What is this Codice Fiscale and how to get it?

Codice fiscale is the Italian tax code that is created with an algorithm of your name + surname + birth date + birth place.

You will be asked to give your codice fiscale number to do a rent contract, to create a bank account, to take your scholarship, nearly everywhere. So if you decided to live in Italy, it’s better to take it at the first days of your arrival.  

To get your codice fiscale you should go to the “Agenzia delle Entrate” (which can be found in every city) with the necessary documents:

• Your passport AND two photocopies of the personal data/visa information pages
• The non-EU citizens should show their Italian visa.
• The form that you can take from the “Agenzia delle Entrate” at your arrival.

Interestingly, it is a very short process compared to the other bureaucratic issues so keep silent while waiting at the 2 hour line J You will get your codice fiscale immediately.

Tip: If you have more than one name or surname, check the paper if it is written correctly. I have a friend who could not receive her scholarship on time because her codice fiscale was written with the wrong name order (her name is A+B, but it was written like B+A on the document)

Tip 2: The paper you are given is as important as a treasure. Make a lot of copies and if necessary give the copies to the bank, hospital etc. Keep the original one as hardcopy and also scan and save it on your Google Drive or Dropbox.

Tip 3: This is not so legal way but if you immediately need to create a codice fiscale, you can create it from this link. But don’t forget that this is not the legal way to obtain the codice fiscale.

How to take a Permesso di Soggiorno per motivi di studio?

In other words: How to take a residence permit to study in Italy?

STEP 1: The post-office day
You should handle all the necessary documents that I will mention below to the post office.

General Tips:
You can do your immigration processes only in the post offices which have the “Sportello Amico” part. To find the location of the post offices with “sportello amico”, you can do a Google search like “poste italiane sportello amico Milano” or “poste italiane sportello amico Roma” etc.

Sportello Amico sign

You should make at least one copy of all the original documents before going to the post office. You will hand in only the copies to the post office but you should also have the original versions with you in order to show them if they ask in the post office.

Actually the application for the permesso di soggiorno should be done in the following 8 days that you enter to the country but I have never seen someone who did their application in the valid days :D For example I’ve done it at the following one month, which is not a good example of course but I am telling you in order to say “do not panic if you pass the 8 days of your stay in Italy.”

Here are the necessary documents:

• Fill the “KIT for permesso di soggiorno” given by the post office (sportello amico) in a big envelope.
• Tip: If you cannot find anyone who knows English in the post office ask like that “Posso avere il modulo/kit per il permesso di soggiorno?” in order to take the kit.
• Tip 2: Save the envelope of the kit for the application because they are putting all the necessary documents in that envelope.

• Photocopy of all pages of your passport. (Including the cover of the passport)
• Acceptance letter that is sent by the Italian university. (Better to take it in Italian)
• Your health insurance that is taken from your country.  (should be in English or in Italian)
• 4-5 passport photos with the same pose. (not necessary for the post office part but bring them also)
• Tip: In some metro stations you can find the photo machines that are taking 8 photos for 5 euros in different sizes. It will be enough for your whole permesso di soggiorno process.
• Marca da bollo: It is a stamp that costs 16 euro which can be taken from any tobacco shop.
• Tip 1: Tobacco shops have these signs outside of them.



Tabacchi (tobacco shop) sign

• Tip 2: DO NOT STAMP IT BY YOURSELF! Take it to the post office with the other documents and give it to the employee there. They know how to handle it :D
• MONEY! 137.50 Euro which should be paid to the post-office.
• Tip: You can also pay with the credit card or with an Italian bancomat card.

If you have done all the steps above correctly, you should be given a receipt that you should keep till the second step of our process: the questura part. (Questura = police station)

The receipt that is given by the post-office

Very important tip: With the receipt you can go to your own country and come back to Italy without any need of visa. Although this receipt has a magical function like that, unfortunately it is not valid as a Schengen visa therefore you CANNOT use the receipt to go to the other EU countries as long as you do not have a visa for these countries.

STEP 2: The questura day
Braviiii!!!! You survived and waited more or less 1,5 months for your second step of the permesso the soggiorno process. The time and the location of your appointment at questura is written on the paper that is given you from the post-office.
Be there at the right time!

