In view of the COVID-19 emergency, the Italian Government issued a number of orders instructing, on the one hand, the extension of the validity of ID documents, permits, authorizations, certificates, licences, concessions; and, on the other, the suspension of all deadlines set for administrative procedures, including those concerning all immigration and citizenship applications and renewals.
In particular, the validity of any residence permits set to expire between 31 January and 15 April 2020 has been extended until 15 June 2020 – so it is now possible to submit the renewal application by this date. It must be noted that this extension does not apply to expatriation, meaning that the expired permits cannot be used to leave the country and will not be considered valid while travelling in the Schengen area.
As for all administrative procedures initiated on 23 February 2020 or after, the term between this date and 15 April 2020 will not be taken into account.
With reference to the immigration and citizenship procedures, the order instructs the suspension of all deadlines concerning the following:
- Issuing and renewal of residence permits;
- EU Long-Term Residence Permits (Permanent Resident Permit);
- Citizenship through marriage or naturalization;
- Issuing of working visa for special cases (intra company transfers, blue cards, research, etc.);
- Conversion of student or seasonal work residence permit into a residence permit for work purposes;
- Issuing of visas for family reunion;
- Issuing of seasonal working visa;