How to get a codice fiscale in Italy

What is the codice fiscale and when do you need it?

It is a sixteen-character code built from your name, date of birth, sex and place of birth, and it identifies you to every Italian institution. Think of it as a tax number that quietly became a universal ID number.

You will be asked for it before you can do almost any practical thing: activate a prepaid SIM, open a conto corrente, sign a rental contract, connect electricity or internet, register with the health service, enrol a child in school, or buy a car. Italians have one from birth. Newcomers need to get one in the first week.

Where do you get a codice fiscale in Italy?

From the Agenzia delle Entrate, the tax agency. Any of its local offices, an ufficio territoriale, can issue one. For a first code you book an appointment and go in person. The Agenzia is also clear that the only valid code is the one it issues: a code generated by a website or an app is not a codice fiscale, even if the letters come out the same.

Depending on how you arrived, you may already have one without asking for it. If you applied for a permesso di soggiorno, the Questura assigns the code as part of that application. If you came through the Sportello Unico per l'Immigrazione for work or family reunification, that office assigns it. Check your paperwork before you book.

It is not the post office. Poste Italiane handles plenty of paperwork, including SPID digital identity, but it does not issue the codice fiscale. If you queue there for it, you will be sent on.

What documents do you need, and what is form AA4/8?

AA4/8 is the request form, one page, called Domanda di attribuzione codice fiscale. You can download it from the Agenzia's site and fill it in before you go. Sign it. With the form you bring an identity document.

• Non-EU citizens: a valid passport, with the visa where one was required, or your permesso di soggiorno. A diplomatic or consular attestation with a photo also counts.
• EU citizens: a valid passport or a national identity card that is valid for travel abroad. The request has to state a reason, so write why you need the code: a job, a lease, studies.
• For a child, a parent requests it and attaches their own ID as well.

Offices also accept the signed form and documents by PEC, certified email, but a first code for a non-EU citizen is handled in person, so plan on the appointment.

Can you get a codice fiscale before you arrive in Italy?

Sometimes. Italian consulates can forward a request to the Agenzia for people who live in their district and are not resident in Italy, but only in limited cases: when the code is needed for an online procedure, or when you cannot appoint someone in Italy to apply for you. The New York consulate, for example, asks for form AA4/8 filled in digitally, a copy of your passport, proof of your address in the district and a signed statement of the reason, all sent by email as PDFs.

The other route from abroad is a delegate: someone already in Italy can present your form at an Agenzia office on your behalf.

For most people moving to Italy, the practical answer is simpler. Get it in the first days after you land. It is a single appointment.

What do you say at the sportello?

Offices run on numbers from a ticket machine and on a few set phrases. «Devo richiedere…», I need to request, is the verb that opens almost every conversation at an Italian counter. Formal address, lei, throughout.

What do you get, and when does the card arrive?

At the desk you receive a certificato di attribuzione: a printed sheet with your code on it. That paper is already valid. You can take it straight to the phone shop or the bank. Check every letter of your name and your date of birth on it before you leave the counter, because a code built on a misspelling is a nuisance to fix later.

A card follows in the post. If you are enrolled in the national health service you receive the tessera sanitaria, which carries the code and doubles as your health card. If you are not enrolled you receive a plain tesserino del codice fiscale. Until it arrives, the paper certificate does everything the card does.

What mistakes do newcomers make with the codice fiscale?

• Going to the post office. It is the Agenzia delle Entrate.
• Using a code from a calculator website. Only the Agenzia's code is valid, and a bank or a landlord can tell.
• Turning up without an appointment for a first code. Book one first.
• Bringing a passport but not the visa page or the permesso di soggiorno, when either was required.
• Not checking the printed certificate. A typo in your surname follows you into every contract.
• Waiting for the plastic card before opening a bank account or buying a SIM. The paper certificate is enough.

What does a real exchange at the Agenzia sound like?

1. ImpiegatoBuongiorno. Mi dica, per quale pratica?Good morning. Tell me, what are you here for?
2. YouBuongiorno. Devo richiedere il codice fiscale. Ho un appuntamento.Good morning. I need to request a codice fiscale. I have an appointment.
3. ImpiegatoVa bene. Ha un documento e il modulo compilato?All right. Do you have an ID and the completed form?
4. YouSì, ho il passaporto con il visto e il modulo AA4/8, già firmato.Yes, I have my passport with the visa and form AA4/8, already signed.
5. ImpiegatoPerfetto. Un attimo che lo inserisco.Perfect. One moment while I enter it.
6. YouQuanto tempo ci vuole?How long does it take?
7. ImpiegatoPochi minuti. Le stampo subito il certificato di attribuzione. La tessera arriva a casa per posta.A few minutes. I'll print the certificate of attribution for you right away. The card comes to your home by post.
8. YouGrazie mille. Buona giornata.Thank you very much. Have a good day.