Travel on the ricevuta: leaving and re-entering Italy

The ricevuta is a Poste Italiane receipt issued after submitting the KIT for the permesso or for its renewal. While the plastic card is being prepared, the ricevuta confirms that you are legally present in Italy, and it is precisely what you need for travelling on the ricevuta abroad and back. The main question for everyone is the same: can you leave with it and calmly return. The short answer, according to the community, is more often yes, but with important caveats, and this is not legal advice.

If you are only just figuring out what the ricevuta is and where it comes from, start with the article on KIT-postale for permesso: the KIT is submitted at the post office soon after entry on the visa D - by law this is about 8 days (check on portaleimmigrazione.it), and that very receipt ends up in hand straight away.

In brief: community data. A quick read of the community's discussions on travelling with a ricevuta (figures and shares are approximate, community-reported, always verify current rules):

• Trusted hubs. As safe non-Schengen layovers the chats most often name four routes: Turkey (Istanbul), Yerevan, Belgrade and Baku - provided the final entry is into Italy itself.
• Where the scheme breaks. Almost everyone describes the Italian border as a "green light"; refusals happen not there but at the check-in desk abroad - especially on direct flights from Central Asian hubs.
• First permesso (visa D + first ricevuta, no card yet). The most contested case: with a valid visa D successful boardings are reported more often than refusals, but once the visa has expired, reports from September 2026 show more refusals on connecting flights - airlines fear the cost of a deportation.
• Exit stamp. Members strongly advise getting the exit stamp not only in the passport but on the ricevuta itself: on the way back it confirms you left after filing. Since 10.04.2026 tourists are no longer stamped; holders of a valid permesso still are by law (art. 4(1-quater) TU), but the law says nothing about the ricevuta, so keep your boarding pass too.
• A live visa settles the question. While a visa D or a tourist visa is still valid, the ricevuta is often not even looked at - trouble starts exactly when the visa has expired and the card is not out yet.

Can you leave Italy on the ricevuta?

The short answer from the Interior Ministry circulars: yes, you can leave and come back on the ricevuta for a renewal or a first permesso, provided you carry a valid passport and (for renewals) the original of the old permesso, or (for a first issue) the visa D. The conditions in the circulars: leave and return only through an Italian external border and with no transit via other Schengen states. Below are a decision guide, the legal basis, the document list and the situations where the risk of boarding refusal is higher.

Decision guide: what the border and the airline accept

The rules below come from texts published on poliziadistato.it and questure.poliziadistato.it (the Interior Ministry directive of 05.08.2006 and the circular of 28.07.2008), the DPS circulars of 16.04.2010 and 02.12.2016 (not published on Interior Ministry sites, the scan is in the library) and art. 8 of DPR 394/1999 on normattiva.it, all checked on 30.09.2026. They bind the Italian border police, not an airline abroad: the carrier decides for itself, so the risk is almost always at the check-in desk.

In short, step by step:

1. Is the card valid? Fly as normal, Schengen transit is allowed.
2. The card has expired, but the renewal was filed on time and you hold the ricevuta? Fly via non-Schengen countries landing in Italy; carry the passport, the ricevuta, the original of the old card and a copy of it.
3. Waiting for a first permesso? While the visa D is valid there are fewer questions. Once it has expired, expect a possible boarding refusal or ask for a reingresso in advance.
4. The card expired or went missing abroad without a filing? Only a re-entry visa.

The re-entry visa (visto di reingresso). It is a visa to return to Italy; the consulate issues it only after the consent (nulla osta) of your questura. On the page of the Italian consulate in Paris (esteri.it, checked on 30.09.2026): booking through Prenot@mi, a 116 euro fee, processing of up to 90 days, and the application includes a copy of the permesso, a statement explaining your situation with the date you left Italy and, after a loss, a copy of the police report. Other consulates have their own procedure and timing - check your own.

