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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Carta d'Identita




Residency Certificates and Carta di Identita are subjects I have covered recently here and part two here.
In fact it was just a month ago today that we last spent a morning at the Anagrafe Office in Viterbo with reference to obtaining our residency certificate. At the time we were issued with two photocopies of this certificate, one is to use in case we need proof of our residency at any time in the next few weeks!   This is because the official stamped and signed document will not be ready for us to collect until July.
The second copy we were told to take to another office in the commune sometime soon, as it was all we needed to get our identity cards renewed, just hand it over and they will be issued we were told.
Well, we decided to leave it a few weeks as we had endured enough trailing around various offices and waiting in queues to last us for awhile.
This morning on the spur of the moment we decided to go to Viterbo and set the process in motion for the replacement, updating of our Carta d'Identita, which we were convinced was going to take more than one trip to the comune.
I had been doubtful about the previous office's confidence in saying that we would not need any further paperwork. In Italy it always seems that people give you the answers they think you want to hear, even if they may not always be exactly right!  So with this in mind this morning we even remembered to take some passport size photographs with us, the only thing we did not take with us were our passports.
Presenting ourselves at the office soon after 10am when it opened we were lucky to find only four people ahead of us, our wait was no more than twenty minutes.  Our turn came and we presented our documents and three photos each, luckily we had enough, as had been expecting it to be two. At first he wanted to see our passports, so there we were cursing we had not got them with us, oh well we had been expecting this to take more than one trip to Viterbo so were resigning ourselves to returning next week.
Suddenly he found us on his computer and changed his mind, it was fine he would issue them today!  Ten minutes later having signed our signatures five times each we walked out of the comune offices with brand new identity cards valid for ten years.
Another job done and dusted as they say!

To brighten up this post I am including a collage of fields full of Poppies near Vetralla taken a few days ago.

2010-05-112

13 comments:

  1. Whoooopie .. that was worth going for on the spur of the moment. :-) Lucky he found you on the computer .

    Great photos .. I cannot get my photo editor to work.. really hacked off, as I have lots to do, London and Paris..!!

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  2. Yes we were a bit shocked to come away with them this am actually. What a pain about your photo programme, do you not have another one you can use instead this time until you get it sorted?

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  3. So nice that he found you in the computer.

    I love poppies, by the way.

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  4. Oh god, dealing with bureaucrats in any country isn't fun...I do, however, like your spontaneous approach - seemed to work ;-) Very nice pictures. Love from London x

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  5. Oh, Lindy, I've heard that getting documentation in Italy is never easy, but I'm glad it worked out for you.

    P.S. I can't believe you passed up on a chance to indulge in a cannoli! You have much greater willpower than I do. Brava!

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  6. Now you can go out and celebrate...cin cin!

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  7. I'm shocked too that it was so easy. Having visited various official Italian establishments that indicate they are open only to find them closed, having been thrown out of various Italian government offices and banks because they were closing and not prepared to complete the transactions I am also extremely envious. Well done.

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  8. I'm well aware of how long some of these simple tasks can take so well done on getting it handled first attempt! And I adore these poppy photos – one day I will visit such a field and be so thrilled! Thank you for your visits and kind comments. :) – g

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  9. In Italy it always seems that people give you the answers they think you want to hear, even if they may not always be exactly right!

    So true! That made me fall about laughing ...

    It seems to be that if you expect the worst with Italian paperwork then you'll come out pleasantly surprised. I keep hearing stories from people about how they thought they would be bounced from pillar to post for weeks, and in the event it all turned out to be pretty simple. It's when you believe what they tell you that you run into problems ... ;)

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  10. Congratulations!! Nice to know that one's friends are now legitimate!!! Lovely poppies too, and nice pics of the festival market. Beautiful day here but still nippy - ground frost last night! Supposed to be warming up at the weekend - yes please!!

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  11. i really want to see this !!!

    i must go soon .. maybe at the end of this month

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  12. Carol - It was a relief, we knew we should be, think he was spelling our name wrong at first, which often happens.
    Mademoiselle P - It did didn't it, we are getting so laid back!
    Mirella - Patience is required! As for the cannoli well now you have taught me about them I will just have to try next time I see some.
    Rowena - Absolutely!
    Jenny - This last step was smoother than expected and we have learnt to be much more patient anyway. No one is in such a rush here to get things done, it happens eventually :)
    Georgiana - It was the last leg of a much more long winded task, but yes we did do well on this step!
    Katja - I am glad I made you laugh as it is usually the other way round. Your last sentence is bang on, so very true.
    Maggie - We were always legitimate but it does feel better having all the info correct now!

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  13. What a load off knowing that it is all taken care of - and for ten years.
    Enjoyed catching up on your posts.
    Your pictures are always lovely, and it is interesting to see all the banners, and flowers that adorn the towns for the festivals.
    The poppies look like Monet's "Wild Poppies."
    Very pretty.

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