Carrying identification in Italy

Officially, Italy requests everyone carry some type of official identification. For non-europeans that's a passport. There is no official information on a photocopy so some will tell you it's okay.

A U.S drivers license is not an official form of ID in Italy.

A recent experience/discussion
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/carry-your-passport-and-get-idp

You really think you can show a cop a photocopy and be 100% sure there won't be any problem? The law says you must carry your passport, not a copy. Do something else and all will depend on the cops' mood.

Nobody can tell a real US driving license from a fake one, but again you could be lucky and stumble upon a cop in a good mood.

Your choice.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travel-documents

You're going to get a lot of bad input here. The only correct answer is carry your passport with you at all times as that is what is requried of you.

Unfortunately, you never know when you may be stopped by the polizia or carabinieri and, as others on this thread have noted, the only officially recognized form of ID for a U.S. citizen in Italy is your actual passport (not a copy). It is a good idea to make a copy of your passport and keep it handy in the event that your actual passport is lost or stolen. I was in Italy about two weeks ago on a private wine tasting tour and we were pulled over by the local polizia at a routine traffic stop. Even though our guide was driving, the officer requested the ID of one of the passengers. Luckily, we all had our passports because I insisted that everyone have theirs on their person at all times. Two minutes later, we were on our way.

I would never travel in a foreign country without my passport. The only decision is whether its under my clothes in a money belt ie inaccessible to me - or if its in a zipped concealed pocket in my clothes ie I may need it today to change money, hire a car or similar.

The requirement is to have it on you

Keep it secret, keep it safe

I have a photocopy of my passport and my Covid vaccine card. That's worked when I've needed to show ID and didn't want to take my passport out of the hotel/airbnb. But of course to check in you need your passport.
I've used it for trains, bike rentals, etc. and it was fine.

I visited Italy several times from 87-91 when I lived in Germany working for the US Army. I never took my passport to Italy.

Since then, we have visited Italy several times and we always left our passports locked in the hotel safe or cruiseship cabin safe.

Our cruise lines ALWAYS advise us NOT to take our passports with us in Italy due to the high rate of pickpocketing. We carry photo copies and it works just fine.

If you insist on taking your passport with you, or must do so if you are traveling between cities and hotels, strongly recommend have a money belt for your passport and valuables (or for women a pack safe purse).

I know several people that have been pickpocketed in Rome, Venice, Paris and Madrid. It is not pretty what you have to go through to get a new passport.

There are reasons for carrying the right kind of ID beyond laws or rules.

As soon as I could talk, my parents had me memorize my full name, their names, our address and our phone number so I could tell someone that info if I got lost. That was back in the late 1940's. I blame my ID obsession on them. 😉

It doesn't matter where I am in Europe, I wear a money belt with my passport in it at all times. Equally as important in my money belt is a printed copy of my personal details that includes my name and phone number, my emergency contacts and my medical details.

I travel solo and my primary emergency contact is my husband, back in the US. If I'm on an RS tour, the information about that is also a part of my money belt ID stash, as is a copy of my travel insurance "card."

Although I'm obviously ancient now, it doesn't matter how old a person is or how fit they are, anything can happen. Believing in redundancy, I also put copies of the things listed above in the little purse I carry and in my cell phone case.

Why? If my purse goes AWOL and/or I'm incapacitated in a way that I can't speak, everything anyone needs to know about me is on my body under my clothes.

My BFF lawyer calls health insurance a form of asset protection. I think having easily findable identification and emergency details is a form of self protection. You hope you never have to use it, but it's essential if you do.

Not carrying your passport you will both break and ignore local rules, in short you'll be the stereotypical ugly American. Not a big problem for any of those working in the tourism you will deal with. Waiters, concierge and travel guides won't need to identify you.

On the other hand, carrying just a copy any cop would have the right to block you untill you can prove you are legally in the country. If you are white and behave well (i.e. if you can contain your ugly-americanism when drinking and riding public transit) the chances that it will actually happen are close to zero. You are more likely to be hit by a meteor than being stopped and being stopped by that single cop who will demand to see your real passport.

Anyway, 0.001% is not 0,000% and terrorist attacks do happen. After the Paris attacks, the idea of walking around an European City without being able to prove who I am sounds just stupid to me, but it's only my opinion. Seriously, do as you like and be ready to deal with the consequences.

