Permisso Business

To be legal in Italy I need to get an official Permisso card which I think is like an ID card. The school made arrangements for 5 of us new teachers to go to the office where ID cards are processed. We had a 10:30 am appointment and arrived at 10:20. It was a 40 min. drive from school and in a part of Rome where I had never been. We presented our papers to the guard and after waiting for some time we realized this was going to be quite a wait. They were allowing people who had 9 am appointments into the building. It was a cold, windy day and there was not enough room in the tent for all who were waiting. We were finally allowed in at noon and it took about an hour to get finger printed and for our documents to be checked. We had provided our own passport pictures. At the end of the procedure we learned that we are to go to a police office in about 45 days to pick up our official ID cards. I figure that I will be gone from Italy before I am an official resident. The picture is or two of my colleagues as we waited. - Nancy