Residence Permit for Study in Italy: Arriving in Rome

You have landed in Rome with your study visa. What do you have to do, and in what order, during your first month?

The short answer: within 8 working days of arrival, request your residence permit for study (permesso di soggiorno per studio) at a post office. Your codice fiscale comes with that application, and the post office receipt lets you open an account, finalise enrolment and complete your DiSCo steps.

This is part 6 of our guide to studying in Italy for Tunisian students. It starts where the Italy student visa guide for Tunisian students ends: your first 30 days in Rome, step by step.

1. What should you do in your first 30 days in Rome?

In your first 30 days in Rome, the residence permit for study comes first: send the post office kit within 8 working days, then open an account, finalise enrolment and complete your DiSCo steps, in this order:

1. Within 8 working days: send the residence permit kit from a post office.
2. Only if a landlord or bank needs it sooner: get your codice fiscale at the Agenzia delle Entrate.
3. Open a Postepay Evolution card or a bank account.
4. Finalise enrolment at your university.
5. Send the enrolment papers to your bank in Tunisia.
6. DiSCo: upload the permit receipt, book a partner CAF, sign the ISEEUP, add your IBAN and PEC.
7. Choose your health cover, then look for student work.

2. How do you apply for a residence permit for study in Italy?

You apply for the residence permit for study (permesso di soggiorno per studio) at a post office with a Sportello Amico desk, within 8 working days of entering Italy (Polizia di Stato↗ (opens in a new tab)). The application takes four steps: the kit, the documents, the payment and the Questura appointment.

Step 1: get the yellow-band kit

Go to a post office with a Sportello Amico desk and ask for the residence permit kit, the envelope with a yellow band. Poste Italiane↗ (opens in a new tab) explains how to fill it in. Write your name exactly as in your passport.

Step 2: put the right documents in the envelope

• The completed application form from the kit.
• A copy of your passport, including the page with your visa.
• A copy of your health insurance, valid for the whole length of the permit, and proof of your means (your international office can confirm the full list).
• A EUR 16 revenue stamp (marca da bollo), bought at a tobacconist.

Step 3: pay and keep the receipt

The post office clerk gives you a receipt with a username and password. Keep the receipt with your passport: your university, the bank and DiSCo will ask for it.

Step 4: go to the Questura for fingerprints

At the post office you also receive a convocation letter with your appointment at the Questura, where your fingerprints are taken. Check the status of your permit on the Polizia di Stato permit portal↗ (opens in a new tab) with your receipt details. The Polizia di Stato gives about 60 days for processing; Sapienza warns it can take about 90.

Sapienza students can get help on campus: its residence permit page↗ (opens in a new tab) lists the campus police desk and the Questura immigration office (Via Teofilo Patini 23).

Once you have a lease and your permit receipt, you can also register your residence at the Rome anagrafe, a separate step explained in how to apply for residenza in Rome.

3. How do you get a codice fiscale as a student in Italy?

Usually you do not request the codice fiscale: the Questura assigns it with your residence permit application. The codice fiscale is your Italian tax code, needed for a lease, a bank or a phone contract.

If you need it earlier, go to any Agenzia delle Entrate office with form AA4/8 and your passport with the visa. The Agenzia delle Entrate leaflet for foreign citizens↗ (opens in a new tab) explains the procedure. At Sapienza, the HELLO desk can help you with the forms.

4. Why do you need an IBAN in your first weeks?

You need an Italian IBAN in your first weeks because DiSCo, your rent and any salary all go through it.

Your options are a bank (Intesa Sanpaolo and others), an online account (Revolut, Wise) or the Postepay Evolution prepaid card with an IBAN. Banks ask for your codice fiscale. The documents, the order to try them in and what to do if a branch refuses are in how to open a bank account in Italy as a student.

According to the Banca d'Italia↗ (opens in a new tab), anyone legally staying in the EU has the right to a basic account (conto di base), and its August 2026 guidance tells banks to accept the residence permit receipt for this account.

5. How do you finalise enrolment and your DiSCo file after arrival?

Enrolment at a Rome university is complete only once the university has checked your original documents, and Sapienza, Tor Vergata and Roma Tre each organise that check differently:

• Sapienza: send your permit receipt to the International Student Office↗ (opens in a new tab), then book the check of your original documents.
• Tor Vergata: show your visa, originals and permit (or receipt) at the International Students Office, then pay the first instalment (documents required↗ (opens in a new tab)).
• Roma Tre: book an appointment at the foreign-qualifications office, Via Ostiense 129, and bring your originals (non-EU enrolment↗ (opens in a new tab)).

Unlock the monthly transfers from Tunisia

Once you are enrolled, send the enrolment papers to your bank in Tunisia. The bank can then let your parents transfer up to 4,000 TND a month (about EUR 1,188 at the BCT rate of 7 October 2026), as explained in the blocked account section.

Complete your DiSCo steps

• Upload your residence permit or the post office receipt in your DiSCo Profile by about 1 December if you requested housing, otherwise by about 10 February (check the 2027/28 call).
• Book an appointment at a DiSCo partner CAF↗ (opens in a new tab) and sign your ISEEUP by about 10 December (check the 2027/28 call).
• Add your IBAN and a PEC (certified email) address in your Profile.

If the ISEEUP is done correctly, the first payments follow; see when DiSCo pays the scholarship.

Choose your health cover

You do not have to register with the national health service (SSN), which costs about EUR 700 a year (Tor Vergata, 2024↗ (opens in a new tab)): private health insurance valid in Italy for the whole length of your permit is accepted instead. In my experience, a health insurance policy taken in Tunisia, for example through your Tunisian bank when you open your study file, replaces the EUR 700 SSN registration; check that it covers Italy for the whole permit period. Check the current SSN amount with your ASL or university.

6. How much money do you need for your first month in Rome?

Your first month in Rome runs on the installation allowance: your bank in Tunisia can send up to 6,000 TND per academic year (about EUR 1,782 at the BCT rate of 7 October 2026). The monthly transfers only start after your enrolment papers reach the bank, so the installation allowance must last until then.

Buy second-hand on Subito↗ (opens in a new tab): furniture, a bike, books. And never pay a room deposit before you have seen the room; read how to avoid student housing scams in Rome.

7. Can you work with a student residence permit in Italy?

Yes, within limits: a residence permit for study allows up to 20 hours a week, for a maximum of 1,040 hours a year (DPR 394/1999, art. 14↗ (opens in a new tab)). You can start working with the permit receipt (ricevuta) while you wait for the card.

Where to look (Subito, Indeed, temp agencies, university job offices), how to post your profile and how to spot fake offers: see how to find student jobs in Rome.