Leaving Italy on a permesso: 6 months and renewal

Renewing the permesso is, according to the community, a not-too-complicated procedure, but it is easy to trip up on: now the appuntamento is scheduled after the old card has expired, now the questura gives a shorter term than the one paid for, now the rule on long absence from Italy surfaces, because of which the renewal may be refused. The first permesso is usually issued for 1-2 years, and its term ends sooner than it seems. Let us break it down step by step, what to do and when. This is not legal advice - always verify the deadlines, fees and questura practice on the official websites.

The step-by-step mechanics of renewal (KIT, documents, ricevuta, fingerprints, timeline) are covered in the main article on renewing the permesso. This one is about what surrounds it: the long-absence rule, the term of the new card, being overdue and the 183-day confusion.

In brief: community data. The key benchmarks on deadlines and absence (figures are community-reported and from the legislation, verify current rules):

• Filing window. From 4 June 2026 (D.Lgs 83/2026) the benchmark shifted from 60 to 90 days before the card expires; the same 90-day term is now given to the questura for its decision. Verify the current text on interno.gov.it / normattiva.it.
• Being overdue is a different rule. If the card has expired by more than 60 days and no KIT has been filed, the stay is treated as illegal. That rule is about being late; it did not change and is unrelated to the filing window.
• Absence for PR (lungo periodo). Discussions consistently name two limits: no more than 6 months in a row abroad and no more than 10 months in total over the five-year period.
• 6 months is not 183 days. The 183-day marker is confused with renewal in the chats, though it applies only to tax residency - for the card what counts is the continuity of absence, not the sum of days per year.
• Appuntamento spread. The fingerprint date is reported anywhere from one month to 8-13 months after the KIT is filed; a delayed appointment does not by itself break your status while the ricevuta is on you.
• Readiness SMS. By members' impressions it arrives far from always (often only in roughly one case out of three to five), so people more often check the status themselves.

Renewal: the filing window and the steps

When to file (from June 2026 the benchmark is 90 days before the card expires under D.Lgs 83/2026, it used to be 60), how to get the KIT at the post office, what to enclose, what it costs and what happens after the ricevuta are covered in the main article how to renew a permesso di soggiorno. One distinction matters here: 90 days is a "no later than" benchmark, and filing earlier is fine; being more than 60 days overdue with no KIT filed is a separate rule, after which the stay counts as irregular. The timeline helps plan the stages for your city.

For how long it will be renewed and why the term is sometimes shorter

The term of the new permesso, according to the community, is often counted not from the date of issue but from the expiry date of the previous card. So even with a fast issue the new term may start backdated. Another nuance: a fee paid for 2 years does not guarantee a card for exactly 2 years - the questura decides at its discretion, and on the first renewal a shorter term is often given.

By participants' accounts it has happened like this: the fee was paid for 2 years, but the permesso was issued roughly up to the expiry date of the rental contract, that is, a little over a year, after which one had to renew again. At the same time in other cases the first permesso came out a little longer than two years, and on renewal the person got exactly three years - up to the expiry date of the old card.

I applied for renewal in July, gave fingerprints in December, and got a card with a term a little over a year

• they tied it to the expiry date of my contract. I paid as if for two years, and a few months later I am back in the queues and paying the fee again. The logic is hard to grasp.

We, on the contrary, were lucky with the terms. The starting card was issued with a margin over two years, and on renewal they measured out a whole three years, hitting the expiry date of the old document. We worked it out: shortly before this card itself expires, the five-year threshold will be reached, and the road to the lungo periodo residence permit will open.

If you want to request the maximum term, some participants write the desired number of years into the KIT by hand (for example, 3 anni), but the result is not guaranteed - it is just a request, not a right.

What the term depends on at all is a near-eternal question in the chats, and there is no single answer. According to the community, the same people on the same motivo have received now one year, now two, now three; sometimes the term was tied to the expiry date of insurance or a rental contract, sometimes not. Separately, in discussions the idea has surfaced of a law that would unload the questuras with a scheme of "first permesso for 2 years, then immediately a renewal for 3 years", but relying on this as a ready-made rule is not worth it - verify the current details.

On the same motivo my first permesso was given for a year. I applied for renewal, gathered exactly the same package - and again it was issued for just a year. I never caught any visible logic: neither insurance nor the contract explained anything here. It seems much is decided by the specific questura.

What to update along with the permesso?

