From 24 February residents of over 120 small municipalities in the province of Foggia (population <15,000) will be able to apply for or renew an Italian passport directly at local post-office counters, eliminating the need to secure scarce Questura appointments. The roll-out is part of the nationwide Polis initiative run by Poste Italiane in partnership with the Ministry of the Interior. (zazoom.it)
Applicants will submit forms, fingerprints and photographs at participating branches; the digital file is then transmitted to the Questura’s passport office, which issues the booklet and, if requested, arranges home delivery via tracked mail. Initial pilot sites reported a 40 % reduction in appointment backlogs and average processing times of ten working days.
Travelers and HR managers looking for broader document services may also turn to VisaHQ, whose Italy page (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) provides streamlined assistance for visas, passports and legalization needs. The platform can complement the new Poste solution by guiding applicants through international requirements and managing multi-country itineraries.
![“Passport at the Post Office”: Italy Extends Polis Project to Small Municipalities]()
For global-mobility teams the change is significant: dependants in rural areas often face month-long waits for consular slots, delaying family travel. Companies may now instruct relocating staff to use provincial post offices, freeing up Questura capacity in urban centres.
The service costs the standard €116 in tax stamps plus a €9.05 service fee payable at the counter. A national expansion to all municipalities under 30,000 inhabitants is planned for Q4 2026, subject to funding from Italy’s NRRP digitalisation budget.
Critically, the system integrates with the new biometric-passport database, meaning that passports issued via Polis are fully compatible with upcoming EES/ETIAS checks. Early adopters are advised to book slots quickly: Poste warns that each branch has a daily cap of 15 applications during the soft-launch phase.
Applicants will submit forms, fingerprints and photographs at participating branches; the digital file is then transmitted to the Questura’s passport office, which issues the booklet and, if requested, arranges home delivery via tracked mail. Initial pilot sites reported a 40 % reduction in appointment backlogs and average processing times of ten working days.
Travelers and HR managers looking for broader document services may also turn to VisaHQ, whose Italy page (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) provides streamlined assistance for visas, passports and legalization needs. The platform can complement the new Poste solution by guiding applicants through international requirements and managing multi-country itineraries.
For global-mobility teams the change is significant: dependants in rural areas often face month-long waits for consular slots, delaying family travel. Companies may now instruct relocating staff to use provincial post offices, freeing up Questura capacity in urban centres.
The service costs the standard €116 in tax stamps plus a €9.05 service fee payable at the counter. A national expansion to all municipalities under 30,000 inhabitants is planned for Q4 2026, subject to funding from Italy’s NRRP digitalisation budget.
Critically, the system integrates with the new biometric-passport database, meaning that passports issued via Polis are fully compatible with upcoming EES/ETIAS checks. Early adopters are advised to book slots quickly: Poste warns that each branch has a daily cap of 15 applications during the soft-launch phase.