What the chats report (July-September 2026)

In three months two open Russian-language chats about Italy carried about 25 messages on flying with a ricevuta and about 20 on the re-entry visa. Retold without names; these are people's reports, not rules:

• July-August, Moscow - Baku - Milan (Azal): twice boarded with an expired card and the ricevuta; once the ricevuta had expired too, but the traveller had screenshots of the positive renewal decision. At Malpensa the ricevuta was not even asked for.
• Late August, Dubai - Rome: a family with an expired ricevuta was boarded; the only question was about a child under 14 not listed on the parent's ricevuta. The airline queried the immigration police in Rome and the answer came in about an hour.
• September, Yerevan - Rome (Wizz Air): a passenger's card and ricevuta had both expired. An airline agent contacted the Italian border police, who gave the go-ahead, but the wait took about an hour and a half - arrive at check-in with plenty of time.
• September, first permesso: several people write that with an expired visa D and a first-permesso ricevuta they are not boarded on connecting flights, while an expired card plus the ricevuta works. One was told by a consulate that no reingresso is needed in that case, and the airline sent them back to the consulate.
• Re-entry visa: waits in the chats range from a few weeks to months; in one case (expired permit, medical grounds) from filing in early April to issue in mid-August. People write that it all depends on the questura's reply and that for a first permesso it is given reluctantly without strong reasons.

What does the law say about travelling on the ricevuta?

The right of a lawfully residing foreigner to temporarily leave Italy and return on just the ricevuta confirming permesso renewal is enshrined not in chat rumours but in the regulatory documents of the Ministry of the Interior. It is useful to cite them if questions arise at the border.

• The Ministry of the Interior circular of 16 June 2007 (protocol 400/C/2007/2468/P/14.201) directly allows a short-term exit and return on the Poste Italiane receipt confirming submission for renewal of the permesso or the long-term resident card.
• D.Lgs. 286/1998, Article 5, paragraph 9-bis states that during the period of reviewing the renewal (nelle more del rinnovo) your rights are preserved - until a refusal or cancellation is issued on the case.
• The Ministry of the Interior directive of 5 August 2006 clarifies the same point: the very waiting does not nullify your guarantees - you can lose them only when the filed case is rejected, cancelled, or you withdraw it. The same text (published on questure.poliziadistato.it) sets the travel conditions: the same border crossing on exit and return, no transit via other Schengen states, a passport, the ricevuta and a copy of the expired permesso (the original stays with the questura), and an exit stamp in the passport and on the ricevuta.
• The circular of 28 July 2008 (400/C/2008, published on poliziadistato.it) extended the same conditions to those waiting for a first permesso for work, self-employment or family reunification - with the passport and the visa D.
• The DPS circulars of 16.04.2010 (400/C/2010/2506) and 02.12.2016 (Prot. 0047382), sent to the questure and the border police, are the latest known version of the rules for a renewal ricevuta. The 2010 circular allowed returning through a different Italian crossing from the one used on exit. The 2016 circular ended travel with only a copy of the expired permesso (a copy is easier to forge): the original is required, and exit and return go only through an Italian external border, with no Schengen transit. These texts are not published on Interior Ministry sites; the scan that circulates in the chats is in the library (checked on 30.09.2026). Chat messages (February 2026) also say that the border checks the original of the expired card.
• DPR 394/1999, article 8 - when you cannot return without a re-entry visa: the permesso expired abroad (by no more than 60 days) or was lost or stolen.

People are afraid of the words "expired permesso", but legally you are not in illegal status: while the renewal is under review, your rights apply by law. The ricevuta is itself proof that the process is under way. Print out the Ministry of the Interior circular of 2007 and keep it on you - once it cleared up questions for an officer who was seeing the document for the first time.

There is also the separate story with airlines. Their systems (for example, Timatic) follow their own boarding rules: for a return they usually expect the pair of ricevuta plus expired permesso, and for the first permesso - the ricevuta plus visa D and passport. The key caveat here is this: both departure and return are tied to Italy's own border crossings, and you cannot transfer somewhere else within the Schengen zone.

Why must you enter the EU through Italy?

The most common and most important advice in the chats sounds like this: when travelling on the ricevuta (especially when you have an expired permesso plus a fresh receipt confirming renewal) the first country of entry into Schengen must be Italy itself. The logic is simple - the ricevuta is an internal Italian document, and it is understood above all by the Italian border. If you try to enter Schengen through another EU country, they may not accept your receipt there as grounds for entry, and that is already treated as a violation.

My wife left and returned several times: the plastic was expired, but she had the receipt with the questura appointment date in hand. It worked reliably, but on one condition - the first country in Schengen was always Italy. We did not even consider attempts to enter through a neighbouring EU country, this is warned about everywhere.

