid multiplying the error at the start, the chats advise entering in the country-of-birth code field a variant that does not reduce to "Russia", and then monitoring the code at every fingerprinting.

The first time they gave me code 154, I changed it at the comune to 135, at the fingerprinting they said it was ok - and in the permesso it was 154 again. I went to the tax office, they reprinted it - and again 154 in the database. The storico printout shows the code was rewritten about five times. Check this from the very first document.

To change the country-of-birth code you need to go to the comune - it has priority, the tax office follows its decision, and the questura is then obliged to pull in the record before the next fingerprinting. If you run only to the questura or only to the Agenzia delle Entrate, you will go in circles.

What the form itself says. Fields 35 and 36 of Modulo 1 (codice stato nascita and codice stato cittadinanza) take a three-letter code from Tabella allegata n. 3 of the instructions. In the official Mod. 209 instructions in our library (Mod. 209 instructions, a 2019 file) that table lists RUSSIA - RUS and has no separate row for the USSR. In the chats in 2024 and 2026 people wrote that newer kits do have a USSR row with the code XXA; a member who filled in her kit in October 2025 found only RUS and XXA in the table, and at the fingerprinting in March 2026 the entry was, in her words, accepted as correct. Check the table in your own envelope, not old samples from the internet.

How big the topic is in the chats: 312 messages from 2022-2026 about people born in the USSR and the codes in their documents; 162 of them name codes 135 and 154 (the last digits of the codice fiscale for the USSR and Russia) and 28 the code SUN. The typical picture is different codes in different documents: in one 2023 report the permesso said RUS, the carta d'identita SUN and the tessera sanitaria URSS. In March 2026 the comune of Rome told a member that the Interior Ministry database now has a SUN code for the USSR, that the comune decides the code, and that the questura and the tax office follow it.

Submission and the ricevuta: why to guard it

You come to Poste Italiane with the original documents, and each applicant hands in their own envelope in person. The operator will compare the passport with the form, take the fees (according to the community around 30 euro postal fee plus the permesso fee, which is called different things depending on the requested duration) and issue the ricevuta - two Poste receipts with assicurata and istanza numbers.

The ricevuta is a very important document: it confirms the legality of your stay in the country while you wait for the permesso. Along with it you are given a sheet with the address of the questura, the date and time for taking your fingerprints, and sometimes a password/case number for tracking the status. You must show up for the fingerprinting.

Guard the ricevuta like the apple of your eye. Until the plastic is ready, it is your only document in hand, especially if the entry visa is already running out.

According to the community, with the original ricevuta and your passport you can temporarily leave Italy for countries outside Schengen (Russia, Armenia, Serbia and the like) and return through an Italian border crossing - this is based on the circular of the Italian Ministry of the Interior of 16 June 2007 and the provisions of D.Lgs. 286/1998. But flying on a single ricevuta to Schengen countries is not allowed. A detailed breakdown of routes and cases is in the article on travel on the ricevuta; you can estimate your case in the tool:

With the ricevuta you can already enroll in the SSN and get a tessera sanitaria - there is no need to wait for the plastic permesso for that.

How long to wait for the fingerprinting and the permesso?

This is the most frequent question - and the honest answer is: it varies. The questura timing according to the community depends heavily on the city and the season. Below are rough guides from participants' accounts (this is not statistics and not a guarantee, the figures change - verify the current details):

• in large cities (Milan, Rome, Turin, Genoa) the wait for fingerprinting according to the community is often around 2-5 months, sometimes longer;
• there are also fast questure: in Pescara a participant described fingerprinting around 20 days after submitting the kit, but immediately added that "it is far from always like that";
• after the fingerprinting the plastic itself is, according to the community, often promised in about a month or two, but in reality it stretches out;
• sometimes the assigned fingerprinting date can, according to the community, be moved to an earlier slot: people write to the post office/questura asking to reschedule the appuntamento, and in some questure it works. And in the most hopeless cases (there are known stories about a wait of around two years) moving and changing residenza to a faster questura really did speed up the process - but this is a last resort, not for everyone.

It is convenient to estimate the ranges by stage in the processing timeline:

For us everything went quickly: we submitted the kit, the fingerprinting was scheduled a couple of months later, they did not even ask for the rental contract at the fingerprinting, and the plastic was promised a month after the fingerprinting. Very pleasant impressions of Italian bureaucracy - but I understand it is a lottery by city.

An amusing detail: when you submit the kit they set the appuntamento time to the minute, even though in the live queue your turn comes a good five hundred hours later than that time. So come on the assigned day, but allow a buffer for the wait in the hall.

