{"id":217,"date":"2012-11-08T21:22:35","date_gmt":"2012-11-08T20:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?page_id=217"},"modified":"2021-11-12T21:13:22","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T20:13:22","slug":"permesso-di-soggiorno-documents","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/permesso-di-soggiorno-documents\/","title":{"rendered":"Helpful Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought it would be helpful to create a resource page that will always be available to answer most of your general questions regarding life in Italy, starting with the elusive Permesso di Soggiorno <\/em>documents. I\u2019ll add to this page\u00a0as I gather more information, and in the future I will reference it whenever appropriate. I recommend bookmarking it for your convenience and please feel free to share it with your friends.<\/p>\n

Permesso di Soggiorno Documents<\/h2>\n

Due to popular demand, I\u2019ve recently taken all the information that I\u2019ve gathered on the Permesso di Soggiorno<\/em> and organized it into an easy-to-use guide. Prego.<\/p>\n

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Italian Language Help<\/h2>\n

If you’re starting from zero or low intermediate level, I suggest that you purchase a good language learning software<\/a>\u00a0program. \u00a0The one I like is Rocket Italian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can read about my experience with learning Italian here:\u00a0The Best Way to Learn Italian<\/a><\/p>\n

Or get started with my free email course:<\/p>\n

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Apartment Hunting<\/h2>\n

Two friends of mine\u2014Steven and Linda, a married couple from the U.S.\u2014started a company called \u201cCross Pollinate<\/a>\u201d back in 2000. They\u2019ve done a lot of legwork in the years since, checking out unique apartments all across the city, and making them available for rent via their website. And they only<\/em> work with places they feel that they can truly recommend. In other words, they\u2019ve screened the places so that you don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

Their site has an easy to use search engine, as well as an interactive map. You can filter your search by price, features, and travel dates, or use the map to search by geographic area.<\/p>\n

I highly\u00a0recommend that you begin and end your search on the Cross Pollinate<\/a> site. I promise you won\u2019t go wrong, and you can save all that time online to plan some great day trips from temporary \u201chome\u201d in Rome.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re traveling around Italy (or Europe, for that matter), check out their options in other cities, too.<\/p>\n

You can also check\u00a0general info websites, such as Wanted in Rome<\/a> and Expats Living in Rome<\/a>.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t find what you\u2019re looking for there, then consider these:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.portaportese.it<\/a> \u00a0It\u2019s only in Italian, but probably the biggest\u00a0online source for finding longer-term apartments offered by individual property owners.<\/p>\n

If you just need a room, check out this site (available in many languages): \u00a0Easy Stanza<\/a><\/p>\n

A couple more:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.idealista.it\/affitto-case\/roma-provincia\/mappa \u00a0Also in Italian, but very useful for longer term (1 year or more) renting.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.subito.it\/annunci-lazio\/vendita\/appartamenti\/roma\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Train Tickets<\/h2>\n

If you’re planning ahead, you can save yourself a BIG headache (and a great deal of money) by purchasing your train tickets online.<\/p>\n

Locomotimes: this is a great FREE app from the Apple Store which will give you train schedules for all of Italy and even to and from other European cities.\u00a0 Easy to use and quite accurate.<\/p>\n

Ferrovia dello Stato<\/a>: if you don\u2019t have the above app this works, but honestly, it\u2019s a lot less convenient.<\/p>\n

Financial Concerns<\/h2>\n

Charles Schwab Online Checking<\/a>: this has turned out to be a great solution for me to handle my banking needs while in Italy with NO international transaction fees. \u00a0You can read more about it in this post:\u00a0Money Matters and the Cost of Living in Italy<\/a><\/p>\n

Currency Exchange<\/a>. \u00a0If you need to exchange fairly large amounts of foreign currency into Euro, this is a good place to go:\u00a0Pure FX<\/a>\u00a0Do NOT just wander into to a random bank or one of those little kiosks that you find randomly at airports or other tourist locations. \u00a0The\u00a0difference\u00a0in fees is very significant.<\/p>\n

And a few useful government websites<\/h2>\n

The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs<\/a>\u00a0 This is their general site.<\/p>\n

Visa Page<\/a>\u00a0This is specific for visas, including information on fees and where to apply.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/questure.poliziadistato.it\/Roma\/orari-5-468-1-1.htm<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0This is the main Questura, or Police Station of Rome.\u00a0 However, there are small branches all around the city and you should locate the one nearest to your home.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/questure.poliziadistato.it\/stranieri\/?mime=1&lang=IT<\/a>\u00a0 To check on the status of your Permesso di Soggiorno, if you decided to apply for one.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.esteri.it\/visti\/home_eng.asp<\/a>\u00a0 For all your visa questions.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.codicefiscale.us\/<\/a>\u00a0 For your Codice Fiscale<\/i>, or Fiscal Code.\u00a0 You\u2019ll need this, and it\u2019s very easy to obtain online.<\/p>\n

Find my blog listed on some of these sites:<\/h2>\n

\"Expat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"Blog<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

*Some of these links are affiliate links, and I do get a small commission at NO additional cost to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought it would be helpful to create a resource page that will always be available to answer most of your general questions regarding life in Italy, starting with the elusive Permesso di Soggiorno documents. I\u2019ll add to this page\u00a0as I gather more information, and in the future I will reference it whenever appropriate. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4014,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}