So routes are built so that a direct or transit flight lands in Italy. Transfers in non-EU countries - large hubs like Istanbul, Belgrade, Yerevan or Baku - count separately: there you do not cross the Schengen border, only the final entry matters.

Friends told me that outside Schengen they fuss little over such a set of papers. The Armenian capital: there the controller, in front of me, opened the police resource and checked how my file was progressing. With the Turks and the Serbs it all came down to a fleeting look at the passport with the receipt - and they let me through. But you absolutely must finish in Italy, otherwise the scheme falls apart.

We returned via Baku with an expired permesso and a fresh receipt confirming renewal - at the transfer not a single question. The only small thing: online check-in with the local airline in Moscow did not open, we did it at the counter. So build in time and do not count on a quick check-in from home.

I flew Milan - Egypt and back with an expired permesso and the receipt. The Italians let me out and back in without a hitch. But on the return the Egyptians additionally asked to show the postal receipt for payment of the annual permesso (that very red one) and confirmation of the fingerprint appointment. Good thing I took it all with me and did not leave it at home.

It is important to keep the other side in mind too: there are no guarantees anywhere. According to the community, there was a case where a person was not allowed onto a direct flight to Milan from a large Central Asian hub precisely on just the receipt. So people choose proven directions (via Turkey, Armenia, Serbia, Baku) not by chance, and the riskiest stretch is always the check-in counter at departure, not the Italian border.

I asked to put a stamp on the receipt when leaving Italy - the officer shrugged, as if it was not needed, but slapped the stamp on anyway. On re-entry it was precisely by this mark that they verified I had left after applying for renewal. So I would keep an eye on the exit stamp, it definitely will not hurt.

Before buying tickets, run your case through the check on travel on the ricevuta - the tool relies on the same Ministry of the Interior circulars and gives hints for typical routes:

What to take with you to the border?

The minimum set the community advises is better printed in advance and kept at hand, not in the depths of the suitcase.

• The original ricevuta (Poste Italiane receipt) and a copy of it.
• That A4-format paper issued together with the receipt (it is sometimes asked for separately).
• Your passport and, if already issued, the carta d'identita.
• The appuntamento - the questura appointment for fingerprints - the original and a copy.
• The original of the expired permesso and a copy of it, if the new one has not yet been received (since the circular of 02.12.2016 a copy alone is not enough).

I flew home through a large transit airport with an expired residence permit and the renewal receipt. At the counter they asked to show that very accompanying A4-format paper - I had only a photo on my phone. The officer took the phone to a colleague, she nodded, and that was all. But I deliberately took a flight arriving on a weekday during the day, so that there would be time for a check if needed.

Why are a weekday and daytime so important? According to the community, border guards at popular transit points most often already know what a ricevuta is and let you through. But there is always a chance that an officer will want to clarify the status and will call the Italian consulate. You can only get through during weekday working hours - so it is risky to take tickets arriving on weekends or deep at night, especially with an expired document.

Example: travel on the ricevuta step by step

Let us work through a typical scenario on a hypothetical example (the names and details are synthetic, this is an illustration, not an instruction for your case - verify the current details on interno.gov.it and with the carrier). Say Mark has a permesso up for renewal: the plastic is already expired by date, but the KIT was filed on time, and he holds a fresh ricevuta with the appuntamento date. He needs to fly to Russia and return to Italy.

1. Build the route through a non-Schengen hub. Avoid the "through a neighbouring EU country" option: the return into Schengen must be only through Italy. Mark takes a set of flights with a transfer in, for example, Istanbul, Yerevan or Belgrade and a final arrival in Italy. He keeps a return ticket in hand - it is sometimes asked for at the counter.
2. Assemble the package in advance and print it. The original ricevuta and a copy; that accompanying A4 paper from the set; the passport; the appuntamento (original and copy); the expired permesso. It is useful to print out the Ministry of the Interior circular of 16 June 2007 too - it is cited if an officer sees the document for the first time.
3. Exit from Italy - ask for the stamp on the ricevuta. The 2006 directive says the stamp goes both in the passport and on the receipt itself. Since 10.04.2026 tourists are no longer stamped, and the law on stamping residents (art. 4(1-quater) TU) speaks of a valid permesso, not of the receipt, so Mark asks for a mark on the ricevuta and keeps his boarding pass - on the way back the exit date confirms that he left after applying for renewal.
4. The transfer outside Schengen. At the transit hub you do not cross the Schengen border, so they fuss little over the package: usually they look at the passport with the receipt, sometimes open the police resource and check the file status. Do not take online check-in as a given - the local airline may not open it, in which case you do it at the counter, and that needs a margin of time.
5. The return - the final entry is into Italy itself. At the Italian border almost everyone describes the pair "expired permesso plus valid ricevuta" as a green light; the border guard sees the application status in the system. Mark picks a flight arriving on a weekday during the day - in case the officer wants to call the consulate (you can only get through during working hours).