When the card is renewed, according to the community, the related documents and statuses usually need to be pulled along with it:

• Tessera sanitaria (health insurance) often ends together with the permesso - it is renewed at the ASL on the ricevuta and appuntamento; sometimes a paper version is issued straight away and the plastic is sent by letter later.
• Residenza (registration): in some comuni you need to notify the Anagrafe office of the renewal, otherwise the residenza may be suspended; in others everything happens automatically - check with your comune.
• Banks: some banks temporarily block topping up the account with an expired permesso until you upload the new document or carta d'identita. Spending operations usually still work in the meantime.
• Codice fiscale: on renewal it is worth checking that the system holds your normal alphabetic codice and not a numeric workaround version, otherwise the problem will drag on to the next term (more on this below).

While the permesso was expired and the card had not yet arrived, one bank temporarily stopped accepting top-ups. It was resolved by uploading the carta d'identita and a copy of the ricevuta. The tessera sanitaria at the ASL was renewed in literally ten minutes, they gave a paper one, the plastic came by letter later.

The rule on long absence from Italy

A separate and important topic is how long you can be absent from Italy without risking the permesso. According to the community, a long continuous absence from the country can become grounds for refusing a renewal, and it hits especially hard those aiming for the five-year lungo periodo permesso (permanent residence). In discussions it is precisely for permanent residence that the benchmarks are cited: no more than 6 months in a row abroad and no more than 10 months in total over the whole five-year period.

According to the community, the five-year record for permanent residence is counted from the issue of the very first permesso - the date of registration at the place of residence in the comune does not serve as the starting point here. Besides continuity of presence, for the five-year card they usually expect a stable income over the recent years and a certificate of Italian level A2 (it is sometimes taken right at the questura or at a school). The exact rules on absence are linked in discussions to Presidential Decree (DPR) No. 394, but you cannot rely on a retelling without checking against the primary source.

Long absences are a common cause of problems precisely at the five-year threshold. If a person spent most of the year outside Italy, by the time of applying for lungo periodo this surfaces. There are exceptions for valid reasons, but it is not something to count on in advance: it is easier not to accumulate long breaks.

I saw a question in the chats from someone who was refused the five-year residence permit precisely because of too long an absence from Italy. They were worried whether they could at least keep renewing the card annually. The moral is simple: it is better to protect continuity of presence from early on.

A separate subtlety is the ordinary annual renewal (not the road to permanent residence). According to the community, here another benchmark is often cited: for the card to be renewed, you should not be absent from Italy for more than half the term of the permesso itself. Participants do not give a single strict rule, and for different motivi the practice varies: for example, on residenza elettiva some assure you that you need to spend no less than half a year in the country, while others say that for this motivo there is no mandatory minimum presence and their acquaintances renew while living in Italy less. This is the zone where it is especially important to check your own motivo against the primary source rather than measure yourself against someone else's case.

Another practical point precisely for those who are away for long stretches: according to the community, the ricevuta itself may over time stop being "readable" in the system (go to the archive), and then at the border on return there may be extra questions - especially if you are already missing the next fingerprint date, which means you have been absent for a long time. This does not deprive you of the "residence permit under renewal" status, but it is a reason not to stretch absences beyond measure.

The minimum presence depends heavily on the motivo, and this is the main trap of forum advice. What passes calmly for someone on residenza elettiva with passive income may not work for someone renewing for work or study. Do not transfer someone else's "it worked for me" to your own case - check the requirements of your own type of permesso.

This is not legal advice. The specific deadlines, thresholds and exceptions depend on your motivo and situation

• verify the current details on the official websites.

The 6-month rule or 183 days: what is the difference?

This is where confusion most often arises. The 183-day marker in Italy is discussed by people in relation to tax residency, not to permesso renewal. These are different rules:

• For the permesso and permanent residence what matters is the continuity of absence (the benchmark is no more than 6 months in a row abroad for lungo periodo), not the sum of days over the year.
• For taxes you become a tax resident of Italy if you spend more than 183 days in the country in a year OR if your centre of vital interests is in Italy. The criteria are broader and counted differently.

That is, you can formally fall short of tax residency by days but still fall under it through the centre of vital interests - and vice versa. Both rules are better verified against the primary sources and, on the tax part, discussed with a commercialista.

I separately battled with the accountant so they would not record me as a tax resident through the centre of vital interests: the high-rate option was not at all appealing. In the end I won. But this story has nothing to do with the permesso - there they count precisely the continuity of departures, not the days.

