Table of Contents

Advanced topics

This page is dedicated to advanced steps that you can optionally complete to integrate better into Italian society.

Obtaining official Italian digital credentials

In Italy there are various official Italian credentials that you can obtain. The most important are the CIE, SPID, and the PEC. The CIE, Carta d'identità elettronica, is the Italian ID card that is available for both citizens and residents of Italy. The CIE is important because it has a chip which allows online verification of your identity through your phone NFC reader. The SPID is the official Italian online ID which can be used to login across a wide range of official and important websites in in Italy. It can make future bureaucracy easier. The PEC is an official mailbox that is required for some procedures.

CIE

To enter the Italian digital ecosystem, you should first get the CIE. A prerequisite is that you residency is fully processed, which takes some weeks from when you requested it. Assuming you are a registered resident, it is easy to get. You can get the CIE in the following way:

  1. Reserve an appointment
  2. Get a photograph taken for the ID. This can be conveniently done the photo booth either at the town hall or the Padova main station (see https://dedem.it/trova-cabina/)
  3. Collect the required documents. For an EU citizen, this includes your passport and perhaps your residency request certificate. Details on other cases can be found at the link above.
  4. Go to your appointment at Piazza dei Signori
  5. Wait for the card to be sent via certified mail to your home. If you are not available to sign for the letter when it arrives at your house, it will instead be redirected to the closest post office where you will have to pick it up.

Although the process is easy, it does cost a bit of money. The cost is currently €6 for the photo and €22 for the card itself. Note that the ID is only valid as a travel document for Italian citizens, so you cannot use it for EU travel even if you are a citizen of the EU. For use as an online login, you will need a pin, half of which you get directly at the appointment and the other half you get with the card. Therefore, make sure you don't lose the certificate they give you at the appointment.

SPID and PEC

Details to be added, but these can be set up once you have received your CIE.

Obtaining voting rights in Padova

As an EU citizen living in Italy you have the right to vote in both municipal and constituency elections and elections for the EU parliament.

Prerequisites:

To my knowledge, none of us have yet accomplished this procedure. However, instructions are available here: https://www.anagrafenazionale.interno.it/servizi-ai-cittadini-europei-eng/