This is just a short blog that makes you think about how difficult it is to move between documents in Italy to obtain a residence permit, that document that all foreigners must have if they want to stay here regularly (with the exception of tourism trips of less than 90 days and some other cases).

I went to the post office near Tampep’s office to get the kit that must be filled in to request the issue or renewal of the residence permit. There they told me that I had to go to another post, where there was the “friendly counter” to collect the kit. So I had to walk back almost to my house to find a post that had this desk.

After filling in the form, and after asking my colleagues at Tampep a lot of questions to fill it in, I went back, to send this form, to the post where I had taken the kit. They told me that even though they had the kits, they didn’t have the correct shipping receipts.

I had to travel to a new post again. When I got there, I thought I was finally done with all this bureaucracy. I took the ticket for the shift, waited for my number, went to the counter but … Only to find that instead of carrying the photocopy of the main page of my passport plus that of the visa, as would have been logical, I should have brought the photocopies of all passport papers (nobody told me). Okay, I found a newsstand nearby and I did everything. Then I came back.

That day I thought: thank God I already have a visa and valid reasons to apply for a residence permit. Also I thought, how lucky I speak Italian – not only to fill out the form (which was written in Italian and German, but the instructions for filling it out were only in Italian), but also to speak to people at the post office, to ask them what I should have done. If you are a victim of trafficking or if you are an immigrant irregularly present, or even a regular immigrant, always busy working, you do not have time to attend Italian courses. I was also lucky because I was able to have a free morning at work. Being an immigrant is really difficult, even in a country as beautiful as Italy, sometimes even (maybe just for a day) for those foreigners in my relatively stable and easy position.