Documents for travelling within the European union

All children under 18 must carry a valid document for travelling abroad (passport issued by the Questura – police headquarters, or national identity card issued by the municipality). Both documents are valid for 3 years for children aged 0 to 3 years, and 5 years for children aged 3 to 18 years.

To obtain a passport for a child, you must apply to the police headquarters, providing the following documents:

• ­two passport-sized photos (identical and recent),
• one revenue stamp of EUR 73.50 (also available from tobacconists),
• the child’s identification document (the original plus a photocopy),
• the receipt for the post office payment of EUR 42.50 for an ordinary passport application,
• the child passport application form, completed, printed and signed. Both parents must submit the application in person, and must carry their own documents. Alternatively, the application may be submitted by one parent together with the absent parent’s declaration with original signature and identity document.

Identity cards must be requested from the municipality of residence or domicile by citizens residing in Italy (www.cartaidentita.interno.gov.it) or from the competent consulate by citizens residing abroad. For this latter group, the issuing procedures are published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

For travel within the EU, to and from their country of origin.

• Children aged 14 to 18 years may travel alone, including to non-EU destinations.
• Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

If the accompanying person is:

• A parent (or legal guardian), the child’s document must bear the names of the parents, as provided in the document application form (a passport issued by the police headquarters or an identity card issued by the municipality).
• If the accompanying adult is not a parent (or legal guardian), a ‘letter of consent’ (dichiarazione di accompagnamento) is required.  The letter must be drawn up in front of a public official at the police headquarters by the parents (or legal guardian), giving the named adult authority to travel with the child for the duration of the journey.

The letter of consent

Applications for a letter of consent can be made by logging on to the Passport on-line website with the SPID/CIE and filling in the required fields; once you have entered the information, you can book an appointment at the relevant passport office to submit the application.

• The letter of consent is ratified by a public official and must be shown together with the travel documents at all passport control points.
• If the child travels by air without an accompanying adult, the parents must authorise the flight crew by means of the letter of consent, on condition that, at the arrival airport, the minor is picked up by an adult expressly designated by the parents (or legal guardian), using the Affidavit (Unaccompanied Minor - Request of Carriage) form provided by the airline.
• Each letter of consent is valid for 6 months, if the conditions stated in the application remain unchanged. Otherwise it is valid for a single trip.
• In the event of the conditions set out in the previous point not being met, a child will not be permitted to travel within the Schengen area or outside the Schengen area. Children who are nationals of other EU countries must comply with their national rules.

If your passport is lost or stolen, or if it expires, you must contact the competent authorities in order to obtain a replacement.

Lost or stolen passport or identity card

• If your passport or identity card is lost or stolen while you are abroad and you need to return to your home country, you should report the matter to the local police. You must also contact your local consular office to apply for an Emergency Travel Document (ETD). For more information: https://www.esteri.it/it/servizi-consolari-e-visti/ingressosoggiornoinitalia/passaporti_documenti/
• You can only use the ETD to return to your country; on arriving at your final destination you will need to hand the ETD over to the border police.
• You must then submit in person the stolen/lost passport report made to the police abroad to the competent authority in your country, in order to apply for a new document.
• In some cases, only for EU citizens travelling within the Schengen area and/or the EU, the border police has discretionary powers to allow the entry of an EU citizen on a case-by-case basis.

Expired passport or identity card

• If your passport or identity card expires while you are abroad, as is the case with regard to lost or stolen documents, you must apply for an emergency travel document (ETD) to return to your home country. However, you cannot leave your home country and/or enter another EU country with an out-of-date document. You will not be liable to penalties, but you must immediately contact your embassy or consulate to obtain a temporary travel document.
• A few airports (Fiumicino-Malpensa-Naples) offer a fast-track identity card issue service, operated by the local municipality, reserved for Italian passengers in particular circumstances.
• Identity cards must be requested from the municipality of residence or domicile by citizens residing in Italy (www.cartaidentita.interno.gov.it) or from the competent consulate by citizens residing abroad. For this latter group, the issuing procedures are published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
• In certain cases, only for EU citizens travelling within the Schengen area and/or the EU, the border police has discretionary powers to allow the entry of an EU citizen on a case-by-case basis.
• Again for Italian citizens, where the ordinary passport cannot be issued for reasons of urgency or it is impossible to take fingerprints for technical or temporary inability reasons, the competent police headquarters may issue a ‘temporary passport’, in paper format, valid for one year.

In this case, the application must be accompanied by:

• ­a valid identity document,
• two recent identical passport-size photos,
• receipt of payment of a fee of EUR 5.20 for issuing the temporary passport. The fee must be paid through the post offices of Poste Italiane, by means of postal payment order to account No 3810521, made out to: ‘Ministero dell'economia e delle finanze’ (the Ministry of the Economy and Finance). The reason for the payment must be entered as: ‘fee for issuing an e-passport’.

For this payment you should not use the pre-printed payment orders available at the post office because they are all printed with the amount of EUR 42.50.

No fingerprints will be taken for the temporary passport.

Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC

Presidential Decree No 445 of 28 December 2000 Consolidated statutory and regulatory provisions relating to administrative documents.

Law No 1185 of 21 November 1967 Rules on passports.