All visitors to Italy are required to declare their presence within 8 days of arrival and there are three ways this is usually done. The first (and most common) way is to fly directly from the US to Italy and get a passport stamp by a border control officer indicating the arrival date.

If landing in another Schengen Zone country before entering Italy (or coming from within Europe), then the necessary entry stamp – a “timbro” – is missing. In this case, a copy of an Italian hotel registration as this will serve as your declaration of presence (although this did not seem to work for me) as the hotel is required by law to report your presence.

In the absence of either of the above, a “Dichiarazione di Presenza” – a Declaration of Presence – must be filed at the Questura within eight days of entry into Italy. So, here I am in line outside the Questra in Campobasso. Eventually, the assistant arrives and 30 minutes later, we are finally able to get in. I am anxious to start this process. However, it is not to happen today. The officer, after looking at my passport, asking why the declaration was needed, and examining any receipts from my arrival in Italy, promptly states: “You need an appointment.” My italyMONDO! assistant explains that they did try to call for an appointment for several days but no one answered the phone.