From Monday 1st June, the Italians enrolled in the AIRE, the Register of Italians resident abroad, can ask for the Electronic Identity Card even in any Italian Municipality. So far, for those who lived permanently outside Italy, the ordinary channel was the consular one, with times and availability linked to the offices of their constituency. The novelty is provided for in Article 5 of Law No 11 of 19 January 2026, published in the Official Journal, and covers all Italian citizens resident abroad and regularly enrolled in the AIRE.
In practice, an Italian citizen living in Vienna, London, Buenos Aires or New York will be able to take advantage of a trip to Italy to present the application in any municipality, not necessarily in the one of origin or of last residence. At the time of the request you can choose whether to personally withdraw the CIE in the same Municipality or send it abroad, at the address of residence. The method of issue remains the same as for applications submitted to the consular offices.
The Secretary for Foreign Affairs Massimo Dell’Utri presented the measure as a way to reduce bureaucracy and make the relationship between the State and the Italian communities abroad easier. The members of the AIRE are now more than 6.5 million, a population larger than that of many Italian regions, distributed among large historical communities in Argentina and Brazil and European destinations such as Switzerland, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. For a part of them, the possibility to turn directly to an Italian Commune does not eliminate the role of the consulates, but adds a channel more in a system that often, for numbers and distances, struggles to stand behind the question.
L’articolo Registered members of the AIRE can request the ID in any Italian municipality proviene da IlNewyorkese.
