Rules for EU citizens

EU citizens enjoy a special status: thanks to the EU treaties they are regarded (almost) as Italian citizens. There are, however, a certain number of special rules that an EU citizen should be aware of. Those special regulations concern:

• Residency
• Health care
• Driving license
• Elections

Residency

EU citizens who are planning to stay in Italy for more than 3 months have to request residency in Italy. This obviously applies to PhD students. In order to obtain your residency in Italy you have to find a permanent accommodation (with a legal rent contract). Then you have to go to the Municipality Office that deals with residency applications - the anagrafe, ufficio residenza where you'll have to file a request. After a while (up to 60 days) an officer from the local Police will show up at your home to check that you actually live there and that there are no problems with your flat (keep your contract at hand - just in case). You'll not be able to choose the day in which the police are going to show up... but you can choose the hour (more or less). Saying that you're free only in the early morning (7:30 - 8:30) is a good choice.

Documents

In order to request the residency you have to show the following documents:

1. Proof of sufficient means of subsistence: A statement from SISSA certifying the amount of your fellowship. If you do not have a fellowship you should enclose a bank statement.
2. Proof of enrollment: A statement from SISSA certifying that you're a PhD student and how long your PhD program will last.
3. Health care insurance: A copy of your private health care insurance or a document stating that you are entitled to enroll in the national health care system (E-form E106 see below).
4. Id card or passport.
5. Codice fiscale

Directions

The ufficio residenza address is: Passo costanzi 2 near (behind) piazza dell'Unità. It's open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:30 am. to 12:00 pm. and on Monday from 14:00 to 16:00. (Tel 0406754225 / 4477)

Health care

Any EU citizen coming in Italy as a student has the right to be enrolled in the National Healthcare System (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale - SSN) free of charge if in possession of an E106 form or an European Health Insurance Card (EHIC, Italian acronym: TEAM) issued by his/her country. In order to be covered by the SSN you have to file a request to the local healthcare agency (Azienda Sanitaria Locale - ASL). They should accept immediately your request (provided that you can show all the documents they require) and allow you to choose a general practitioner. Ask them for a practitioner who can speak English or your mother language.

Documents

You'll have to show three documents:

1. E-form E106: a certificate - available in all EU states - from your home country health care agency saying that you're entitled to sickness and maternity insurance benefits.
2. Proof of enrollment: A statement from SISSA certifying that you're a PhD student and how long it will last your PhD program.
3. Codice fiscale

It's therefore important that you obtain a E-form E106 before leaving your home country!

Directions

First of all you have to determine in which distretto you live in. In order to do this you can use this utility provided by the ASL. To use it write the name of your street - omitting the initial via or piazza or viale or similar - in the first form field and the civic number in the second form field then click on cerca. The web page will show you your address followed by the number of the distretto.

When you have discovered which distretto you belong to you have to locate the nearest office and go there (if you're not fluent in Italian it's better to ask for assistance from some of your colleagues ). The offices where you can safely (as of September 2009) go are located (more info on the ASL website - please note that certain offices listed on that page won't accept these kind of requests or will accept them on certain days only):

Distretto	Address	Telephone number	Opening
1	Via L. Stock 2040 3997849 - 7850	0403997849 - 7850	Mo-Tu-We-Fr from 8:30 am to 11:30 am
1	Opicina - Via di Prosecco 28/A	0402158143	We-Fr from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm
2	Via del Farneto 3	0403995264 - 5175 - 5134 - 5021	Mo-Tu-We-Th-Fr from 9:00 to 13:00
3	Via Valmaura 59	0403995941	Mo-Tu-We-Th-Fr from 8:30 am to 11:30 am
4	Via G. Sai 7	0403997453 - 7465	Mo-Tu-We-Th-Fr from 8:00 am to 11:00 am

Driving license

You have the right to drive in Italy with a European driving license without any problem.

Elections

As an Eu citizen you have the right to stand as a candidate and to vote in the Trieste Municipality and European parliament elections.