What to bring to the fingerprinting at the questura

At the appuntamento, according to the community, you bring a second, exactly identical set of documents - the one you put in the kit is often not actually examined. The basic minimum stated in the kit itself:

• passport;
• the Poste Italiane ricevuta (both receipts) and the appointment sheet;
• the kit booklet itself;
• the housing contract (registered - preferably; not asked for everywhere and not always);
• photographs (sometimes needed, sometimes not).

Depending on the motive there may be additions: for a family - the nulla osta of the person being reunited and the marriage/birth certificates; for digital nomad and lavoro autonomo at renewal - an open Partita IVA, an income declaration, fatture, insurance and a bank statement. Separately, in some questure the idoneita alloggiativa (also called idoneita abitativa - the housing suitability certificate) comes up: according to the community it is not asked for everywhere, but if it is, you have to book it well in advance, the queue can be months ahead.

You prepare the full package - registration, certificates, taxes, an accountant - you come to the questura, and in the queue your neighbor from the docs has only a crumpled ricevuta. And the ending is the same for everyone: everyone walks away with a permesso. The main thing is to get there and not miss the appuntamento.

How to track the status and what to do if there is silence

You check the status of the case on the Polizia di Stato website (questure.poliziadistato.it) using the case number or the password from the sheet issued at the fingerprinting. According to the community the icons are read like this: blank or "non e presente in archivio" - the case has not been entered yet, or it has already been issued and not updated; an orange cross - the case is being processed; a green checkmark - the permesso is ready for issuance. The SMS about readiness does not always arrive: by community observations it fails to arrive in roughly one in four or five cases, while the plastic is already sitting at the questura.

Working hacks from the chats (observations, not a rule):

• Come in person during reception hours - often more effective than correspondence; in a number of cities they resolved on the spot what they ignored by mail.
• Take a paper ticket for "information" - it is given for 1.5-2 months ahead, and this way you can find out the status without the SMS.
• Check the Saturday hours of your questura - in some places the Saturday queue is noticeably shorter.
• Write a sollecito to the questura's PEC if a lot of time has passed (a guide of around 180 days is often quoted) - in some questure they reply quickly.

My husband's SMS never came, and his permesso had been sitting at the questura for ages - the website showed a cross. We found out by chance when we came in person and took a ticket. Since then we do not rely on the SMS at all.

A separate pain is the "letterless" codice fiscale: according to the community the questura sometimes generates a temporary numeric CF to send the case to Rome, and then with such a CF the banks refuse an account and you cannot properly open a Partita IVA. This is resolved at the Agenzia delle Entrate, asking to merge the temporary CF with the normal one and make the normal one primary; then you must check the result at the next fingerprinting.

Why the permesso duration is shorter than expected

According to the community a frequent annoyance: you paid the receipt for 2 years, but the permesso was issued for a shorter period. The reasons participants name: the questura ties the duration to the expiry date of the rental contract (then you get around 1 year), or on the first renewal they give 1 year at their own discretion. The duration of the new permesso at renewal is moreover counted from the expiry date of the previous one, not from the date of issuance. Some people write the desired duration in the kit by hand ("3 anni"), but the result is not guaranteed.

I submitted on 10 July, fingerprinting in December, picked up the permesso - and it is valid for a little over a year, until my contract's expiry date. The contract is longer, but they tied it to that. And now, for the sake of a few months, I have to submit again, pay again and queue again.

All the durations, fees and thresholds are time-dependent and depend on the city and the motive; these are community observations, not a rule. Verify the current details on questure.poliziadistato.it and portaleimmigrazione.it.

A rare official basis on travel

Foreign nationals legally residing in Italy retain their rights, under the provisions on stay (D.Lgs. 286/1998), during the period awaiting a decision on renewal (nelle more del rinnovo); the rights cease only upon refusal, withdrawal or annulment. For the specific rules on leaving and returning, see the current circulars of the Ministry of the Interior and the immigration portal.

This is a general legal framework, not an individual authorization - before traveling always check the current circulars and the airline's requirements.

Common myths about the kit and the questura

• "The documents from the kit are carefully examined at the post office" - according to the community, no, they are actually examined at the fingerprinting, which is why you need a second set.
• "If the green checkmark has come, the SMS will surely come too" - according to the community the SMS often does not come, it is better to check the status yourself and come in person.
• "I paid the receipt for 2 years - I will be given a permesso for 2 years" - according to the community this is not a guarantee, the duration may be tied to the contract.
• "With a ricevuta you can fly anywhere" - no, according to the community you cannot enter Schengen on a single ricevuta, only outside Schengen and through an Italian border crossing.

