Italian General Consulate In London
Reviews and Complaints

Dear Mr Marco Villani and Mr Pasquale Terracciano,

I have been trying to make an appointment for myself and my two daughters with the Consulate General of Italy in London for about 1 month now by calling [protected] from between 8.45 am to 1.00 pm Monday to Friday as directed, but to no avail. The line is constantly busy. In fact, only this morning I started calling from 8.30am. It went straight to an automated answering service after only 1 ring. I hung up and redialled right away, and I kept on doing this for about two minutes. Each call lasted no more than 5 seconds. I got distracted by something, but I returned to calling the consulate only two minutes later to find that the line was already busy.

I have done some research and I have discovered that this is a problem that many other Italian citizens like myself who are residing here in London or rather in the UK and are registered with the Consulate "all'AIRE" are facing and have been facing. Here are some recent examples besides my own:

Laura Bellucci Staunton

2 weeks ago ago

Was there any update? My parents have made over 200 call to the ‘phone line’ and no answer! How are you supposed to renew your passport? What a joke they need to shut it down and start again!

The following person had been trying to get in touch with them for about two months, and it was 1 month ago he posted the following message saying that his passport had already expired :

Basilio Martino

1 month ago ago

E da 2 mesi che cerco di fare un appuntamento. Nel frattempo il passaporto e scaduto. Propio non riesco a capire perché nel 2018 non si può effettuare un appuntamento online! BOH!

Agreeing with Basilio Martino, the following gentleman only 4 weeks ago had this to say:

Federico Favuzzi

4 weeks ago ago

Now more than ever Italian expats need to get their passport fast. It's not rocket science to keep a bloody online diary where people can book their appointment.

In fact, he problem is so bad that there is a petition online which has generated to date over 4, 100 signatures: Petition

This is absolutely disgraceful service! You must surely agree with me! I remember the days when I could just walk in and get what I needed done on the spot only after a brief wait. Long gone are those days, but it doesn't have to be that way!

Please for heaven's sake, listen to the many thousands beside the above who are crying out for righteousness and justice to be done by their elected government officials. Be the ones to have a conscience. Be the ones to break the disgraceful reputation that we Italians have with regard to bureaucratic inefficiency and laziness on behalf of its civil servants. This is a scathing review of the Italian Consulate General of London's service: Review of service

This inefficiency is explained by not having any on line booking service, which used to be available for us to use. I used it when I booked my daughters' first passports and registered their births. And as far as laziness is concerned, there is no alternative explanation as to why the phones are constantly busy, even before they're supposed to be open for the public to make their appointments.

I therefore sincerely hope that you will do something about rectifying the problem. Basilio Martino and Federico Favuzzi above have offered a constructive suggestion to rectifying the problem, which I completely agree with.

Right,
In April last year I’ve been to the Honorary consulate in Liverpool to register my marriage, apply for my ID card and also change address which was all done by the lovely Dra.BERTALI a truly Italian citizen and very well educated lady. So, all documents and fees and prepaid envelope was sent to the consulate in London
And now after a year they’ve send me all documents back saying it need to be legalised in brasil which by the way have been done and verified by DRa.BERTALI.
I would like to to say that the staff in the consulate in London is far out they league. They are very RUDE, UMPOLITE and NASTY not to say the worst. I am very disappointed with this consulate as every time I need it I have problems

My experience today was excellent with the call centre operator 44, who was very nice. I was first on the call list and I had a very happy time. All my questions and requests were well attended to. Thank you for your time and support. God bless you.

Ive been bullied and harassed by the Italian policemen at the door.

They won’t let you in . They laughed and mocked me in group because of my sexual orientation and because of my job .

They laughed at me when I declared I’ve been receiving death calls threats even when I showed them Uk Police crime report.

They won’t reply .

The service was appalling in 2019 and it's still awful in 2021. What is the Secretary of Foreign Affairs doing about it? Probably nothing, most likely they keep passing the buck until someone will do something about it. Couldn't they simply have an online calendar with multiple slots, automated emails that explain procedures clearly and concisely? Of course not, that'd be too much of hassle.

Stay Strong, Mattia.

Gentili Signori,

Hi inviato questa email a Marzo ma non ho mai avuto risposta. Ho inviato di nuovo oggi.

FAO Signor Michele nell’Ufficio Anagrafe

Nel Maggio del 2017, mi sono recata presso il Consolato per completare il rinnovo del mio passaporto. In quel momento i vostri colleghi mi dissero che per legge dovevo registrare la nascita di mia figlia che è’ nata a Edimburgo.

Avevo con me solo il certficato originale, e non avendo altra scelta, mi e' stato detto di rilasciarlo a voi in quel istante senza darmi l’opportunita’ di richiedere una copia originale per il vostro ufficio dal Registry Office a Edimburgo. Il certificato di nascita originale ha per me e mio marito un valore molto sentimentale. Questa situazione mi ha resa molto triste negli ultimi due anni e vorrei che il certificato originale mi sia restituito.

