Passport requests and renewals can now be made at 1,500 post offices in the 20 largest towns in Italy, Poste Italiane announced on 7 July. The new service presents an alternative to the other methods of obtaining a passport via police stations or questura offices. A special kit will be available at post offices containing all the necessary documentation, and members of the public need to take with them two passport photographs and a signed photocopy of an identity document. The post office will then send the completed package to the relevant police station for issue or renewal. The post office can then arrange for the passport to be sent directly to a home address or it can be picked up at the post office where the original request was made.

Poste Italiane said the service, which will cost an additional 20 on top of the usual passport fee, will eventually be extended to cover post offices in the whole of Italy. For more information see www.poste.it or tel. 803160.