الحلقة الأولى – فقدت عملي: هل أخاطر أيضاً بفقدان تصريح الإقامة؟

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Travelling while your Italian residence permit is being renewed: when you can return without a re-entry visa

If your Italian residence permit has expired but you have already applied for renewal, leaving Italy does not automatically prevent you from returning. However, the renewal receipt is not the same as a valid residence card for travel inside the Schengen Area. The route you choose and the documents you carry can therefore determine whether you are able to re-enter Italy without obtaining a re-entry visa.

Renewal pending: when re-entry without a visa is possible

Under the current instructions applied by the Italian authorities, a non-EU citizen who holds the receipt proving that an Italian residence permit has been renewed may return to Italy without a re-entry visa if specific conditions are respected.

The traveller must enter the Schengen Area through an Italian external border and must not transit through another Schengen country before reaching Italy. At the Italian border, the person should be able to show a valid passport or equivalent travel document, the original renewal receipt and a copy of the expired residence permit. The renewal receipt should also have been duly stamped by the Italian border police when the person left Italy.

This means that the itinerary matters. A flight that first lands in another Schengen State, even only for an airport connection, may create a serious problem because the first Schengen border control would take place outside Italy. By contrast, a journey that reaches Italy directly from a non-Schengen country, or that involves only connections outside the Schengen Area before arrival in Italy, is consistent with the conditions indicated by the Italian authorities, subject of course to any transit visa requirements imposed by the countries crossed during the journey.

The renewal receipt is not a residence permit for Schengen travel

One of the most frequent misunderstandings is to treat the postal or police receipt as if it were a valid residence permit. It is not. In Italy, the receipt proves that the renewal procedure is pending and protects the legality of the person’s stay while the application is being examined. It may also allow the holder to continue working and exercise other rights connected with lawful residence.

For international travel, however, the receipt has a more limited function. It does not generally authorise free circulation through the other Schengen States in the same way as a valid Italian residence permit. For this reason, a person waiting for renewal should not plan the return journey on the assumption that a connection in France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands or another Schengen country will be treated in the same way as direct entry into Italy.

What to do before leaving Italy

Before departure, it is advisable to check that the renewal application has actually been filed and to carry the original receipt, not only a photograph or digital copy. A copy of the expired residence permit should also be kept with the passport.

At the Italian border when leaving the country, the traveller should ensure that the renewal receipt is properly stamped by the border police. This formality may later become decisive when returning to Italy, because the stamp documents that the person left the country while the renewal procedure was pending.

It is also prudent to keep copies of the documentation relating to the pending renewal and to verify the flight itinerary before purchasing the ticket. Airline staff carry out their own document checks before boarding and may ask the passenger to demonstrate the legal basis for entry into Italy.

First residence permit: the rules are different

A different situation arises when the person is not waiting for the renewal of an existing permit but for the first residence permit after entering Italy with a national visa.

Current Italian consular guidance recognises, under the same travel conditions, the possibility of returning to Italy without a re-entry visa for persons who have returned to their country of origin while holding the receipt for a first residence permit requested for family reasons, subordinate employment or self-employment.

The position of students is different. A student who has only the receipt for the first residence permit and has returned to the country of origin generally has to apply for a re-entry visa, which is issued following the necessary clearance from the competent Questura in Italy.

For other categories of first permits, the existence of a receipt should never be assumed to be sufficient. The specific legal basis of the first residence application must be checked before travelling.

When a re-entry visa may be necessary

A re-entry visa may become necessary when the traveller cannot satisfy the conditions required for visa-free return on the basis of the receipt, for example because the residence permit expired while the person was already abroad, because the renewal receipt is missing, because the required documentation cannot be produced, or because the case concerns a category not covered by the simplified return rules.

The application is submitted to the competent Italian diplomatic or consular authority. Depending on the circumstances, the consulate may need to obtain clearance from the Questura that issued, or is processing, the residence permit.

Loss or theft of the residence permit while abroad is another situation that normally requires immediate contact with the Italian consular authorities and documentation of the loss or theft before the return journey can be organised.

A practical rule: check the route before the ticket

For a foreign citizen waiting for the renewal of an Italian residence permit, the legal problem is often not the departure from Italy but the route chosen for the return. A ticket with a connection inside the Schengen Area can transform an otherwise manageable journey into a border problem.

The safest approach is therefore to verify three elements before travelling: the type of residence application that is pending, the documents actually available, and the exact country in which the traveller will first cross the Schengen external border. Where there is uncertainty, the individual situation should be checked before departure rather than after the person has already reached a foreign airport.

Avv. Fabio Loscerbo
Avvocato Cassazionista

Iscritto nel Registro dei rappresentanti di interessi della Camera dei deputati in materia di Immigrazione

Lobbista registrato presso il Registro per la Trasparenza dell’Unione europea n. 280782895721-36 in materia di Migrazione e Asilo

ORCID: 0009-0004-7030-0428

Articolo redatto con l’ausilio di strumenti di AI, sotto la direzione, revisione e responsabilità editoriale dell’autore.