The riskiest stretch here is not the Italian border but the check-in desk at departure abroad: the carrier may play it safe, fearing the costs of a possible deportation. So a money margin for a new ticket and the choice of a proven hub are not a superfluous precaution. This is not legal advice.

I flew on exactly this scheme: a transfer in Istanbul, the finish in Italy. At departure from home the Turks only glanced at the passport with the receipt. And on the return the Italian saw the expired plastic but immediately checked the ricevuta in the system and let me through without a word. The main thing was that I did not try to enter Schengen somewhere along the way.

My advice from experience is precisely about the exit stamp on the receipt. The first time they did not want to put it on, I insisted. On the return entry the border guard used exactly that date to verify that I had left after filing. Without the mark, I think, there would have been more questions. Take a weekday with a daytime arrival, it is calmer.

Where is the risk of boarding refusal higher?

The main border risk on the ricevuta is created not by the Italian side but by the departure: the airline may simply not board you on the flight, fearing the costs if entry is refused at the destination. So heightened attention is recorded at departure from countries that have lately been strict toward particular passports. Any flight with an expired document is still a risk, and it is worth building into your plans.

A separate, finer situation is travel while waiting for the first permesso: you have already given fingerprints, you have the visa D and the ricevuta in hand, but the card is not there yet. By law you can leave and return, but in practice airlines are most cautious here.

With the first receipt and a visa D opinions in the chats diverge. By law they are obliged to board you, but the staff at the counter are afraid that if you are turned back at entry, the deportation will fall on the carrier. Some were refused, some were not, and "boarded without problems" stories are still noticeably more common. I played it safe: I took a return ticket and held a printout of the rule on entry through Italy.

My main advice to those flying on the ricevuta: do not tie expensive transfers and bookings to this trip. Set aside money for a new ticket in case they dig their heels in at departure. Everything went smoothly for us, but it was calmer precisely because there was a financial cushion.

There is also a softer option for those waiting for the first permesso: if the visa D or tourist visa is still valid, many simply fly on the visa and keep the ricevuta as a supplement. According to the community, with a live visa the receipt is often not even looked at - they check the visa and let you through. The difficulties begin precisely when the visa has already expired but the plastic is still not there.

While I was waiting for the first permesso, I shuttled home and back on a valid tourist visa, even though I also had the ricevuta in hand. The route went through a non-Schengen hub with arrival in Italy. They never once looked at the receipt - all the interest was in the visa. As soon as I showed it, everything went smoothly.

If the situation allows, many in the community advise simply waiting for the plastic card and not flying on just the receipt. If you must travel, choose proven non-Schengen hubs, arrival in Italy and a weekday.

And if the permesso is already in hand?

With a valid plastic permesso card plus a valid passport there are usually fewer questions at the border: it is a full document, understandable to any border control. But there are nuances here too. Check the validity of both the card and the passport, and also remember the rule on long absence from Italy: long continuous periods abroad may come back to bite you on the transition to permanent residence. More on this - in the article on permesso renewal and the rule on long absence.

There is also the reverse story: the card has long been ready and lies at the questura, but the SMS about readiness never came - according to the community, this is not rare. So before planning a trip "already with the plastic", it is worth making sure you have actually collected it. How to track the application status on the police website and not miss the readiness is covered in the material on KIT-postale for permesso.

This is not legal advice. Border-crossing conditions depend on your citizenship, route and the current policy of the countries - always verify the current details on the official websites before buying tickets.

How long people usually wait for the card in different cities is in the comparison of processing times by Italian questura - for example in Milan, Rome and Turin.

