Questura in Italy: what it is and why

In short

The questura in Italy is the provincial headquarters of the state police (Polizia di Stato), reporting to the Ministry of the Interior. For a foreigner only one of its departments matters - the Ufficio Immigrazione: it receives permesso di soggiorno applications, takes fingerprints and hands over the finished residence-permit card.

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That is also where the quirks people complain about come from: this is the police, not an immigration service, so the queues, the numbered tickets and the intake procedure are different in every province. Below: how the questura differs from the comune and the prefettura, where to find your questura's website, what people go there for and how to prepare for a visit. The material is compiled from community experience and official sources and is not legal advice.

What the questura is and how it differs from the comune and the prefettura

The questura is the headquarters of the Polizia di Stato (state police) in each Italian province, reporting to the Ministry of the Interior. It has many functions - from public order to passports for Italians - but for a foreigner the questura almost always means one thing: the Ufficio Immigrazione, the immigration department that handles your permesso di soggiorno.

The confusion arises because two other institutions with similar-sounding duties work alongside it:

By community reports it is precisely at the boundaries between these three windows that people lose the most time: the questura asks you to register your residenza at the comune first, the comune sends you to the questura for a paper, and the nulla osta question depends on your motive.

Whenever someone asks about the nulla osta, I always check: is it for lavoro autonomo or for family reunification? They are different documents from different offices. For self-employment the nulla osta comes from the questura, for reunification from the prefettura via the Sportello Unico. Half of the questions in the chat are resolved at this step.

What the law says about the questura and the permesso

The questura's role is set out in articles 5 and 7 of the Testo unico sull'immigrazione (D.Lgs. 286/1998). Rules from the current text on normattiva.it (checked 12.10.2026):

When this matters and how to use it: the 90 days in paragraph 9 are a deadline the law sets for the questura, not a promise; once they have passed, cite them in a letter or PEC to the Ufficio Immigrazione (how people do it: PEC and accesso agli atti). The ricevuta under paragraph 9-bis is your document while you wait - keep it with your passport. The article 7 notice (cessione di fabbricato / dichiarazione di ospitalita) is filed by the host or landlord, while proof of housing (a rental contract or ospitalita) is something you bring yourself to the fingerprint appointment - see the document list below.

Source: normattiva.it, art. 5 D.Lgs. 286/1998 and art. 7 (checked 12.10.2026).

What the Ufficio Immigrazione does

The questura's immigration department is the very place where the fate of your residence permit is decided. In most cases you interact with it like this:

• Intake of the application. For most motives the permesso application is filed not at a window but by post via the postal kit; the post office forwards the envelope to the questura of your province, and from that moment you have a case (pratica) with a number.
• Fingerprints (impronte). The questura calls you in for fingerprints and a photo - a mandatory step both for the first permesso and for renewals.
• Document check. At the appointment they may ask for the originals of what was in the kit and for extra papers specific to your motive.
• Handing over the card (ritiro). The finished permesso is printed centrally and arrives at the questura, where it is collected in person.
• Nulla osta and applications for specific motives. For lavoro autonomo and some other grounds you go to the questura before the visa or right after entry - see the nulla osta guide.

By community reports the documents enclosed in the kit are often not looked at during the appointment at all - which is why people bring a full second set to fingerprints.

Once the kit is sent, the post office hands you a sheet with the date, time and address of the appointment at the questura - that is your summons to the immigration police. We brought a 3 by 4 photo for each family member, and it came in handy: they asked for them on the spot.

When a foreigner goes to the questura in person

Putting together a typical cycle from community experience, there are usually three in-person visits:

The rule is simple: go to whoever made the mistake. If the permesso was printed with the wrong place of birth, that is the questura, and nobody else will fix it. If the error is on the carta d'identita, that is the anagrafe at the comune. Going round in circles between them and hoping one office will correct the other's paper is useless, we tested that ourselves.

How to book: Prenota Facile, walk-in queue, letter

There is no single rule, and this is the main source of questions in the chats. What works by community reports:

• Prenota Facile - the official booking service on the police website (prenotafacile.poliziadistato.it). In a number of questure it is used to book certain services and to move the fingerprint date. But the set of services varies: in some places, for instance, a nulla osta confirmation cannot be booked through it and you have to write an email. A detailed guide is in the article on Prenota Facile.
• Walk-in queue with numbered tickets. Some questure open a window without booking on set days; tickets are handed out before opening, and you need to arrive early in the morning.
• Email or PEC. Some questure accept requests only in writing. By community accounts a reply is sometimes weeks away, so write early and keep copies.

The questura website: where to look

A standalone "questura website" in the usual sense normally does not exist: every questura lives inside the official state police portal. The way to find yours:

1. Open questure.poliziadistato.it - the official portal of the Polizia di Stato questure.
2. Pick your province (not the town you live in, but the province it belongs to: Bresso, for instance, falls under Milan). Each questura has its own page inside the portal.
3. On the provincial page look for the Ufficio Immigrazione or Stranieri section: it publishes the address, opening hours, phone numbers and email/PEC addresses, plus notices about how booking works.
4. The permesso case status is checked through the same portal using the number on the postal ricevuta - see the guide on how to check the permesso status.