Ho nel frattempo richiesto una copia originale del certificato. Una volta fatta la traduzione e l'apostille, dovrei fare un appuntamento per rilasciarvi la nuova copia e riprendermi la mia originale? O posso presentarmi durante i vostri orari di apertura al pubblico?

Io e mio marito, che e' Inglese, siamo molto rammaricati da questa situazione e pensiamo che questo e' stato un gesto inaccettabile.

Saro’ costretta a mandare una lettera di lamentela al Ambasciatore Raffaele Trombetta per il modo in cui trattate i cittadini che vengono da voi per essere aiutati, se non ricevo una vostra risposta e mi sara’ restituito il Certificato di Nascita di mia figlia.

Attendo la vostra risposta.

Cordiali saluti,

Michelle

Ciao
Mi è stato detto che non potevo rinnovare il mio passaporto. fino a quando non cambierò nome e genere a causa del mio transgender, mi hai dato un elenco di avvocati italiani che tutti hanno rifiutato di farmi da servizio minacciando e riattaccando su di me, o quelli carini hanno detto che ti avremmo richiamato o e-mail e nessun contatto
così ho ricevuto informazioni su un avvocato italiano dal porto turistico di Cariatti
oh suppongo che fosse una vera avvocato che ha fatto illegalmente una menzogna ora che questo ha preso criminalmente i miei 1800 euro senza il cambio di genere e di nome presto mi è stato detto dall'avvocato per i diritti umani di Roma quanto il tuo governo tratta le persone transgender è inaccettabile
perciò sono registrato nel consolato italiano di aire London
è praticamente impossibile prendere un appuntamento per rinnovare il mio passaporto a Londra e portare il prosciutto
Alla luce di ciò mi hai lasciato con un passaporto scaduto dal 28 maggio 2018
ciò significa che non potrei lavorare e altre circostanze peggiori che il tuo personale è a conoscenza di questo e non fa nulla, ora potresti per favore fissare un appuntamento per me e ora per fare il mio passaporto AssApp manterrò il mio nome maschile e il genere e userò l'atto inglese polo
per favore, datemi un appuntamento con il passaporto dopo che Brexit mi farà imporre cose peggiori, quindi potete fornire un appuntamento con il passaporto
Cordiali saluti

Hello
I was told I couldn't renew my passport. till I get my name and gender changed due to me being transgender well, you gave me a list of Italian lawyers they All refused to be of service to me by threatening and hanging up on me, or the nice ones said we would call you back or email and no contact
so I got information about an Italian lawyer from cariatti marina
oh guess she was a real lawyer that unlawfully made up a lie now this criminally took my 1800 euros without the gender and name change soon I was told by human rights lawyer from Rome how bad your government treats transgender people it is unacceptable
thus fort I am registered in aire London Italian consulate
it is virtually impossible to get an appointment to renew my passport in London and bring ham
enlight of this you left Me with an expired passport since 28 May 2018
that means I couldn't work and other worse circumstances your staff is aware of this and does nothing, now may you please arrange an appointment for me and now to do my passport AssApp I ll keep my male name and gender and use my English deed pole
please give me a passport appointment after Brexit thier will worse things imposed on me so may you please provide passport appointment
Kindest Regards

I am two years on, no passport, due to the birth certificate name change, I was born in Belgium on route to Canada to Italian parents. Belgium for some unknown reason translated my birth name to what it would be in their country. My wife and I have been attempting to call statocivili, for over 6 months and logged thousand YES thousand of calls. (I am convinced the phone is only manned by one person) Now we are attempting the e mail route. We did contact other departments and had one e mail with a bit of information. THANK YOU but the matter is far from settled. Given i have no passport, i am effectively stateless.

I filled a request to have my AIRE changed to London almost one year ago, on 26/03/18, and it has not been accepted yet! They want you to keep your details updated, and change any information as soon as possible, but they do not do their part!

I have managed to get an appointment with the Consulate on the 18th of December 2018. I have booked a trip back to my home country on the 6th of February 2019. They say it takes 30 working days for the passport to arrive. Do they stick to their 30 day word or do they keep you waiting for extra days. I don't want to lose out on the money i have paid.

Recently I made a trip from Leeds to London to renew my passport. I had an appointment booked in, was seen on that day and after 4 hours I was walking out of the consolate with my new passport. I was not expecting that at all.
Very big thank you to all staf there as they are very friendly, working very hard and keen to help everybody.
Also people arriving without an appointment have been seen and dealt with on that day. So no need to try many attempts to call and to book.
Again a big thank to all staff for your hard work and help. 😊

This is actually unacceptable. London and the United Kingdom is a major partner of Italy and has thousands upon thousands of Italian residents. It is extremely embarrassing and unprofessional to have a consulate that is not reachable in any way and a passport renewal process that is like winning the lottery. Maybe I should switch my nationality to a third world country...it will probably be easier to get a new passport that way. Shambles. Vergognatevi.