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When Should You Renew Your Permesso di Soggiorno? The New 90-Day Rule (2026)

Since 22 May 2026 the law says file your renewal 90 days before expiry, not 60. The police website still says 60. Here are the three dates that matter.

Permesso di Soggiorno Questura Deadlines Guides
Flat illustration of a calendar with three marked dates next to a green residence permit card and a post-office receipt

Your permesso di soggiorno (residence permit) has an expiry date printed on the front, and you've probably read somewhere that you renew it "60 days before". That number changed on 22 May 2026. The law now says 90 days, the police website still says 60, and most English-language guides haven't caught up. This post settles which number applies, what happens if you miss it, and what the three dates on your calendar should be.

Everything below is checked against the current text of the law, and every rule links to the official page it comes from so you can verify it yourself. Practice still varies from one questura (the provincial police headquarters that handles permits) to the next, and I say so where it does.

What changed on 22 May 2026

Italy's immigration rules live in one consolidated law, the Testo Unico sull'Immigrazione (usually shortened to TUI, Legislative Decree 286/1998). Article 5, paragraph 4 is the sentence that tells you when to renew.

Until May 2026 it read "at least sixty days before expiry". Legislative Decree 83/2026, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 115 of 20 May 2026, replaced "sessanta giorni" with "novanta giorni". Article 4 of that decree says its provisions apply from 22 May 2026. So the current, in-force text of Article 5 TUI on normattiva.it (the state's official database of consolidated law) now reads:

Il rinnovo del permesso di soggiorno è richiesto dallo straniero al questore della provincia in cui dimora, almeno novanta giorni prima della scadenza.

In English, the renewal is requested from the questore (the police chief) of the province where you live, at least ninety days before expiry.

The decree transposes Directive (EU) 2024/1233 on the EU single permit for work and residence. That's why the same decree also changed the deadlines the questura has to answer you, which I'll get to below.

Two things worth being clear about. First, the 90-day wording sits in the general renewal paragraph, so it applies to every type of permit, with the permesso unico lavoro (the combined work and residence permit the directive is about) being just one of them. Second, this is a change to primary law, not a circular or a local rule. It's the same everywhere in Italy.

Why the police website still says 60

Go to the Polizia di Stato page called "Il rinnovo" and you'll read "almeno 60 giorni prima della scadenza". Scroll to the bottom and you'll see why. The page was last updated on 8 April 2019. It's not wrong about anything else, it just predates the decree.

The Poste Italiane guide to the postal kit doesn't give a renewal deadline at all, and neither does the Turin questura page, even though it was updated on 1 September 2026. When a website and normattiva disagree, normattiva wins. It's the consolidated law as amended.

So which number should you use? 90. Filing earlier than the law requires costs you nothing. Filing later than it requires might.

The three dates on your calendar

Take the expiry date printed on your card and work backwards and forwards from it.

Date 1: 90 days before expiry

This is your filing date under Article 5, paragraph 4. For most permit types (work, study, family, elective residence) filing means sending the kit postale, the yellow-striped envelope you pick up free at any post office with a Sportello Amico counter, filled in with modulo 1 and your supporting documents. For the types that don't use the kit, you book through the police portal instead. I covered which is which in the Prenota Facile guide.

A practical note. Some of the documents you attach (an updated employment contract, proof of income, a rental contract registered with the tax agency, your tessera sanitaria) take time to collect. Start gathering them at four months, so the kit actually goes in the post at three.

Date 2: the expiry date itself

Nothing bad happens on this day, provided you've filed. When the post office accepts your kit it hands you a ricevuta, the receipt with your file number and a date for fingerprinting at the questura. That receipt is what keeps you legal.

Article 5, paragraph 9-bis of the TUI says that while you wait for the renewal, even if the questura blows through its own deadline, you may lawfully stay in Italy and keep working, on condition that the office has issued you the receipt confirming the application was submitted. That protection lasts until the police formally notify you (and your employer) of a reason to refuse. So an expired card plus a valid ricevuta is a normal, lawful situation. Employers who panic about the expiry date can be pointed at paragraph 9-bis.

Date 3: 60 days after expiry

This is the date the law attaches a real consequence to. Article 13, paragraph 2, letter b of the TUI (the expulsion article, on normattiva.it) lists, among the grounds on which the prefect can order expulsion, a permit that "è scaduto da più di sessanta giorni e non ne è stato chiesto il rinnovo", meaning expired for more than sixty days with no renewal requested.

Read those two articles together and the picture is this. The 90 days before expiry is the deadline the law gives you. The 60 days after expiry is the point past which not having filed becomes a ground for removal. Between the two sits a 150-day stretch in which filing late is a risk you're carrying, not an automatic penalty.

