I have followed your questions about passport renewal and visas. It appears that Tatiana needed only to indicate to the authorities in Montreal that she would be leaving the country in order to apply for a renewal whereas Anuka was told that she would need a letter from BES.
Given that your passports do not expire until 2012, Paola, at my suggestion, has indicated that you may go ahead and apply for your student visas with your current passports. When they expire, you can either renew them through the Canadian consulate in Rome or when you are back in Canada during one of your holidays.
In Tatiana's case, since the Montreal officials did not require any further documentation, she will go ahead and apply for a new passport.
Alison has applied for Italian citizenship and will follow a different route for her Italian adventure!
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Do the passport-sized photos that are needed along with the application form and the Autentica di Foto need to be official passport photos from a recognized photographer, or can they be our own photos so long as they meet the size requirements of a passport-size picture?
ReplyDelete2. What is the Autentica di Foto? Where and how do we get this form?
3. What's the story with health insurance? We were under the impression that the Blue Cross coverage was going to be minimal. At what point will Italian health coverage kick in?
Thanks.
Jesse Grosman (2009)
Dear Jesse,
1. Passport sized pictures should do the trick. The one that I used most recently for my US passport renewal came out of a coin operated machine they had in the US Consulate.
2. The Autentica di Foto (Photo authentication) form will be sent to you by BES. It has your picture on it and someone at the consulate signs it to verify that you are who you say you are! Make sure you look like the photo you place on the form. :-)
3. It will take a while, probably months, to get you on the Italian National Health system. For that reason it is important to buy a private health policy that has the maximum length possible. The school will reimburse you for this expense up to Euro 500, but keep all receipts. The business office cannot reimburse payment without receipts. The private insurance policy is to ensure that you are covered in case of serious illness or injury. Routine medical visits will be reimbursed by the school from the day you arrive.