“Today marks the end of a battle I’ve been fighting for almost three years.” With those words, Christian Di Sanzo, elected in North and Central America, expressed his satisfaction at the approval of two amendments – one bearing his signature and the other introduced by his party colleague Toni Ricciardi – regarding the issuance of the Electronic ID Card (CIE) to AIRE-registered Italian citizens at municipal offices in Italy.
“Until now,” Di Sanzo explained, “AIRE members registered with local Italian municipalities could only obtain the paper version of the ID card. They were not allowed to request the electronic version unless they did so through consulates, which generally have long waiting lists.
I was the first to raise this issue in Parliament with a question in March 2023, just a few months after my election, since it involved solving technical obstacles that made no sense. I followed up with another question several months later, but the government remained deaf to our requests until now. During the debate on the Consular Services Decree currently being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies, my colleague Ricciardi and I took the opportunity to include the issue of issuing the CIE in Italy through two Democratic Party amendments, which were approved unanimously after ongoing dialogue with the government.”
“Finally,” Di Sanzo concluded, “AIRE-registered Italians will be able to request the Electronic ID Card directly at local municipal offices when they are in Italy. This will relieve consulates of additional workload and make it easier for Italian citizens living abroad to obtain an identity document while in Italy. It will also allow them to access all digital public services available through the CIE, such as requesting official certificates. This is a major achievement that simplifies the lives of Italians abroad and helps reduce the long waiting lists at our consulates.”
