I dreaded getting the letter to go to the Questura to get my Permesso di soggiorno in Italy. Classmates and friends had already told me the horrors of their experience.
My advice is to practice conversational Italian before going to the appointment. The date assigned in the letter is no guarantee that they will get to you that day. A new scheduled appointment will get delivered by post. The Questura is always very busy in Florence. Florence University of the Arts student advisers assisted in dealing with the Questura.
Unfortunately, the adviser can only help or prepare you enough to get you through the door, the rest is up to you. My appointment got pushed back so many times that I was only a witness to the process. I was in another country by the time I was finally assigned another appointment.
I went with my roommate as her Italian helper, it was a good thing that I did as the first agent was a nightmare. He demanded to know why she would even bother staying if she could not speak the language and flat out refused to speak anymore English. To be fair, we are trying to settle in Italy.
The Questura in Florence is large and used to dealing with volumes of people who do not speak Italian. The first agent was very rude and quite abrasive but the second agent however, was friendly and polite. To my roommates credit she tried to speak Italian the entire time, only looking to me when she did not know a word.
It is very important to bring every documents on the check list especially four recent passport photos. If something is missing you will need to wait for another appointment assignment. We had letters of acceptance from the school. Fingerprinting will happen at the end of the appointment. I heard that, if we were not attending the University, we may have had to take a class to prepare us for life and culture in Italy. After everything, for which you need a thick skin, your Permesso di soggiorno will arrive in the mail.
Visa’s are a painful part of travelling. Though I must say, it is far easier to forget the struggle of Visas when there is so much to explore.