Italy’s consular network in Brazil received a significant boost on 29 November with the inauguration of a new honorary vice-consulate in the port city of Santos, São Paulo state. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Italy’s Consul-General in São Paulo, Domenico Fornara, underlined the historical importance of Santos as the “gateway for hundreds of thousands of Italians over the past 150 years” and a modern logistics hub that handles almost 30 percent of Brazil’s foreign trade. The office – which will report to the Consulate-General in São Paulo – had been closed for over a decade, forcing Italian citizens and Brazilian businesses with Italian interests to travel up to 80 kilometres inland for routine paperwork.
The reinstated outpost will process Italian passport renewals, civil-status registrations, citizenship-by-descent dossiers and work-visa endorsements for Brazilians heading to Italy under the Decreto Flussi quota system. According to consular estimates, more than 25,000 Italian nationals reside in the Santos metropolitan area, while local chambers of commerce say bilateral trade volume exceeded €5 billion in 2024 – demand that previously strained São Paulo’s appointments calendar. The new office will initially operate three days a week, with biometric stations capable of handling 50 passport applications daily and a secure courier link to the consulate for document issuance in under ten working days.
![Italy re-opens honorary vice-consulate in Santos, restoring key passport and visa hub in Brazil]()
For corporate mobility managers the reopening offers faster turnaround for Brazilian technicians and seafarers embarking at Santos – Latin America’s busiest container port – on Italian-flag vessels. It also eases the path for Brazil-based multinationals that rely on intra-company transfers to Italian subsidiaries in automotive, agribusiness and energy. In addition, the consulate will host quarterly "Citizenship Day" events to pre-screen ancestry files, a move expected to shorten the waiting list – currently 30 months – for recognition of Italian citizenship jure sanguinis.
The expansion aligns with Rome’s broader strategy to strengthen services in high-diaspora regions ahead of the 2026-28 work-visa quotas, which will allow nearly half-a-million non-EU nationals to take up employment in Italy. By decentralising front-line functions, the foreign ministry hopes to reduce bottlenecks at major consulates and improve satisfaction levels among expatriates. Italian authorities also view the move as a soft-power investment that can spur tourism flows to Italy once the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) becomes fully operational in April 2026.
Practically, travellers should note that appointments must still be booked through the Prenot@Mi portal and that the honorary vice-consulate does not issue emergency travel documents; these remain the prerogative of São Paulo. Nevertheless, the Santos office is expected to cut average processing times for passports and work-visa endorsements from weeks to days, providing welcome relief for both leisure and business mobility between Brazil and Italy.
The reinstated outpost will process Italian passport renewals, civil-status registrations, citizenship-by-descent dossiers and work-visa endorsements for Brazilians heading to Italy under the Decreto Flussi quota system. According to consular estimates, more than 25,000 Italian nationals reside in the Santos metropolitan area, while local chambers of commerce say bilateral trade volume exceeded €5 billion in 2024 – demand that previously strained São Paulo’s appointments calendar. The new office will initially operate three days a week, with biometric stations capable of handling 50 passport applications daily and a secure courier link to the consulate for document issuance in under ten working days.
For corporate mobility managers the reopening offers faster turnaround for Brazilian technicians and seafarers embarking at Santos – Latin America’s busiest container port – on Italian-flag vessels. It also eases the path for Brazil-based multinationals that rely on intra-company transfers to Italian subsidiaries in automotive, agribusiness and energy. In addition, the consulate will host quarterly "Citizenship Day" events to pre-screen ancestry files, a move expected to shorten the waiting list – currently 30 months – for recognition of Italian citizenship jure sanguinis.
The expansion aligns with Rome’s broader strategy to strengthen services in high-diaspora regions ahead of the 2026-28 work-visa quotas, which will allow nearly half-a-million non-EU nationals to take up employment in Italy. By decentralising front-line functions, the foreign ministry hopes to reduce bottlenecks at major consulates and improve satisfaction levels among expatriates. Italian authorities also view the move as a soft-power investment that can spur tourism flows to Italy once the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) becomes fully operational in April 2026.
Practically, travellers should note that appointments must still be booked through the Prenot@Mi portal and that the honorary vice-consulate does not issue emergency travel documents; these remain the prerogative of São Paulo. Nevertheless, the Santos office is expected to cut average processing times for passports and work-visa endorsements from weeks to days, providing welcome relief for both leisure and business mobility between Brazil and Italy.
