Wanted for a 12-year old parking ticket -- clarification

Who spotted your name where?

A responder? Who the H is that?

OMG are you referring to Paul?

His response was made in jest!

IGNORE his response. No need to fret about a parking ticket from 12 years ago while you were in Italy!!!!

I am sorry but there is no such thing as wanted list in Rome immigration. First off, Rome immigration is nothing more than a bunch of booths with officers sitting behind glass checking passports. There are no bulletin boards with wanted lists posted and finally no officer has time to check your passport name against a wanted list.. This makes no sense --- someone is pulling your leg. Don't bother calling the consulate. This is a dead issue.

PS -- Are your referring to this ---- When I went through immigration in Rome last year, I did see your name on a wanted poster, so take care. ----- Paul is just trying to be cute but is a turkey instead. How would he had known your name a year ago??? Ignore him -- ignore the ticket.

I spotted a charge on my Visa from Hertz for $40. A couple of months later, I too received the certified letter from the City of Venice. The causeway going over to Venice does have a radar/camera, and it gets you for 1 km over the posted speed limit of about 35 mph.

They requested payment wired directly into their checking account for right under $100--in Euros.

There are online European bill payment services that can charge credit cards and pay such fines in Euros by wire transfer.

But as far as a 12 year old ticket, forget it.

Since this is a fine and not a crime, the statute of limitations is five years from the last registered letter. For the same reason, you can't be detained or blocked at the border for an unpaid fine. They can't even prevent you from doing anything because of a single fine.

You are worrying about nothing and the guys at the Consulate will think you are joking. Or that you are worrying too much about so little.

it gets you for 1 km over the posted speed limit of about 35 mph.

No, it get you for 5 kms over the posted limit of 70 kmh. It's quite useless to give wrong info to present and future readers.

1 But do you owe the fine? Do you know how much? Do you know where to send the payment?
2 If you answer yes to all three; pay the fine.
3 Not because you have to, but because its the right thing to do.
4 Then sit down with your kids and tell them about it; explain that its not what you have to do that makes you better, it is doing what you should do that makes you better.
5 Not trying to make a big deal out of it, sorry if it came across like that, it is a ticket after all ... and I have gotten away with a lot worse so I am no one to preach

Who is the responder who spotted your name on a wanted list at Rome immigration? Is this a serious post? There is no public “wanted list” at immigration and certainly not for violators of a parking ticket. Thousands of parking tickets go unpaid in Italy every year. Do you think cities communicate the names of traffic violators to the immigration authorities? And do you think the Polizia di Frontiera has the time to check those things? They primarily check for terrorists that may try to enter the country. They do have such lists (although they are not posted on a wall visible to travelers) but your parking infraction does not qualify for terrorism. So sorry! You are not as important as Osama Bin Laden.

OP, seriously, you need to just put this to rest. The poster you referred to thought he was going amusing. You missed the next sentence that said said "But seriously"....

As I stated in your first thread, and as Dario stated above, the statute of limitations is only 5 years. The parking ticket is a dead issue. After 12 years I'm not sure the Sienna officials would even be able to track back to the original ticket. Be like Elsa: let it go. You are fretting over nothing.

Here is my original response:

When I went through immigration in Rome last year, I did see your name on a wanted poster, so take care. Of course, by now your appearance has changed, and you have a different Passport Number, so I would go for it. If they catch you, a small bribe should get you out of any trouble.

But seriously, what you paid was simply an administrative fee for the rental car company to turn your information over to the police. You should have received a separate notice of violations (Sometimes a year or so later) from a third party notifying you of the ticket, where, when, etc.; then an amount to pay (you would have remembered, maybe a couple hundred euro) and how to pay.

If you say you never received anything, fine, after all this time they likely either decided it was not worth their effort, or it has been lost in the very efficient Italian bureaucracy, or you thought it was junk mail or a scam and pitched it. Go, have fun, no worries

Clearly the comment about a wanted poster was a bit of fun, followed by clearly explaining what the charge was and the need not to worry. For future reference, it would help if a poster does not start three different threads about the same issue, to avoid confusion.

thanks for the clarification, Paul. Sometimes humour is hard to see on the internet, especially if, as our poster darlene5717 has shown, the poster is new to our boards and very worried already such statements can fan the fire of worry.

since nobody has apologised for the addition worry I will.

I am so sorry for your worry, darlene5717

But apparently she's not monitoring the thread so she can get some closure