The thing worth knowing up front: the appointment channels on those pages differ by province. Some list only the official Prenota Facile, some an email or PEC address, some the days of a walk-in numbered queue. Notices and opening hours are changed without warning, so the official page of your own province is the only reliable source - not a retelling from a chat.

A city-by-city index with our notes is in the questura catalog: for each questura it collects the address, the intake procedure and community-reported waits, with a link to the official page. The timings and observations there are community-reported, not official.

What to bring to the questura

The exact list depends on the motive and the questura, but by community experience the basic set for fingerprints and for the ritiro looks like this:

• passport (original) and copies of all pages with stamps and the visa;
• the post-office ricevuta (original) and, if you have it, the sheet with the appointment date;
• a copy of the completed kit and all enclosures - a second set;
• 3 by 4 photos (not asked for everywhere, but better to have);
• documents for your motive: a rental contract or ospitalita, proof of income, for a family - certificates with apostille and translation;
• for a renewal - the old permesso.

You can assemble the allegati list for your motive in the tool:

Why the waits differ so much by city

The questura is a provincial body, and its speed is set by local load: the number of applicants, the staffing of the Ufficio Immigrazione, the presence of universities and large employers. That is why the same procedure, by community reports, takes weeks in one city and over a year in another. There are no official waiting statistics.

It all depends on the specific questura and how loaded it is. If there are lots of universities nearby, brace for a long wait. A small provincial questura can turn around in a couple of months what takes a year in a big city.

We gather community experience by city in two places:

• the questura catalog - city cards: waits for fingerprints and the card, quirks and members' accounts;
• the questura speed index - a quarterly ranking from fastest to slowest.

All figures there are community-reported, not official: a guide, not a guarantee.

Timelines by Cities in Italy in 2026: Real Data

How long to actually wait for a permesso in 2026 - and in which city is it the fastest?

Below are real data from the Russian-speaking immigrant community, collected from 200 messages for the years 2025-2026. These are not "average times" from the official website - these are specific cases with dates.

The range is from 20 days (Pescara, fingerprints) to 3 years (Bolzano). On average for the data in 2026: from KIT to permesso is 3-8 months. Pescara and small towns are the fastest. Milan ranges from 75 days to 18 months.

Pescara, lavoro autonomo for me. KIT sent by mail on October 15. Fingerprints on November 4. Permesso ready on January 22, issued on January 30. For 3 years. Extremely pleasant impressions of Italian bureaucracy.

Guys received a residence permit for extending a nomad visa. During the fingerprints for the extension, they asked to show an open P.IVA, income was confirmed with a Russian declaration. They extended for 1 year from the expiration date of the first residence permit - although they paid the receipt for the KIT for 2 years, it didn't work out.

What documents are required for fingerprints in 2026

What to bring to the questura for fingerprints - and does the list differ by city?

Basic set (everywhere)

• Passport - Original + copy
• Receipt from the post office - Poste Italiane receipt
• KIT (booklet) - That same white envelope
• Rental contract - Not always required for the first fingerprints - but better to have
• Photographs - Sometimes needed, sometimes not - take them just in case

Additional requests by city

When extending residence permit in 2026 - what is requested

Documents for extension

• Open Partita IVA - In 2026, questuras actively ask for this when extending DN and LA
• Income declaration - Italian or foreign (Russian declaration accepted)
• Rental contract (registered) - Valid, at Agenzia delle Entrate
• Insurance - For a year; the community quotes coverage of around 30,000 EUR with no deductible - this is not an official threshold, verify the current requirement with your questura
• Bank statement - The community reports being asked for a balance of around ~9,000 EUR; the amount depends on the motive and the questura, verify the current details

How to Track the Status of Your Permesso

What do the icons on the police website mean - and why doesn't the SMS always arrive?

Check status: website questure.poliziadistato.it

The icon reading is a community observation. The full breakdown of the statuses on both sites (the police site and Portale Immigrazione, in istruttoria, pratica non presente in archivio and so on) is in how to check your permesso status.

The permesso arrived, it was at the questura from the expiration date of the ricevuta - 9 months. The website showed a cross, and no SMS arrived. I found out by chance at the ASL when replacing my tessera.

Typical Problems in the Questura

1. The application is "stuck" for months

In Guidonia (a suburb of Rome) - 7+ months in "in trattazione" status. Some questuras are overloaded, and cases just sit. Solution: go in person, write PEC letters.

2. Country code 135 (USSR) instead of 154 (Russia)

The questura may enter code 135 (USSR) for those born before 1991. This affects the Codice Fiscale, insurance rates, and online services. Solution: request a correction at the questura when receiving the permesso.

