New Air bnb rules in Italy

Register at a police station? I do have an airbnb booked in Rome for this summer, but if we need to stop at police station to register, I'll just cancel & book a hotel. We're a group of 5, including a 7 year old, so would be a PITA to all have to go to the police station with our luggage to register, then on to the airbnb (if that turns out to be the process). Thanks for the heads up!

More discussion here

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/new-identification-rules

I don’t read it as the renter having to go to police station-it doesn’t say that
The landlord must physically identify the renter then send docs to police station rather than using key box

Dear Tina your host will handle registering for you. It's not new, my first trip to Italy was in 1999 and at least since then you have needed to show your passport so they (be it hotel or Airbnb) can register you and your movement. J

There is no requirement that a guest registers at the police station.

Apartment Hosts and hotels already have to communicate the identity documents of guests in their premises to the police headquarters (Questura) within 24 hours from check-in. That law exists since June 1931, when the Prime Minister of Italy responded to the name of Benito Mussolini.

That requirement takes the form of a registered guests having to hand their passport or other ID to the hotel staff (or the apartment host), who makes a photocopy of the photo Identity document (for US citizens the passport) and then at the end of the day transmit electronically that data to the Questura of that province.

Lately, many apartment hosts, have permitted their guests to enter the apartments without an "in person" check in, but rather by providing a code with which to access the apartment or the key box hanging on the door outside. The host is still required to transmit the identity data to the police headquarters, but in this case the host would have collected copies of the hosts' passports in advance via email.

The new Ministerial Circular provides only a clarification that such remote check in, without an in-person encounter between host and guest, is no longer possible, and therefore the apartment host will need to meet you at the apartment 'in person' and deliver the code or key 'in person' after verifying 'in person' your passport (which they will still probably require you to send a copy in advance).

It's a BS government requirement that "clarified" an existing law, just because some people complained that those key boxes hanging outside the buildings are ugly, and also because the hotel lobby doesn't like the competition from short term apartment rentals like those available on AirBnB and VRBO.

So you won't have to go to the police, but the hosts (or their agents) will need to come to the apartment and meet you in person rather than simply delivering your the access code to your smartphone.

Welcome to Italy. The world moves forward to the future of modern technology (including digital entry systems), while Italy moves backwards toward the Middle Ages. Maybe soon they will require apartments to have only this type of entry keys, like my great grandparents house in the country.

Roberto, I believe you, but that's not what the article implies. I say implies because the article is so poorly written.

That's why I didn't even read the article by CNN. It's second hand news. A poor google translation of some Italian media outlet article.

I always go to the Italian sources, and get the original.

And all the Italian sources would confirm what I wrote. It would be even ridiculous to think that the millions of people who visit Florence every year would need to show up to register at the Questura of Florence on Via Zara. There would be no room to walk north of Piazza San Marco. The line at the Uffizi would be nothing in comparison.

All renters, no matter what the duration of occupancy, must be registered at local police stations, but in recent years property managers have been forwarding photocopies or cell phone pics to a messaging service to comply.

That does not “imply” that the guest must themselves go and register at the police station. On the contrary, it says that the guest must “be registered” at the local police station, and the that is nothing new. The host (or hotel desk clerk) takes care of the registration, as they always have.

But it became common practice, right after the pandemic, to have “contactless” check-in and registration. In 2022 and 2023, when we rented apartments in Italy, I had to send copies of our passports in advance to the host, before getting the key code for entry. We rarely ever met or even saw the host. Now, they are requiring that the host or landlord must actually meet you and confirm your identity before handing over the keys.

It makes sense, actually, if they are concerned about security and the actual identity of the renters.

So 35 million tourists in Rome will be at the police station? Or this only applies to apartment renters?, so only 10 million tourists at the police station?

EDIT: Nope. This article is much better. Does away with the out of context "but" that confused me and maybe others. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/12/03/italy-bans-key-boxes-on-holiday-rental-accommodation-what-does-it-mean-for-travellers Sure, no problem if thats what they want.

For the tourist it means: fewer and more expensive choices, but maybe a little better quality (maybe, but doubt it).

For the owners (probably mostly Italian citizens averaging something less than two units each): it means higher overhead costs that get passed to the tourist. For those that survive, it will possibly mean greater income because of supply and demand.

To the shop and restaurant owners in the neighborhoods: it means less business and to the employees it means fewer jobs and less income.

For the citizens living in the neighborhoods: it means better aesthetics but fewer services in the neighborhood, but fewer people that talk differently and look differently then they do.

