Passport, from July Poste extends the issuing service to all 13,000 post offices. Here's how to request it

Poste Italiane is preparing to launch the extension of the passport issuing service, launched on an experimental basis last 14 March in some offices in the province of Bologna to all of the more than 13 thousand post offices. Not only, therefore, as imagined in an initial phase, to municipalities in the Polis project, which therefore have less than 15 thousand inhabitants (about 7 thousand municipalities). To date, the service covers 31 post offices and 327 requests have been received in this time frame; by the end of May, the service will be active in 130 municipalities. The extension of the service to all post offices will not take place immediately in July, but will start by gradually extending it to all offices in the country.

The news of the change of plan, with the extension of the service to all post offices, came from the general manager of Poste, Giuseppe Lasco during a meeting with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on the progress of the Polis project. "The big news is that from July, once the necessary regulatory steps have been completed, this service will progressively affect post offices throughout Italy, without distinction between small and large centres," said Lasco. "On the instructions of the Ministry of the Interior, we have taken an active role in extending the passport application service to support police headquarters and police stations. Since last March, we have registered more than 350 applications at the 31 post offices where the service is active, and by the end of the month, more than 130 post offices will already be operational. I like to recall that more than 80 per cent of citizens have requested their passports to be delivered to their homes via Poste Italiane, saving time and travel, which is also and especially important for the environment".

Thanks to a very recent regulatory intervention, it will be possible to legalise a photo directly at the post office. Requesting a passport for the citizen is very simple. He must bring with him: two identical photos that conform to the simple ICAO standard, not legalised; receipts for the payment of two contributions of €73.50 (stamp duty) and €42.50 (post office bulletin); the applicant's identity document; a copy of a valid identity document; in the case of a new passport, the old passport or a copy of the report of its theft or loss; the domicile certification form (in the case of being domiciled in a municipality with a Polis office enabled). The operator at the counter will collect all the necessary information and documentation to complete the request, including personal data and biometric factors, and will directly (in line with the latest regulatory intervention) legalise the photo. At the end of the operation, a receipt is issued indicating the police office that will handle the request and the reference protocol code. Home delivery can also be requested. At present, the service can be requested by Italian citizens over 18 years of age, resident or domiciled in the municipalities where the service has been enabled, and later the service will also be extended to underage citizens.