What are COM.IT.ES and what role do they play for Italians residing abroad? In general, COM.IT.ES are institutes that represent the Italian community. They were established in 1985 and are elected in each consular district every five years by Italians residing abroad.

As representative bodies, the objective of COM.ITES is to facilitate relations between Italians abroad and consular authorities, as well as to organize activities aimed at defining the social, cultural and civil needs of the community. There are about 100 COM.IT.ES in the world, 10 of which are in the USA (New York NY, Los Angeles CA, Boston MA, Detroit MI, Washington DC, Chicago IL, Miami FL, Philadelphia PA, San Francisco CA, Houston TX).