An overview of all permesso di soggiorno types (duration, work rights, income) lives in the separate article on Italy residence permit types, and the typical problems at the questura and how to solve them are in what the questura is.

Related articles

• What the questura is and how to deal with it - fingerprints, ritiro, and how it differs from the prefettura and comune.
• Interactive "First steps in Italy" checklist - a step-by-step tracker after arrival: KIT, residenza, tessera sanitaria.
• Processing times by questura - a comparison of real fingerprinting and card timing by city.
• Lavoro autonomo steps - the whole path up to the kit: nulla osta, D visa, entry.
• Codice fiscale and residenza - the first steps and the address for the questura.
• Travel on the ricevuta - whether you can leave while waiting for the permesso.
• How to check your permesso status - the statuses on the police site and Portale Immigrazione, and what to do when nothing moves.
• Idoneita alloggiativa - who needs the housing suitability certificate and how to get it.
• Permesso renewal and long absence - the timing and the 183-day rule.
• Document legalization - apostille, sworn translation, dichiarazione di valore.

Official sources

• Poste Italiane - branches and postal services (Sportello Amico, kit postale)
• Poste Italiane: rilascio and rinnovo guide - the 8-day deadline after entering Italy (checked 25.09.2026)
• Polizia di Stato: il rilascio del permesso di soggiorno - 8 working days from entering the territory of the State (checked 25.09.2026)
• Ministero dell'Interno: visto e permesso di soggiorno - 8 working days excluding Sundays and holidays (checked 25.09.2026)
• Polizia di Stato - Questure - immigration police, status and issuance of the permesso
• Portale Immigrazione - submission of residence permit applications and information about the kit
• Ministero dell'Interno - immigration and internal affairs
• Agenzia delle Entrate - codice fiscale and correction of the country-of-birth code

Frequently asked questions

What to put in the kit for the permesso?

According to the community: the completed modules (Modulo 1 and 2), the payment receipt, a marca da bollo of ~16 euro, copies of all passport pages (with the D visa and the entry stamp, if you got one), a copy of the D visa annotation, and for a family - marriage and birth certificates with an apostille and a sworn translation. The exact list depends on the motive and the questura - check the instruction sheet in the envelope and questure.poliziadistato.it.

How much time do you have to submit the kit?

8 working days after entering Italy on a D visa (art. 5(2) of the Testo unico immigrazione). The entry date is shown by the stamp or, if you got none (a D visa does not have to be stamped), by the boarding pass. This is a critical deadline, so it is best to pick up the envelope on the very first day rather than delay. Check the exact procedure on questure.poliziadistato.it and portaleimmigrazione.it - this is not legal advice.

How much does submitting the kit cost?

The envelope itself is free, but according to the community there are fees: a marca da bollo of around 16 euro per kit, a postal fee of around 30 euro and a permesso fee (often quoted at around 40 or around 80-100 euro depending on the requested duration). The figures change - verify the current details on the official website. This is not legal advice.

What must you bring to the fingerprinting at the questura?

According to the community the documents enclosed in the kit are often not reviewed, so people bring a second identical set to the fingerprinting: passport, ricevuta, the kit booklet itself, the housing contract (not asked for everywhere), and photos if needed. Based on community experience - verify the list specifically for your questura and motive.

Can you leave Italy while waiting for the permesso?

According to the community, with the original ricevuta and your passport you can travel to countries outside Schengen and return through an Italian border crossing; with a single ricevuta you cannot go to Schengen countries. This is based on a circular of the Italian Ministry of the Interior. See the details in the article on travel on the ricevuta - this is not legal advice.

Why might the permesso be issued for a shorter period than was paid for?

According to the community, a receipt for 2 years does not guarantee a permesso for 2 years: the questura often ties the duration to the expiry date of the rental contract or gives 1 year on the first renewal. These are community observations, not a rule - check with the questura. This is not legal advice.

Related materials - After arrival

• After arrival in Italy
• Questura in Italy: what it is and why
• Codice fiscale and residenza: the order
• Condominio in Italy 2026: spese and rules

Next stepFill the KIT (Mod. 209)Field-by-field over the real Modulo 209: what to write, an example and a tip per field, by motive.

Documents for this topic

• Module 2 (Mod. 209) - data form on work activity and income for permesso di soggiorno
• Official form Mod. 209 - application for permesso di soggiorno (Kit Permesso)
• Official form Modulo 209 (Modulo 1) - application for permesso di soggiorno