3. Non-alphabetic codice fiscale

The questura creates a numerical CF to send the application to Rome. This code does not work in banks. Solution: obtain a proper CF from Agenzia delle Entrate and merge the codes.

4. Renewal for 1 year instead of 2

Even if you paid for a KIT for 2 years - the questura may only renew for 1 year. This depends on motivation and income, not on the amount paid.

5. Place of birth "Russia" instead of "USSR"

The permesso may indicate the wrong place of birth. Pay attention when receiving it - correcting it later is more complicated.

Extension of Residence Permit in 2026: What Has Changed

For how long is the residence permit extended and what new requirements are there for extension in 2026?

Life Hacks by City

How to speed up the process at the questura and where is the most convenient reception day?

• Pescara - the fastest questura according to community data. Fingerprints taken 20 days after KIT, permesso in about 3 months.
• Asti - open on Saturdays, the queue is almost empty on Saturday. A good option for residents of Piedmont.
• Milan - wait times range from 75 days to 18 months; the chats hold that some questura offices are faster than others, but that is community lore, not a rule - check which office your address maps to on the official page.
• Genoa - get a paper ticket (not electronic), good results with persistent visits.
• Ventimiglia - no entry without an appointment, make sure to book in advance.

We kept going to ask them where the plastic was. 'Wait.' They gave it to us after 5 months. But for those who don't go - they get it after 9.

Takeaways

1. The questura is the provincial police headquarters; for a foreigner it is above all the Ufficio Immigrazione, which handles the permesso di soggiorno.
2. The comune is responsible for residence registration and the carta d'identita, the prefettura for family reunification, integration and citizenship. An error is fixed where it was made.
3. There are usually three in-person visits: fingerprints, ritiro and specific occasions such as the nulla osta.
4. Your questura's website is found on questure.poliziadistato.it by province; the booking method depends on the questura: Prenota Facile, a numbered walk-in queue or a letter.
5. Bring a full second set of documents and photos to fingerprints.
6. Waits differ by city several-fold - compare community experience in the questura catalog and the official case status online.

Related articles

Official sources

• questure.poliziadistato.it - pages of all questure: addresses, Ufficio Immigrazione hours, permesso status check.
• prenotafacile.poliziadistato.it - official booking of questura appointments.
• portaleimmigrazione.it - case status by the number on the postal receipt.
• interno.gov.it - Ministry of the Interior: rules on the permesso di soggiorno and the Sportello Unico.
• normattiva.it - art. 5 and 7 D.Lgs. 286/1998: deadlines to apply, renew and decide on a permesso (checked 12.10.2026).

Frequently asked questions

What is the questura in plain words?

The questura is the provincial headquarters of the Italian state police. For a foreigner the part that matters is the Ufficio Immigrazione, the department that receives permesso di soggiorno applications, takes fingerprints and hands over the finished card. This is not legal advice.

How does the questura differ from the comune and the prefettura?

The questura is the police; it handles your permesso. The comune is the municipality: registration of residence (residenza), the carta d'identita, the anagrafe. The prefettura is the government's territorial office: the Sportello Unico for family reunification, the integration agreement, citizenship. In community experience people are often sent back and forth between these three windows, so it pays to know in advance who is responsible for what.

When does a foreigner have to go to the questura in person?

By community experience usually three times per cycle: for fingerprints (impronte) after filing the kit, to collect the finished card (ritiro), and for certain motives - for a nulla osta or a document check. Dates arrive by letter, SMS or email and are also visible on questure.poliziadistato.it and portaleimmigrazione.it.

Where is the questura website in Italy?

Every questura has its own page inside the official portal questure.poliziadistato.it - with the address, Ufficio Immigrazione opening hours and contacts; the same portal is where the case status is checked. A questura normally has no separate standalone website, and the appointment channels listed on those pages differ by province, so check the page of your own questura.

How do you book an appointment at the questura?

For a number of services the official Prenota Facile service works (prenotafacile.poliziadistato.it), but by community reports the set of available services depends on the questura: some require an email or PEC, some run a walk-in queue with numbered tickets on set days. The fingerprint date for the kit is set by the questura itself - you do not book it.

Why is the fingerprint wait a month in one city and a year in another?

By community reports it all comes down to the load on the specific questura: big cities, provinces with universities and hubs with a large applicant flow run slower, while small questure are sometimes markedly faster. There are no official statistics, so we gather community experience by city in the questura catalog and the quarterly speed index.

Related materials - After arrival

• After arrival in Italy
• Kit permesso: how to file within 8 days
• Codice fiscale and residenza: the order
• Cambio residenza: changing registration

Next stepFill the KIT (Mod. 209)On the real form

Documents for this topic

• Official form Mod. 209 - application for permesso di soggiorno (Kit Permesso)
• Documents for kit postale by Main Types of permesso di soggiorno
• Cambio residenza in Turin: documents, the Comune checklist (Mod. APR/4)