Related articles

• KIT-postale for permesso - where the ricevuta comes from, submission deadlines and status tracking.
• Permesso renewal and the rule on long absence - travel with the card and the risks at permanent residence.
• Permesso renewal: kit, timing, ricevuta - when to file for renewal and where the renewal ricevuta comes from.
• How to check your permesso status - the application status the border guard also sees.
• Codice fiscale and residenza - the first steps after entry.
• Digital nomad or lavoro autonomo - which status you wait for the permesso under.
• Apostille and sworn translation - if documents are requested at the border or consulate.

Useful tools: check on travel on the ricevuta and timeline of stages - to estimate when to expect the plastic and whether to fly for now.

Official sources

• interno.gov.it - Italian Ministry of the Interior (rules of stay, permesso circulars).
• questure.poliziadistato.it - the questuras' portal (application status, appuntamento) and the text of the Interior Ministry directive of 05.08.2006 on rights during a renewal.
• poliziadistato.it - the circular of 28.07.2008 on leaving on the ricevuta during a renewal and a first permesso.
• normattiva.it - DPR 394/1999, art. 8: exit, return and the re-entry visa.
• normattiva.it - Testo unico immigrazione, art. 4(1-quater): the passport of a valid permesso holder is stamped on entry and exit.
• poste.it - Poste Italiane (KIT and ricevuta).
• portaleimmigrazione.it - the immigration portal (submission and case tracking).
• esteri.it and vistoperitalia.esteri.it - Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the visa portal (entry rules, visa D).

Frequently asked questions

Can I return to Italy on the ricevuta?

Yes, if it is the ricevuta for a renewal filed on time: the Interior Ministry circulars allow leaving and returning with a passport, the ricevuta and the original of the expired permesso (so since the circular of 02.12.2016; the 2006 directive accepted a copy) - only through an Italian external border and with no transit via other Schengen states. If the permesso expired abroad without a renewal filing, or was lost, you need a re-entry visa (reingresso). This is not legal advice.

What matters more at the border - the date on the ricevuta or the document itself?

The document itself. The Interior Ministry circulars list a passport, the ricevuta and the expired permesso (since 2016 the original), and do not say that a ricevuta past its date stops working. In chat reports from July-September 2026 people with an expired ricevuta were boarded from Baku, Dubai and Yerevan, sometimes after the airline phoned the Italian border police. This is not legal advice.

Can I fly on the ricevuta to another Schengen country, not Italy?

No. The Interior Ministry circulars expressly require that you leave and return only through an Italian external border, with no transit through other Schengen states. The ricevuta is an internal Italian document and gives no right to move around Schengen. Routes go through non-Schengen countries and land in Italy. This is not legal advice.

Will border guards understand what a ricevuta is?

According to the community, at popular transit airports the document is usually known and they check the application online, but there are no guarantees: a call to the consulate is possible, and that means weekday working hours. Keep on you the original ricevuta, your passport and the appuntamento, and take a flight arriving on a weekday. Verify requirements on questure.poliziadistato.it.

Can I leave while waiting for the first permesso, on a visa D and the ricevuta?

The Interior Ministry circular of 28.07.2008 allows it for a first permesso for work, self-employment or family reunification: passport with the visa D, the ricevuta, the same border crossing, no Schengen transit. But once the visa D has expired, chat reports from September 2026 say airlines often refuse boarding; the safe route is a re-entry visa. This is not legal advice.

Do I need to put a stamp on the ricevuta when leaving Italy?

The 2006 directive and the 2008 circular tell border staff to stamp both the passport and the ricevuta on exit. Since 10.04.2026 Schengen runs on the EES and short-stay travellers are no longer stamped. A holder of a valid permesso is still stamped under art. 4(1-quater) of the Testo unico immigrazione, but neither that law nor the official EES pages say anything about the ricevuta. Ask for a mark on the receipt and keep your boarding pass as proof of the exit date. This is not legal advice.

Related materials - Status, travel and renewal

• Permesso status: section and tools
• Leaving Italy on a permesso: 6 months and renewal
• How to check your permesso status
• Nulla osta: what it is and how to get it

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

• Official form Mod. 209 - application for permesso di soggiorno (Kit Permesso)
• Directive of the Ministry of Interior of Italy on the Rights of Foreigners During the Waiting Period for Permesso Renewal (August 2006)
• Circular of the Italian Ministry of Interior: Exit and Re-entry with Expired permesso di soggiorno (2010 + 2016)