How long the questura now has

The same decree changed the other side of the clock. Article 5, paragraph 9 now says the permit is issued, renewed or converted within ninety days of the application date (it used to say sixty). And the new paragraph 8.1-bis carves out the permesso unico lavoro, which the questore must issue within thirty days "dal completamento della domanda", from the day your file is complete, not from the day you posted it. On that wording, if the questura asks for a missing document, the thirty days only start once you supply it.

Will your questura hit ninety days? In busy provinces, often not. That's exactly what paragraph 9-bis exists for. Its wording covers the case where "il termine di novanta giorni di cui al comma 9" is not respected. Your ricevuta doesn't stop working on day 91. You can track your file on the questure.poliziadistato.it/stranieri portal with the codes printed on the receipt.

What if you file late, but before expiry?

Say your card expires on 15 December and you only get the kit in the post on 1 November, 45 days out. The law told you to file by 16 September. What now?

Article 5 sets the 90 days as your deadline, but it attaches no sanction to filing at 45 days while the card is still valid. The only hard consequence written into the TUI is the one in Article 13, sixty days after expiry. The post office will accept the kit and issue the ricevuta, and from that moment paragraph 9-bis covers you exactly as if you'd filed on time.

Where it can bite is at the questura's discretion. A renewal is "sottoposto alla verifica delle condizioni previste per il rilascio", subject to a check of the conditions for issue, and an office that sees a pattern of late filings is an office looking harder at your file. Practice on this varies by province. If you're already late, file now rather than spending another week assembling the perfect dossier.

What if the permit has already expired?

Two situations, and they're different.

Expired less than 60 days ago. File today. You're still inside the window before Article 13 applies, and once you hold the ricevuta you're back under paragraph 9-bis. Bring the expired card with you. The post office needs to see it, and so does the questura at fingerprinting.

Expired more than 60 days ago, nothing filed. You're now in the situation Article 13 describes. The law says the prefect may order expulsion, and whether a questura still accepts a late renewal (for illness, a family emergency abroad, a lost passport) is decided case by case. I'm not going to guess at your odds. This is the point where a patronato (a union-linked assistance office, free of charge) or an immigration lawyer earns their fee. Go to one before you go to the post office, with every document that explains the delay.

If your renewal is refused, that's a diniego, and it comes with its own deadline to appeal, which is another reason not to sit on an expired card hoping nobody notices.

What the renewal costs in 2026

The fees haven't changed with the decree. The Polizia di Stato page "Come dove e quanto costa" lists them:

The contribution tiers come from a Ministry of Economy decree of 5 May 2017, in force since 9 June 2017. The Catanzaro questura spells them out: €40 for permits over three months and up to one year, €50 for one to two years, €100 for the EU long-term residence permit and for managers and highly specialised workers. So a standard one-year renewal comes to €116.46, a two-year one to €126.46.

Can you travel while you wait?

The official answer on the costs page is that the Poste Italiane receipt, together with the original expired permit (or the entry visa, for a first application), lets you return to your home country and come back. That page talks about your home country only. It says nothing about transiting through, or holidaying in, another Schengen country on a ricevuta, so don't assume that's covered. Ask your questura before booking anything that isn't a direct trip home.

What to actually say

At the fingerprinting appointment, the phrase that starts every conversation is the one from our questura lesson:

Buongiorno, ho un appuntamento per il permesso di soggiorno. Ecco la ricevuta. Good morning, I have an appointment for my residence permit. Here's the receipt.

If they ask why you're filing late, ho avuto un problema con i documenti (I had a problem with the documents) is honest and enough. Don't over-explain at the counter.

Frequently asked questions

How many days before expiry do I renew my permesso di soggiorno?

As of 22 May 2026, at least 90 days before, under Article 5, paragraph 4 of the Testo Unico as amended by Legislative Decree 83/2026. Older pages, including the police's own renewal page, still say 60.

Can I renew my permesso di soggiorno after it expires?

Yes, and you should do it immediately. Within 60 days of expiry you're outside the situation Article 13 describes, and the ricevuta restores your position. After 60 days, filing is still possible but the questura decides case by case, so get a patronato or lawyer involved first.

Can I keep working while my renewal is pending?

Yes. Article 5, paragraph 9-bis lets you stay and work on the strength of the ricevuta until the police notify you and your employer of a reason to refuse, even if the questura's 90-day processing deadline has passed.

How long does the questura take to renew a permesso di soggiorno in 2026?

The law now gives it 90 days from the application (30 days from a complete file for the permesso unico lavoro). Real waiting times in large provinces are frequently longer, and the law says your legal position doesn't change when the deadline is missed.

Does the 90-day rule apply to study permits and family permits too?

Yes. The amended sentence is in the general renewal paragraph of Article 5, which covers all permit types. The 30-day fast track, by contrast, is only for the permesso unico lavoro.

Official sources used in this post

Rules on this page were checked on 12 September 2026. If you're reading this much later, open the normattiva link first. The number in Article 5, paragraph 4 is the one that counts.

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