My Permesso Has Arrived!
It’s official… I finally have my Permesso di Soggiorno! This means I have my “permit to stay” in Italy, and this document will keep me in legal resident standing after my one year visa expires. Bottom line: I can stay in Italy now for five years. Mind you, I applied for this document in December 2011 and received it in April! It took four months for me to receive this important piece of paper due to any number of problems including: miscommunication between offices (this one told me to go there and that one told me to go back to the first one and around and around again – apparently this is quite normal in Italy); an incorrect home address (not my fault… another government office problem); misplaced proof of income (also not my fault); and a broken printer at the administering government office! No joke. I called to find out what the hold-up was and learned that their printer was on the outs and they had no idea when it would be repaired.
Two weeks later and I still didn’t have it.
After a number of trips to the police station (this is where you pick up your Permesso), the immigration cops began to recognize me. And then… today was the day! So I guess that means that it takes about three weeks to fix a government printer in Italy!
Welcome to Italy!
Wow… my move feels pretty permanent now.
