So you have applied for your permesso di soggiorno. All the documents, photocopies, and paid stamps have been submitted to the post office – and in return, you’ve been given two receipts stapled to a flimsy piece of printer paper.
The paper, which looks like it was printed in the 1980s, indicates the date and time that you need to appear at the questura di Roma for your in-person appointment.
There are two questure that function as immigration offices in Rome: one in Ostia and one out past Rebbibia. Just to keep everything nice and comfortable, chances are that you are being sent out to the farthest immigration office at Via Teofilo Patini, which serves most of metropolitan Rome.
Go ahead: look it up on google maps. You’ll see that it really does seem to be in the middle of nowhere- so how are you supposed to get there?
How to get to the Questura di Roma (ufficio immigrazione), Via Teofilo Patini
The easiest way to get to Rome’s main questura is to take Metro B and then a bus.
- Before setting out, make sure you have your public transportation pass or tickets for the return journey. Here are tips on how to buy bus tickets in Rome because (surprise) there is no place to buy a ticket when you are leaving the questura so you have to have the return ticket with you.
- Take Metro B in direction Rebibbia, all the way to the end of the line. Hopefully, you have a book with you because it will come in handy throughout the day. The trip out to Rebbibia should take about 15 minutes from Termini. If you have never taken the subway before, here is a guide to how to use the Rome metro.
- Exit at the last station- Rebibbia. When you come out of the station, take the stairs and turn right. You have to curve around the building a bit but after a short walk you will see a bus stop.
- The same ticket that you have just used for the metro will still be valid for the bus. You want to take bus 437 to get to the Questura di Roma. The bus should be pretty easy to spot because it will be filled with a lot of other people looking slightly worried and clutching folders full of documents.
- Follow the lead of your fellow immigrants and exit the bus when they do. The bus literally empties when it arrives at the questura. The trip from the Rebibbia metro to the questura takes about 15 minutes. You will pass through marshy countryside and past a fair share of abandoned factories. Finally, when the bus takes a hard right and pulls up to an orange building – this is your stop. Follow the crowds and join the masses waiting for an appointment.
- To get home, simply reverse your course. Bus 437 is a circular route so you board at exactly the same stop as you exited. The bus will take you back to Rebbibia metro, where you can take the subway back to Rome.
There you go.
After all the bureaucratic hoops, getting to the questura di Roma is actually fairly simple.
Good luck! Remember your tickets, your photocopies and all your good will towards humanity.
I’m actually relieved to hear that the bureaucracy and relentless form filling isn’t limited to the Brits!
Oh dear lord. This year has been a re-education in bureaucracy and trial of patience.
Great staff great people very friendly the work very hard I really appreciate that every time when I get there ask for help they’re loved to help everyone I want to say thank you very for every single person who works there