by JoAn Ferguson
Did you know that the U.S. Consulate occasionally provides information to American citizens living in Italy via email and even holds on-line Town Hall meetings?
The next Town Hall meeting will be Wednesday, April 6, 2022 from 18:00 – 19:30 (local time) via Zoom:
Click this link:
https://statedept.zoomgov.com/j/1619652565?pwd=MGNDamgzell0dXJUT3FTQ2JhOUx2UT09
Passcode: 947561
Or Telephone: +39 02 1241 28822
Webinar ID: 161 965 2565
Passcode: 947561
No RSVP is needed. They will share information about the work of the consulate, update on availability of visa and passport/citizenship services, absentee voting, and other topics. Then they will take questions from those on the call.
Jim and I attended one of these Town Hall meetings in December. We found that some of the information was valuable and relevant to us and some of it was not. I had prepared a question regarding the Italian driving test and submitted it via the Zoom window before the meeting started. I requested that they address the challenge of newly arrived immigrants in taking the difficult Italian driving test. My question was one of the first to be addressed – they said that they would address this with their relevant Italian government, although they wouldn’t make any promises about changes to this gnarly problem. If you have a question, I do suggest that you submit it early because there were too many questions to be addressed during the allotted time.
It is easy to get on the mailing list for these kinds of communications. The program is called “Smart Traveler Enrollment Program” or STEP and you can sign up at https://step.state.gov/step/
JoAn Ferguson moved to Lucca Italy from the United States in March 2020. She is enjoying retirement with her husband Jim, especially when traveling, taking pictures, and enjoying local food and wine. She posts occasionally on her blog at MyNextAdventure.blog.
