The Consulate General of Italy in Karachi issued a strongly worded public notice on 30 December 2025 reminding Pakistani nationals that visa appointments must be booked exclusively through the Intiana Outsourcing Center (formerly BLS) and the official portal theitalyvisa.com. Embassy staff stressed that, under Schengen regulations, the mission does not cooperate with travel agents or “consultants” and will take legal action against anyone advertising unofficial booking services.
Italy’s South-Asian posts have struggled for months with appointment-fixing rings that charge would-be workers and students up to €1 000 for slots that are in fact free. The new notice clarifies that repeatedly e-mailing the consulate will not unblock extra capacity, that daily quotas open at midnight Karachi time, and that messages about “no appointments available” reflect fully booked slots rather than a technical error.
For corporates moving staff to Italy, the reminder is important because any application initiated through an unauthorised broker risks outright rejection or lengthy fraud checks. Mobility managers should update assignment letters to emphasise that employees must create their own Prenot@Mi account, gather fingerprints and documentation, and appear in person on the assigned date.
![Italian Consulate in Karachi Warns Applicants Against Using Intermediaries for Italy Schengen Visas]()
While applicants must secure their own slot through the official portal, they don’t have to navigate the paperwork alone. VisaHQ’s Italy team (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) can walk employees through document check-lists, translations, health-insurance formalities and pre-submission reviews, helping to eliminate errors while fully respecting the consulate’s ban on unofficial appointment brokers. This compliance-focused support lightens the load on HR and keeps projects on schedule.
The communique also signals closer cooperation between Italian law-enforcement and Pakistani cyber-crime units. The consulate says it reserves the right to report middlemen who continue to advertise “guaranteed” appointments. Employers are therefore advised to audit local relocation partners and ensure they are not subcontracting to such brokers.
In practical terms, HR teams should: (1) instruct travellers to monitor the portal right before midnight PKT; (2) budget extra lead-time—currently six to eight weeks—for securing a slot; and (3) brief applicants that e-mail queries about appointment availability will be deleted automatically. Failure to comply may derail project start-dates or trigger penalties under Italy’s strict duty-of-care laws.
Italy’s South-Asian posts have struggled for months with appointment-fixing rings that charge would-be workers and students up to €1 000 for slots that are in fact free. The new notice clarifies that repeatedly e-mailing the consulate will not unblock extra capacity, that daily quotas open at midnight Karachi time, and that messages about “no appointments available” reflect fully booked slots rather than a technical error.
For corporates moving staff to Italy, the reminder is important because any application initiated through an unauthorised broker risks outright rejection or lengthy fraud checks. Mobility managers should update assignment letters to emphasise that employees must create their own Prenot@Mi account, gather fingerprints and documentation, and appear in person on the assigned date.
While applicants must secure their own slot through the official portal, they don’t have to navigate the paperwork alone. VisaHQ’s Italy team (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) can walk employees through document check-lists, translations, health-insurance formalities and pre-submission reviews, helping to eliminate errors while fully respecting the consulate’s ban on unofficial appointment brokers. This compliance-focused support lightens the load on HR and keeps projects on schedule.
The communique also signals closer cooperation between Italian law-enforcement and Pakistani cyber-crime units. The consulate says it reserves the right to report middlemen who continue to advertise “guaranteed” appointments. Employers are therefore advised to audit local relocation partners and ensure they are not subcontracting to such brokers.
In practical terms, HR teams should: (1) instruct travellers to monitor the portal right before midnight PKT; (2) budget extra lead-time—currently six to eight weeks—for securing a slot; and (3) brief applicants that e-mail queries about appointment availability will be deleted automatically. Failure to comply may derail project start-dates or trigger penalties under Italy’s strict duty-of-care laws.
