Longer stay in Italy and Permesso di Soggiorno?

Hello all and many thanks for you very helpful replies! In previous, but much shorter trips to Italy, the hotel reception person did indeed take our passports for awhile to collect our info. I had not connected this with the mention of the Permesso di Soggiorno I'd read about on the WWOOF (organization of organic farmers)website. So, we are set. Thanks again! Cheryl

Cheryl, you may have heard of reports of hotels taking your passport, either overnight or while you wait (ours were always just while we waited a few minutes). The hotels are copying down the information needed for the Permesso di Soggiorno and they handle it for you. Generally it is not something a tourist would have to worry about.

If you are staying in a self-serve apartment or rented villa or other place where you don't have staff available to handle the paperwork for you, then you might need to do the paperwork on your own.

Whenever we have stayed in self catering places the "meeter and greeter" has been the person who took our passport details for registration with the police.

The Permesso di Soggiorno is a resident's permit and you only need to apply for it if you plan to stay more than three months.

Since you said you are only staying two months, you are considered a tourist and don't need one. As the previous two posters mentioned, you do have to register with the police but this will probably be done by the people overseeing your rental. This is called the Dichiarazione di Presenza (Declaration of Presence) and has to be done within 8 days of arriving in Italy. (Which is where you probably got the idea of having to get something if staying more than 7 days.)

Sometimes the translations done on websites are done by computer and not very good.