Electronic and paper identity cards: what you need to know before going on holiday

Paper identity cards (CIC) will remain valid until their natural expiry date ‘for specific purposes and in dealings with the public administration and with bodies providing public services’. The deadline originally set for 3 August 2026 – the date initially indicated as the final deadline for the complete phasing out of the paper format – has been extended by a provision included in the draft draft decree-law on sport. This was decided by the Council of Ministers, which met on 16 June under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani. However, the measure does not apply to travel abroad, so from 3 August it will still be necessary to carry a digital identity card (CIE).

Under the EU Regulation approved in June 2025, a Cie will still be required to leave the country. However, this requirement does not apply to provisional documents valid for up to six months, which will therefore allow travellers to continue to travel across borders.

The aim of the Government’s decision to extend the validity of CICs until their natural expiry date – unless this falls after 31 January 2027, the new date for the general phase-out of the old format – is to spare citizens undue inconvenience and reduce the pressure on registry offices busy issuing electronic identity cards, ensuring continuity in dealings with the public administration and avoiding the operational difficulties that local authorities were encountering as the 3 August deadline approached.

However, the Government’s decision has given rise to misunderstandings, and various interpretations of the measure contained in the Sports Decree have been circulating in recent days. “It is important to clarify that any extension envisaged by the Government relates exclusively to certain uses within Italy and in dealings with the public administration. It does not, however, apply to travel abroad. From 3 August 2026, the paper identity card will no longer be valid as a travel document,” clarified Simone Billi, the Lega’s group leader on the Chamber of Deputies’ Foreign Affairs Committee and chair of the Committee for Italians Abroad, adding that “Italians living abroad should not regard this extension as a postponement of the obligation to obtain an electronic identity card or another valid document for travel abroad.”

And Toni Ricciardi, deputy chair of the PD group in the Chamber of Deputies, reiterated that ‘under European legislation, from 3 August 2026, paper identity cards will no longer be valid as travel documents. For this reason, it is essential to avoid ambiguous messages or misleading interpretations that might lead citizens to delay renewing the necessary documentation’.