Consulate General of Italy

The Italian consulate in NY is the worst visa process I've ever had to go through. My recommendation is to take your dollars to a country that actually makes you feel welcome. Every single aspect of the process stinks. 1. Online appointments The appointment system they use is a joke and you have to sit in front of the website everyday at 6pm praying to find a spot. When I finally managed to find a spot, it won't let me book one for myself and my wife. In the end I booked 1 spot and kept looking for a second one, which I could never find. So I sent them an email explaining that I can't find an appointment for 2 people and that I will be arriving with my wife. 2. I arrived at the consulate a bit early with my wife. They are very strict about time and won't let you in early (no problems with that). The person who lets you in is quite rude though. She wouldn't let my wife in because she didn't have an appointment (thought I explained to her that I emailed the consulate, we are traveling together, and that I am unable to find appointments. But she basically told me to go in alone or leave. I decided to go in and try talking to the visa officers directly. 3. When I got in, after about a 20 min wait (so much for their precision in letting people in), I finally got to the counter. I tried explaining the situation to the visa officer but she wouldn't budge. She told me I will have to find another appointment for my wife. I asked them what if I can't find an appointment, she just coolly replied that it had never happened before. She told me that only people with appointments are let in because it is security risk to let people without appointments. I tried to make them understand that I had all the paperwork for my wife ready and she was waiting outside but they wouldn't hear of it. To make things far worse, when I came outside I found that there was a military family waiting outside, and the husband was being sent to Italy in a couple of weeks.He had come with his family (including 2 newborns) to get visa for them so that they can visit him there, but the visa office wouldn't let them in because the appointment was in his name. He had begged and pleaded with them that he had come there from a long distance, and he was being sent to Italy in 2 weeks, but they would not let him in, and were completely ok with his newborn babies having to wait out in the cold. I have not seen a more heartless or rude visa office in my life. They are rude and disrespectful, and won't even be reasonable with newborn babies to a military father who was being deployed in 2 weeks. My recommendation is that if the country makes you feel so unwelcome, then you are better off taking your dollars elsewhere.
1 7 years ago (18-04-2018)

Dear visa section staff, You should be nicer to people who're willing to spend their hard earned money to see your country. Your country needs tourist dollars so you should not act like you're doing prospective visitors a big favor. Don't be so insensitive, impatient and try to enforce draconian rules.
1 7 years ago (18-05-2018)

For tourist visa, you need to book an online appointment. They are very strict about it. No walk-ins allowed. For our travel in May, we decided to schedule an appointment in March and the earliest slot available was after 6 weeks!!I was little worried about that. Although they encourage you to come back to their website after 6 pm when they update the site, and if you are lucky you may find a slot more suitable to your needs. Anyhow, we had our visa interview yesterday and in less than 24 hours our passport arrived in our mailbox through USPS priority mail! Yayee!! At the consulate, the interview process and document verification are fast and smooth. They have a checklist of the documents that are required for the interview, have them in that order and the whole process will go smoothly. At the entrance, they’ll take away your cellphones put them in a locker and hand you the keys. You collect them after interview. Please note they don't allow people inside the consulate if you show up early. Just arrive 5 minutes before your scheduled interview timeslot. If you happen to come here early then check out the Bel Ami Cafe around the corner.
4 7 years ago (17-04-2018)

I met with Daniela for citizenship. She was very professional, kind, polite, patient and could not have been nicer. She explained everything clearlly and took time with my application. Everything has to be right. . Go in prepared with documents in order, translated and with Apostile. The guard and two men in the front office were very friendly. The only person admitted into the building is the one with the appointment on that day. . Don’t bring the whole family as the waiting room is small and for those with a time slot. Plan on being there for 3.or more hours.
5 7 years ago (12-05-2018)

If i could i would give even less than one star, their customer service is basically non existent. The gentleman who answered the phone is everything but gentle! Rude, arrogant and rushing me......giving me answers even before I ask the question. I need to take an appointment online to renew my passport and it is pretty much impossible cause their website is not functioning properly! Or it doesn't accept my password or it takes forever to open new pages......and no it's not my connection! Cause I've tried many times on different devices (my phone an 2 computers-home and office) and got the same results. Horrible horrible horrible ridiculous embarrassing service!
1 7 years ago (24-04-2018)