The Questura

We had the privilege of going to the local police station on June 8 and registering for our permission to stay in the country.  We took ID photos, and had our fingerprints put into the system.  Well, first we waited for about an hour outside and then we finally got upstairs to the office area where we waited another 15-20 minutes.  While we were downstairs, there were all kinds of people outside the immigration office waiting for their documents to be processed.    We finally got into the office and the officer was actually fairly efficient in checking our paperwork and then getting our signatures and fingerprints.  He first thought Shawn and I were brother and sister because our last names were the same.  Here in Italy married women keep their family name and use it for documents and civil occasions, but use their husband’s name for social settings.   Shawn explained and we continued the process.  After we finished up we had to go downstairs where they took more fingerprints and we had to give them another photo and the paperwork from upstairs.   After a mere 3 hours the whole thing was finally over and we were on to find some lunch and a bathroom.  :)   We still probably won’t see the actual document before we leave though.  That would be a miracle in efficiency within the Italian bureaucratic system.