Consulate General of Italy

I'm shocked that this is one of the higher-rated Italian consulates in the US. The Italian Consulate of Philadelphia is a perfect example of why in spite of the 22% VAT, 22% import duties, 40% income tax and multiple other sources of revenue, Italy has one of the highest levels of government debt in the world with a pitiful economy. Our lives are dominated by these smug, lazy, inefficient functionaries with a God complex and their corrupt bosses. They’re almost ingrained in our culture. Our laws make it so that it’s impossible to fire a state employee. It’s why if young people want to start a business, they're leaving Italy. With suffocating and slow bureaucracy, it’s simply too hard to do business there. With young people leaving, the pension system is going to collapse. After killing productivity with over-reaching regulations and impossible permit wait times, there’s no more wealth to tax. Result: ballooning government debt and interest payments. The same pasta factory that took 11 months to open in Chicago took 7 years to open in Verona. All of these excessive laws under the disguise of "civilization." I guess we're just 7 times more civilized. Italian consular officials are like regular bureaucrats, but their worst qualities are exaggerated. The goal of these snobs is NOT to provide basic services, it’s to milk you for as much money as possible. You get burned so that they can live the high life with a prestigious-looking office. They couldn’t care less whether or not your life is destroyed by their inaction. They have a monopoly on legal authority. If you need anything done in Italy but reside anywhere in their jurisdiction, you MUST go through them. Even living abroad, you can’t escape these fools. So they take as much of your money as they can with extortionist fees and provide as little as possible in return. They can ignore you during a family emergency. It’s not like they’re elected officials, so you have no recourse. Need to get into contact with someone? Impossible. Straight to voicemail during office hours and the voicemail box is always full. If you’re lucky enough to leave a message, they’ll never call back. Don’t bother sending an email. They never reply. Ever wonder why they only accept money orders instead of bank checks like every other European consulate? Makes it more difficult for you to claim that you paid for something but never received anything back. It’s difficult and expensive for companies like Western Union to check whether or not money orders have been cashed and most people aren’t willing to go through the hassle. It’s not like the services they provide aren’t in demand: it’s nearly impossible to get an appointment for any service and if you manage to get one by some miracle, it’s in the distant future. They create artificial scarcity so that they can drive up the price. They DO NOT CARE that you have to wait an absurd amount of time. Government employees always get comfortably paid at the end of the day regardless of performance. You would think that with all the demand there is for their services and with their huge fees for simple tasks, they would simply hire more people with the additional revenue. Nope. At best, they’re incredibly incompetent managers. “Oh, but we publish our financials according to transparency laws.” Do you also publish the obscene endowment on a per employee basis? If you have a complaint, let me remind you not to just mention it on google reviews. Contact the general URP office for il Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Get the corrupt fools out or hire more of them. Or you could stop wasting money managing lame social media accounts with 2,000 followers.

Great experience. Couldn't make an appointment so showed up as a walk in (available Mon, Wed, and Fri from 9am to 12pm) to drop off student VISA package at 9am and were finished around 9:30am. The lady we worked with was very friendly and helpful. Just be sure to show up with your application completed (you can sign it there), have all of the supporting documentation on the checklist they provide for the type of VISA you need, a money order from the USPS for the correct amount, and a pre-paid USPS priority mail envelope with a tracking number addressed to yourself in both the from and to sections. Unless you are there for a short-term VISA, they will keep your passport and mail it to you with your visa.

This is an exceptional group of officers dedicated to assisting those needing visas for visiting Italy. They are real human beings. They go out of their way to be helpful and make so easy what is normally an arduous and stressful experience at most consular offices. The officers reflect a commitment to service, and are a tribute to Italy, the Consul General and other senior officials. THANK YOU ALL! M Salim Lone Princeton, NJ