If you are planning a move in the second half of the year or with long absences, the income and tax calculator will help you estimate the tax side, and the rules on travelling on the ricevuta are a separate material below.

Can you travel while waiting for the new card?

Yes, and this is one of the most common questions. According to the community, with the original ricevuta confirming submission for renewal and an expired permesso people calmly fly to and from Italy to non-Schengen countries (for example, Russia, Armenia, Serbia, Azerbaijan). But leaving for another Schengen country on just the ricevuta is not allowed - that is already a violation.

Benchmarks from the community and the Ministry of the Interior circulars:

• flying to/from Italy and to non-Schengen countries with an expired permesso and a valid ricevuta - allowed;
• transit or entry through another Schengen country on this set of documents - not allowed;
• the border guard looks at the original ricevuta, the original expired permesso and a valid passport, and often checks the status of the application in their system.

I flew from Yerevan to Italy with an expired card: I showed the yellow ricevuta, they also asked for the A4 sheet that comes with it. I had only a photo of that sheet - the officer showed it to a colleague, she nodded, all good. In Italy on entry no questions at all.

It is convenient to check routes and acceptable sets of documents in the check on travel on the ricevuta

• it collects typical scenarios. A detailed breakdown is in the material on travelling with the ricevuta and the risks.

If the card is stuck: status, SMS and what to do

After the fingerprints the status of the application is checked on the questuras' portal (questure.poliziadistato.it). According to the community, the icons are read like this: an orange cross - the application has been taken into processing, a green check - the card is ready for issue, a red cross or an empty result - the case has not yet been entered into the system or something is wrong with it.

The SMS about readiness does not always come - by participants' impressions in roughly one in five to one in three cases it is simply absent, and the plastic can lie at the questura unclaimed for months. So it is not worth relying on the SMS alone.

What helps, from community experience:

• come to the questura in person during reception hours and take a paper slip for information (it is given one-and-a-half to two months ahead) - that is often how people find out the card is already ready;
• check Saturday hours: in some places the Saturday queue is much shorter than on weekdays;
• if more than 180 days have already passed, write to the questura by PEC in the form of a sollecito (reminders about a dragged-out case);
• for difficult southern questuras many advise an immigration lawyer with connections in the specific office.

No message was sent to us, even though the plastic was by that point already calmly waiting for us at the office. It came out only when I came myself and took a number at the information window. Now I do not count on notifications at all: once every two or three weeks I either check the status online or go and ask in person.

The spread of appuntamento dates can be wild even within one city. According to the community, some get a fingerprint date a couple of months after submitting the KIT, while others at the same questura are scheduled for an appointment more than a year later - sometimes past the expiry date of the current card or even past the end of study. This in itself is not an error: as long as the submission was on time and you hold the ricevuta, you remain in the process.

I applied for renewal in January, and they gave me a fingerprint date a whole thirteen months later - by then I will already have finished university, and the old card will have long expired. At first I grabbed my head, but in the chat they reassured me: as long as the KIT went out on time and the receipt is in hand, the status is not lost, you just have to wait and carry the ricevuta with you.

A separate stumbling block is an error in the country-of-birth code for those born in the USSR: instead of the correct code for those born in the USSR, the Russia code is sometimes entered, and because of this the issue of the card may be blocked by the central printing office in Rome. According to the community, correcting such a code is started through the comune (it has priority), and when submitting the KIT in the country-of-birth code field they advise entering SUN. If the questura once generated for you a numeric codice fiscale without letters, it is worth merging it with the normal one at the Agenzia delle Entrate, otherwise the problem will recur at the next renewal.

Common questions and myths

• "You must apply for renewal strictly on the last day" - no, the KIT is sent in advance: from June 2026 (D.Lgs 83/2026) the benchmark is no later than 90 days before expiry.
• "If the appuntamento is after the end of the card I am illegal" - no, as long as the submission was on time and you hold the ricevuta.
• "I paid for 2 years - they will give exactly 2 years" - not necessarily, the term is at the questura's discretion.
• "183 days is about the permesso" - no, it is about tax residency; for the card they count the continuity of absence.
• "With the ricevuta you can fly anywhere" - to non-Schengen yes, via another Schengen country no.

