Goodbye passport nightmare, from December it will be possible to pick it up at the Post Office
The Italian passport is one of the most powerful in the world is one that opens the borders of (almost) [...]
Italian passport is one of the most powerful in the world is one of those Opens the borders of (almost) the whole world without the need to apply for a traditional visa, too bad, however, that such "exclusivity" is accompanied with the perennial difficulty of obtaining the precious document that allows one to travel beyond the borders of the European Union.
Passport to the Post Office, how it works
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Poste Italiane has made official the next steps in the development of the Polis project for municipalities with a population of less than 15,000. Poste Italiane's Polis Project Soon. Will allow citizens in small municipalities to pick up Passport and ID cards directly at Post Offices.
In an interview with TGPoste, Poste Italiane's Co-General Manager Giuseppe Lasco addressed the project to create the Digital one-stop shop in the 7,000 Post Offices hosted by municipalities with a population of less than 15,000 stressing that "the Polis project is the best image we can present when we say that Poste Italiane combines business and support for the country system."
"At the moment," Lasco said, "we are already dispensing services from the Inps, registry and judicial certificates. Starting in December, the post office will also be able to dispense passports, while from February we will be issuing electronic identity cards and services from the Internal Revenue Service." The Polis project, unveiled in January in the presence of top state officials, is also proceeding apace in establishing the nation's largest network of coworking areas, with 250 sites made available by Poste Italiane across the country. "We want to give people, companies and professionals the opportunity to use these spaces," Lasco said. "These spaces," he concluded, "will not only be in large cities where players in the sector are already present, but especially in small and medium-sized realities, to contribute to the social and economic development of the whole country.
When and where you need a visa
China, India, Cuba, and Kenya, are some of the top tourist destinations where Italian nationals must obtain a visa before traveling, but the visa is also (and especially) an essential tool for those who have to move for work so here are it is important to apply for a visa on time and the right features to avoid unpleasant surprises when passing through border control.
In total, the states in which citizens with Italian passports need a visa authorized by the destination government are a total of 37: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bhutan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and Yemen.
Some of these have also activated new possibilities through electronic and self-requesting visas, but if you are not experienced it is easy to get lost between steps or even worse to end up on some scam site that aims to "steal" euros and personal data from the inexperienced traveler, which is why it is always best to rely on specialized agencies.
Fewer and fewer stamps on passports
Fewer and fewer countries are stamping passports at the border. In my recent travels, I have noticed how in the U.S. only at JFK is the passport still stamped, while in Asia the stamps have disappeared at the borders of Singapore, Hong Kong and are expected to disappear soon in Malaysia.