INS---ITALIAN STYLE

Image this:  a room with muted rose-colored carpet, soft light, comfortable chairs, framed architectural drawings on the walls, faux ancient Roman sculptures artfully placed around the room, Vivaldi playing softly in the background, and the espresso bar serving cappuccini and croissants.  

In my dreams....as we drove up to the Immigration Office I felt like I was in Santa Ana.  The building is non-descript industrial, the room has worn, brown linoleum flooring, no heat (it was 9 degrees C today), torn "Avviso Importante" signs taped to the walls, a broken copy machine, and 6 chairs--1 with no back. 

The tension was palpable....everyone there wants to be in Italy legally.  They are willing to wade through the myriad paperwork, adjust to changing requirements at the drop of a hat (we were told to bring 4 pictures; the woman at the window shook her head, said, "six," and sent us to the photo machine), return again and again, all to receive legal status.  We all had deer-in-headlight, shell-shocked faces.  And we waited...and waited...and waited.

and we waited....

Is the message, "we don't want any stranieri, strangers,  in our country; if you insist on being here, you must jump through many hoops, and we can change the rules at any time?"  Is that the message all immigrants face?  If so, how do people have the fortitude to do it??  It's discouraging and demoralizing.  And we had it easy--we don't have to be here, we have another home, we aren't running from political abuse, we don't need asylum....it gives pause.  It was a humbling and eye-opening experience.

The good news:  the people who work there are professional and quite pleasant, no animosity or derision.  And...we'll hear about our permesso di soggiorno within 4-6 weeks.  So, our paperwork is complete---all we have to do is wait!