This step is like an interview with the police. Ok, it's not an interview but even if you are the daughter of Obama you have to pass this process to take your permesso di soggiorno if you are a non-EU citizen. This process ladies and gentlemen... This is one of the best examples of the non-equality between EU and non-EU people.

Questura at Ostia, Roma, April 2014

Welcome to the OFFICE FOR ALIENS! True story..

Anyway here are the necessary documents that you should bring to the Questura.

- Your passport
- All the receipts that is given by the post-office
- Photos that I mentioned above 
- The original copies of all the documents that you gave at the post-office.
- Your fingers (For the fingerprint)

If everything goes ok (with the tips and tricks I gave you and with a little bit of luck you will pass this come on!) the police will ask your phone number which they will send you a message in 3 weeks or more when your permesso is ready.

Sometimes they do not send an SMS (there occurs an error or they forget to send it, no idea). So use this link and enter the 12 digit number on your receipt in order to check if your permesso is arrived or not.

STEP 3: Finally, taking the permesso di soggiorno

Yes, the big day has arrived! 

Go to the questura at the stated date and time (on SMS or on the website) with your:

- Passport

- Receipts

- The original documents that you gave at the first two steps. (This is optional but to be sure and not stressed it is better to be prepared 100%)

Congratulations, now you have a permesso di soggiorno "studio"! You can use it until the expiration date mentioned on your card. 

Tip: You can do your application to renew it till 2 months after the expiration date of your permesso. The renewal process differs a little bit from the first time application, which I will mention it in another post.

Ciao a tutti! YES I'M ALIVE!

After 4 years of break! (Yes what a shame.. 4 years of break..) I would like to continue developing this blog!

Yes, I am still in Italy, which is a nice update to give but unfortunately for business reasons I had to move to Milan from Rome.. Now there will be some of you saying that "But why unfortunately? Milan is a more organized city, it's close to other countries, you also eat good there..blabla" We will discuss this in detail in another post but FORZA ROMA forever! 

Anyway, even though my city has changed, the bureaucracy is the same! So I can continue to give you some tricks, detailed explanations and even shortcuts (!) to how to manage the bureaucratic processes in Italy.

One more update: 4 years ago I came to Italy without any Italian. I wasn’t able to make even basic conversations. But now, I am working in Italian! For some of you it may not be a great success, but for me, who does not have any any any(!) capability about languages, it’s like going to the moon and drinking cappuccino there!

That’s why I want to separate my blog into two parts:

         1) How to survive the bureaucratic processes in Italy.

         2) A list of Italian words and phrases that I hear in the meetings, from friends, etc. which would be helpful also for your Italian.

OK, LET'S START!

Step 3: How to get visa?

As I mentioned in the posts before, I am a citizen of a non EU country. Therefore getting visa to study in Italy for two years was really big problem for me. If you are a non-EU country citizen like me (Croatia, Iceland, Turkey, China, India, etc.) this post can assist you while trying to complete the bureaucratic procedures.

The documents will vary depending on your country. But this list can give you an idea what you are facing with.

1) 2 photos (35-40mm)

2) Original and Copy of Passport (The copy should include the pages which contain personal information) Your passport's due date should be at least one year later than the end of your master of science program. 
Ex: My master program will end in 2013 and my passport's validity is till 2014.

3) Health insurance covering 30,000€ (a yearly insurance costs 60€ in Turkey)

4) Formal Acceptance Letter

5) If you have a scholarship, the document which proves it.

6) Flight ticket or reservation

7) Copy of the Bachelor of Science degree diploma

8) The proof of your residence

9) The proof of where the person who will support you (the money you need in Italy) works. How much income he/she earns yearly? Copy of ID of his/her.

10) Proof of the money you have in the bank account. (In the bank account I showed 9900€ for two years)

11) In my formal accepted letter, it is written that there is not any problem about finding a place to stay because the university has a large dormitory. But if it is not mentioned in your formal acceptance letter, you should show a document which shows where you will stay.

Attention: You should prepare and give these documents to the Italian Embassy or Consulate at least one month earlier than your departure date.

Edit after four years: Actually it would be better to apply to the visa before more than 1,5 months. You know that a lot happened in the last months about the immigration issues especially from Syria to the EU contries, therefore they are know examining all the files more carefully which means they need more time to confirm the visa.