As a side note, since a passport is just an evidence with zero monetary value, pickpockets are not interested in stealing passports. Keep it in a front pocket separate from phone/wallet and nobody will steal it. This was true even before passports were chipped.

We just returned from 3 weeks in Europe; 2 of those weeks in Italy and yes, we were asked by the police in the Florence train station for our passports, which were thoroughly inspected and then politely returned. We kept our passports on us the entire trip; husband and son wore neck wallets inside their shirts with rfid protection; daughter and I had slash resistant cross body bags with rfid.

As an ugly Canadian, I almost never carry my actual passport around. I carry a photocopy of the main page and also have access to it via my Dropbox in the cloud. It is locked in the hotel room safe.

That said, the official rules in many countries are to carry your passport.

A US passport is very valuable on the black market.

According to? There are secondary roads in Rome where pickpockets' little siblings throw away stolen passports as soon as possible after the theft has happened.

It's been this way for ages, today that all passports are chipped... the idea that pregnant minors from Bosnia know somebody who is able to crack chipped passports is ridiculous. It seems something only the writer of movies like "Taken" could believe to be realistic.

is being way too much used.

Incidentally, being sure that an US passport MUST be valuable is a plain example of a mild ugly-americanism.

Gail, I give your posts a like.

Fear is a terrible thing in the extreme.

Not carrying your passport you will both break and ignore local rules...After the Paris attacks, the idea of walking around an European City without being able to prove who I am sounds just stupid to me...

First, how difficult can it be to just follow the local rules and laws?
Secondly, as someone on the board once said, "With my passport and a pocket full of credit cards I can handle anything.

Next time I get pulled over by a state trooper, I'm going to show her a photocopy of my drivers license and see what she says.

Be sure to carry that email along with your copy
I am sure the local police that may ask you for your passport will be fine with that.

Here is RS advice for those following this:
Traveling with Your Passport
Guard your passport carefully. Keep it in your money belt, and if you're asked to show it, put it back in your money belt right away.

Can anyone here who insists on sticking their passport in a "hotel safe" tell me how/why you consider that guarding it carefully?
As has been posted in other threads on this topic, those hotel safes are anything but.

The law says carry it, so what is so hard about following the law?

Gail, you are just wrong.

It's not a big deal, but quit doubting because you couldn't find a source that confirms you must do what you don't want to.

You couldn't found a source because you can't speak (or Google in) Italian.

There are dozens of sites where you can read the Consolidated Law about Foreigners and Immigration, including the site of the lower Chamber: https://web.camera.it/parlam/leggi/deleghe/98286dl.htm

Yes, like it or not you have to obey a foreign law or face the consequences.

If you want to excercise your legal Italian, it's art. 6, point 3:

Lo straniero che, a richiesta degli ufficiali e agenti di pubblica sicurezza, non esibisce, senza giustificato motivo, il passaporto o altro documento di identificazione, ovvero il permesso o la carta di soggiorno, è punito con l'arresto fino a sei mesi e l'ammenda fino a lire ottocentomila.

Have fun.

Translation:

The alien who, at the request of the public security officers and agents, does not exhibit, without justified reason, a passport or other identification document, or a residence permit or card, is punished with arrest for up to six months and fine of up to eight hundred thousand lire.

Wow. Some posters seem angry because others make different choices than they do. How does this affect these posters, exactly?

I don't use a money belt. I find them hot and uncomfortable. Not only that, but my passport got sweaty and bent carrying it that way. No thanks.

If it makes you feel better to carry your passport in a money belt, then that's definitely what you should do.

I've never had a problem with using a hotel or rental safe, although no doubt there's always a first time.

I've also never run into a problem with carrying a photocopy of my passport, along with another piece of ID, such as a driver's licence. Of course, I've also never been stopped in the street and asked for my passport. I guess I'll just take my chances with that one. I don't think I'll be losing any sleep over it anytime soon.

So, I'll take my chances. If that makes some people here think me a disrespectful scofflaw (ha! I'm such a goody two-shoes, it's not even funny), oh well. It's a burden I'll just have to live with.

I can assure you we did not plan to be stopped by police and asked to show our passports.
Yet we were.
Not once, not twice but three times over 3 days.
I was glad we’ve always carried them with us.

A fine of 800,000 for failing to carry proper ID. Can someone furnish a lire/euro conversion rate, and also advise whether the lire is legal tender in Italy these days.