For the nation it means: better security. That I actually believe.

BUT these are choices people get to make in democracies.

For what it’s worth, we have been to Italy twice since the pandemic and stayed at air bnbs. In all cases, someone met us to give us the keys and get passport information. It wasn’t always the owner though. In a couple of cases, it was a management company. In one case, it was someone who the owner had hired.

Meeting anyone is rare with a rental in the US and I have always enjoyed this more personal side in Europe. The only place we have ever used lock boxes is England.

In Budapest they are not required to meet you, I am guessing that most do, but I might be wrong. My favorite ones do. But they must register you with the authorities before they let you in. The registration process is a bit time consuming and a whole lot easier on a laptop, so even those that do meet you will require that you send them a copy of your passport in advance so they can get the paperwork done before you arrive. Then the post shows up on the RS forum, "is it safe to send a picture of may passport to an AirBnb owner?" If they dont ask, know it is possibly an illegal operation.

Mr. E, excerpted from your reply above: "Then the post shows up on the RS forum, "is it safe to send a picture of may passport to an AirBnb owner?" If they don't ask, know it is possibly an illegal operation."

I
am wondering if one needs to be concerned about sending our passport info to a host via email. We have always been guided to
protect our passports, so sending the info over the internet is not something I relish doing for security reasons. (yes, I no doubt tend to be a little overly cautious about sending any sensitive info over the internet and do as little as I can get away with). I realize that some hosts, for their own convenience, will wish to have renters do this ahead of time in this manner so that THEY can save time. But, I would always try to get then to agree to the in person transfer of the info. I rank my identity/security over their saving time for their convenience. This is part of their job if they choose to be hosts (in my opinion). So, is this something that can be done (negotiating this with the hosts)? I suppose this might keep me from a booking which I want, but I can live with that.

A passport doesn’t contain any sensitive information like your Social Security or credit card number+CVV/CVC code. It has only your name, date of birth, nationality. It doesn’t even have your home address or telephone number or email address. Whether you send a copy via email or give it in person to the hotel desk, it will be photocopied and transmitted electronically. If you think such personal information contained in the passport is so secret try to go to one of the many free search websites, like the ones below, enter your name and State, and you will see how secret you are. In the US we have zero privacy, ZERO.
https://www.searchpeoplefree.com/
https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/
https://www.zabasearch.com/

SharLee, as Roberto pointed out there isnt anything in a passport that has any value. Some countries require the hotel or aribnb to photo copy the passport and send it electronically to the cops. So if you go to Europe, one way or another its probably going to get copeied and sent out over the internet.

When you bought your tickets you had to enter you passport information witih the airlines. Some are taking scans now. When you boarded your flight in the US your passport was scanned at the check in desk and verified against a IATA database which means the digital data flowed along some wire, someplace. Soon the Schengen non-visa-visa-thing will kick in. If its like the one in Australia it will require your passport information either manually input or a scan. If you are uncomfortalbe with that, believe me I get it.

Where I differ from Roberto is the lack on context in his final complaint. "In the US we have zero privacy, ZERO." I assueme you live or lived in Italy and I have no idea the rules there. Where I live in Europe I must register my home address with the government. I must at all times carry a government issued identification card that I obtained by providing the government with two pages of personal information. For me, thats a greater lack of privacy than anything in the U.S. were no government agency knows where I live and where there is no mandated identification cards based upon my life history.

I know what the requirements in Europe are in terms of mandatory ID and mandatory registration of residency with the City within 20 days (at least in Italy) from the date of a change of address. The government has the same information in the US too, even though technically we are not required to carry ID unless while driving a car. What I mean by privacy is that in the websites above everybody on this planet can know the address where I live or where I have lived in the past, all my email addresses, my personal telephone numbers, my birthdate,, the name of my relatives, my email addresses, how much I paid for my house and how much the assessed value is and how much I pay in property tax, and many other pieces of personal information. So it is not just the government that has such information (I collaborated for years with the FBI and DOJ in pursuing Medicare fraudsters when I worked for Medicare, so I know what the government knows or can know about us, which is basically everything), but everybody, not just law enforcement, can access much of the same information at the click of a mouse.

As an Italian host I confirm that it is the host who has to collect information about guests and transmit that information to police authorities via a dedicated portal. Guests just have to provide the information.

Tinac, same here. Most hosts here will request a photo in advance because the portal is a bit of a pain to use, especially on a cell phone at the front door of an airbnb.