Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• Agenzia delle Entrate (tax authority): codice fiscale (sheet IT-NIF-TOUS-001), partita IVA for self-employed people, income tax returns, sending of the tessera sanitaria (health card).
• Comune*, *ufficio anagrafe (town hall, civil registry and population register): residence registration (sheet IT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001), certificates, electronic identity card, civil status. The registers of all municipalities are brought together in the ANPR (Anagrafe Nazionale della Popolazione Residente).
• Questura (police headquarters): optional declaration of presence for EU citizens, residence permits for non-EU nationals and non-European family members.
• INPS (Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, social security): contributions of employees and self-employed people, pensions, benefits, ISEE (economic situation indicator that sets certain social rates).
• ASL (Azienda Sanitaria Locale) and SSN (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, health service): registration and choice of the medico di base (general practitioner) (sheet IT-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Camera di Commercio (chamber of commerce) and Registro delle imprese: business set-up through the ComUnica (sheets IT-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001 and -002).
• Centri per l'impiego (employment agencies) and Motorizzazione civile (driving licence, vehicle registration): see the TRAVAIL and PERMIS sheets (forthcoming).

Online services

• Italian digital identities:
  • SPID (Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale): single login, for people over 18; it is activated free of charge at authorised public offices (some municipalities, post offices, etc.) or for a fee at shops that partner with the providers. To activate it, the SPID portal requires a valid Italian identity document (identity card, passport or driving licence), plus your codice fiscale, an email address and a personal mobile number: your card or passport from another country is not enough. If you are a resident EU citizen: first ask the Comune for your CIE, then activate SPID with it (or log in directly with the CIE).
  • CIE (Carta di Identità Elettronica): identity card with a chip, requested from the Comune; it also works as an online login ("Entra con CIE").
  • CNS (Carta Nazionale dei Servizi): the tessera sanitaria with a chip, used with a reader.
• eIDAS: the ANPR accepts login with another European country's national digital identity for its services that require authentication; however, the ANPR recommends SPID or CIE to access all of its services. The residence transfer service for European citizens, for its part, requires no eIDAS login: eIDAS is only used there to retrieve documents online via OOTS (Once Only Technical System); otherwise you upload them from your device.
• ANPR (national population register): online certificates, autocertificazione (self-declaration that replaces a certificate), correction of your data, change of residence, and a dedicated service for European citizens to transfer their residence to Italy.
• IO app (PagoPA, for public authorities): messages from the authorities (town hall appointments, payment notices), pagoPA payments (TARI, school fees, fines), notifications with legal value, digital documents (licence, tessera sanitaria). To start, you need to log in with SPID or CIE; the app's digital documents are reserved for adults holding a valid document.
• Personal area of the Agenzia delle Entrate: pre-filled tax return, partita IVA, payments (access via SPID, CIE or CNS).

Steps

1. Before leaving or on arrival: request your codice fiscale from the Italian consulate or at an Agenzia delle Entrate office, by appointment (sheet IT-NIF-TOUS-001).
2. Find your accommodation, then declare your residence: online on the ANPR (service for European citizens and their family members who settle for more than 3 months) or at the anagrafe counter of your Comune.
3. Register with the SSN at the ASL and choose your doctor (sheet IT-SANTE-TOUS-001).
4. Apply for your CIE at the Comune once registered: a resident EU citizen is entitled to one (see below).
5. Activate SPID (or use your CIE) for the Agenzia's area, INPS, the ANPR and the IO app.
6. Install the IO app to receive notices and pay online.

Documents

• Online residence transfer (ANPR, EU citizens): identity card or passport, codice fiscale if you have one, cadastral references of the home (owner) or tenancy agreement or other occupancy title; depending on your situation: proof of work, of enrolment in a course of study, declaration of sufficient resources, health insurance, marriage or birth certificate. You enter your details and your email address: no eIDAS login is requested; if you have a European eIDAS digital identity, you can retrieve these documents online via OOTS, otherwise you upload them from your device.
• CIE: one passport-format identity photo (on paper, or uploaded online with the appointment), another valid identity document for a first application (or two witnesses), and, preferably, your codice fiscale or your tessera sanitaria (the ministry recommends them to speed up registration); fingerprints are taken on site.

Costs and timelines

• Residence transfer and ANPR registration: free; no registration deadline according to the ANPR; you receive an email when the municipality accepts your declaration.
• ANPR certificates: civil status certificates are free; residence certificates and other anagrafe certificates carry a €16 revenue stamp, unless the use is exempt by law. An anagrafe certificate is valid for 3 months, a civil status certificate for 6 months.
• CIE: €16.79 plus the municipality's fixed fees and administrative charges; delivered within 6 working days; valid for 10 years at most for an adult.
• SPID: free at authorised public offices, paid at some private providers.

Common pitfalls

• Waiting until the last moment for the codice fiscale. Without it, many procedures get stuck (healthcare, tenancy, bank).
• Thinking that your country's digital identity opens everything. eIDAS lets you log in to the ANPR and retrieve documents via OOTS, but not necessarily on every Italian website; plan on SPID or CIE (the residence transfer for European citizens, for its part, does not require an eIDAS login).
• Appointments: codice fiscale, CIE and many counters work by appointment; book early.
• Business procedures go through the PEC (certified email) and often a digital signature: arrange them before you set up your business.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: online residence transfer on the ANPR, free and with no eIDAS login required; with their country's digital identity (eIDAS), they can retrieve their documents online via OOTS.
• CIE for a foreigner: an EU citizen registered at the anagrafe can obtain it, but it is only valid as an identity document in Italy: it is issued with the mention non valida ai fini dell'espatrio (not valid for travel). To cross a border, keep your country's card or passport. In Rome, in addition to the Italian one, you are also asked for the attestato di soggiorno (certificate of residence issued by the Municipio) and your passport or identity card (Roma Capitale, 2026).
• Swiss nationals: for registration at the anagrafe, they are treated like EU citizens and do not need a permesso di soggiorno (Ministry of the Interior circular no. 64/2024, which recalls circular no. 39/2007). However, the ANPR's online residence transfer is aimed at "cittadini europei" and their family members: the ANPR page does not mention Swiss nationals, and circular no. 9/2024 refers to "cittadini dell'Unione". A Swiss national therefore makes their declaration at the Comune's anagrafe counter.
• British nationals (Scots included): as non-EU nationals, they go through the Questura for the permesso di soggiorno (residence permit) before registering with the Comune; the SPID portal states that the residence permit makes it possible to obtain the Italian document used to activate SPID.