Related articles

• Renewing the permesso: KIT and timing - the main article on the renewal mechanics step by step: KIT, documents, ricevuta, fingerprints, timeline.
• KIT-postale for permesso - the first submission via the post office.
• Travelling with the ricevuta and the risks - the rules of travel while you wait for the card.
• Codice fiscale and residenza - registration and codice on renewal.
• Residence permit lavoro autonomo: steps and deadlines - income for renewal on this motivo.
• The road to permanent residence and citizenship - the five-year lungo periodo permesso and the absence rule.
• Tools: timeline, check on travel on the ricevuta, KIT builder, document assembler.

Official sources

• questure.poliziadistato.it - the questuras' portal (renewal, appuntamento, application status).
• interno.gov.it - Italian Ministry of the Interior (permesso rules, exit and return).
• portaleimmigrazione.it - the immigration portal (submission and status).
• poste.it - Poste Italiane (KIT for renewal, fees, ricevuta).
• normattiva.it - the official text of legislation (rules on stay and absence).
• agenziaentrate.gov.it - Agenzia delle Entrate (codice fiscale).
• salute.gov.it - Italian Ministry of Health (tessera sanitaria, ASL).

Frequently asked questions

How many days before the permesso expires should I apply for renewal?

From June 2026 (D.Lgs 83/2026) the benchmark is no later than 90 days before the card's expiry date; before that the law said 60 days. Filing earlier is allowed. The appuntamento at the questura is often scheduled even after the card's expiry date - this is normal as long as you hold the ricevuta confirming submission. Verify the current details on interno.gov.it and normattiva.it.

Can I leave Italy for a long time without losing the permesso?

According to the community, a long continuous absence from Italy can become grounds for refusing a permesso renewal, and for permanent residence the benchmark cited is no more than 6 months in a row abroad. Verify the exact rules and exceptions on normattiva.it and interno.gov.it - this is not legal advice.

What does the 183-day rule mean and what has it got to do with the permesso?

According to the community, the 183-day marker in Italy relates to tax residency, not to permesso renewal. For the card what matters is the continuity of absence, for taxes it is the sum of days over the year plus the centre of vital interests. These are different rules, verify both against primary sources - this is not legal advice.

For how many years is the permesso renewed?

According to the community, the first permesso is usually issued for 1-2 years, and a subsequent one for 2-3 years, but the questura decides at its discretion. It happens that the fee is paid for 2 years but a shorter card is issued (often up to the expiry date of the rental contract). Verify the current details.

Can I leave Italy on just the ricevuta while waiting for the card?

According to the community, with the original ricevuta and an expired permesso people fly to and from Italy to non-Schengen countries; you cannot do this via another Schengen country. Check against the rules on interno.gov.it - this is not legal advice.

What happens if I do not apply for renewal and let the permesso lapse by more than 60 days?

This is a separate rule about being overdue, not to be confused with the filing benchmark (90 days before expiry from June 2026, D.Lgs 83/2026). According to the community, if the card is overdue by more than 60 days and a renewal was never filed, the person is considered to be present illegally. So early submission is safe, dragging it out is dangerous. Verify the exact rules and penalties on interno.gov.it - this is not legal advice.

How long can I be absent from Italy during an ordinary annual renewal?

According to the community, for an ordinary renewal a benchmark is often cited - not to be absent for more than half the term of the permesso itself, but participants do not give a single strict rule, and for different motivi the practice differs (for example, on residenza elettiva opinions on the minimum presence diverge). Verify the requirements of your own motivo on normattiva.it - this is not legal advice.

Is it true that from 2026 you apply for permesso renewal 90 days ahead?

Yes. Legislative decree 83/2026 (GU no. 115 of 20 May 2026, in force from 4 June 2026) amended art. 5 par. 4 of the Testo unico: the words "60 days before expiry" were replaced with "90 days". The same 90-day period is now given to the questura to decide. Applying later does not make you illegal while the card is still valid, but it is better to work to the new deadline. Check the text on normattiva.it - this is not legal advice.

Related materials - Status, travel and renewal

• Permesso status: section and tools
• Travel on the ricevuta: leaving and re-entering Italy
• How to check your permesso status
• Prenota Facile 2026: booking the questura

Next stepTravel & re-entry on the ricevutaCan you leave and re-enter Italy while the permesso renews? A check based on the MVD circulars.

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)
• Template application for renewal of residence permit for self-employed (lavoro autonomo, Art. 4 DL 20/23)