Step 2: How to Get Formal Acceptance Letter?

You are accepted to the "Master of Science" program and got your conditional acceptance letter. Now, you should complete some bureaucratic procedures to get your formal acceptance letter to be officially accepted by the university.

This application is based on my experience in Turkey, which is a non-EU country. If you are a citizen of an EU country, the procedure will be different and easier for you.

1) Getting Pre-enrollment Application Form

- Course Descriptions (The detailed information about the courses you studied in your Bachelor of Science degree. You should get it approved to the authority in your university)

- English transcript with Apostille Stamp

- Italian Transcript (Translated)

- Official and Translated (Italian) Diploma with Apostille Stamp

- Conditional Acceptance Letter
You should prepare the documents above, bring them to the Italian Cultural Institute (First you should get an appointment) in your country. Then they will give you the Pre-enrollment Application Form and Dichiarazione di Valore.

2) Getting Autenticazione di Fotografia

After getting all the documents above, you should go to the Italian Ambassy or Consultate in your city or the region which your city belongs to. (You should also get an appointment) Show them all the documents you get. Then they will give you the document; Autenticazione di Fotografia.

In the end, scan all the documents you get and then send it to the university via mail or post which depends on the university you enrolled in.

They will post your formal acceptance letter.

Congratulations! You are officially accepted to the Master of Science program.

Step 1: Pre-enrollment Procedures for the Master of Science Programs in University of Rome "Tor Vergata"

The requirements are;

- A Bachelor of Science Degree in the area of economics, finance, business administration and management, engineering, mathematics, physics, political science, statistics or a foreign degree deemed equivalent by the Faculty of Economics.

- A good academic degree. (And of course graduating from a qualified university is a plus)

- A document that you are graduated from a university that all the courses are given in English. If you did not graduated from that kind of university you will need a TOEFL certificate which proves that you know advanced level of English. (All the Master of Science courses are given in English in University of Rome "Tor Vergata".)

- English CV (Do an internet search for CV drafts.)

- A reference letter which you can get from professors or/and instructors in your university.

- A motivation letter that explains why you want to study University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and how it will affect your life. You can improve your motivation letter by doing a little internet search.

If you gathered all the documents above, you should fill the form on;

http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/master-science/mod.asp

They do not have a precise date to reply all the applicants. I could not say that they reply in a short time. It took more than a month. The earlier you apply, the sooner you will have the result.

In the end, if you are accepted to the program, they will send you a Conditional Acceptance Letter. You should provide some conditions to get your Formal Acceptance Letter which I will explain in another post.

What is this blog all about?

Edit after 4.5 years: now I am 26 years old and working in a multinational company in Milan as a Project Manager :)

Now let's make some nostalgia!

Who am I?

I am a 21 year old Industrial Engineer who have recently received a Bachelor's Degree from Bilkent University, Ankara-Turkey.

View from Bilkent University, Turkey

I am going to continue my education by studying "Master of Science in Business Administration" in University of Rome "Tor Vergata".

(09.09.2011 is the current date. Now I am in Turkey and I have nearly finished all of my preparations. While you are reading this post, probably I will be living in Rome.)

So what is this blog all about?

Students, who are newly graduated and/or who are about to graduate, start to do some research about doing studying Master of Science degree. Especially in Turkey, nearly fifty percent of the university students want to study abroad after getting graduated. Well, I thought that this blog can be a guide about;

- Application Process for MSc in University of Rome "Tor Vergata"

- Getting Formal Acceptance Letter (After having Conditional Acceptance Letter)

- Immigration Requirements for Non-EU Students

- Visa Application Process for Non-EU Students

- Cost of Living in Rome "Tor Vergata"

- Life in Rome, culture, food, etc.

I will mostly focus on the procedures which I did to enroll in University of Rome "Tor Vergata", but you can also benefit from this website if you want to study in another university in Italy because the procedures are similar. Especially for visa application and immigration requirements, I will also give detailed Turkish information about bureaucratic procedure in Turkey.       

Attention: This is not an official website therefore you should also contact and consult to the authorities about the procedures both in Italy and in your country. 


Thank you for reading my blog.
Cansu