Italy’s biennial Conference of Consuls opened at the Farnesina on 12 June, bringing together 172 heads of consular offices from every continent to discuss how to modernise services for the country’s seven-million-strong diaspora. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi used the plenary to announce an upgrade of the Fast-It online portal—already used by 2.7 million Italians—to include a mobile app for passport renewals and civil-status changes. Speakers from ITA Airways, Poste Italiane and Trenitalia highlighted the need for end-to-end digital identity verification so that returning nationals can access transport and postal services without physical documents. Pilot projects in Argentina and Germany will test QR-code based proof-of-ID later this year. For global-mobility teams the consular overhaul matters because Italian assignees posted abroad often struggle with backlogs when renewing passports or requesting vital records for dependent-visa applications. The new roadmap commits the network to cut appointment wait times to 30 days worldwide by mid-2027 and to expand honorary-consul authority to issue emergency travel documents. The conference also tackled crisis response. After 4,085 consular assistance interventions in 2025—including 125 medical evacuations—the Ministry confirmed that agreements with private security providers will be renewed, offering corporate travellers an official evacuation channel during civil unrest or natural disasters. Proceedings continue behind closed doors on 13 June, with working groups on digitisation, legalisation of documents and community outreach.
Source: Corriere dell’Economia
