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My (Australian) daughters were granted a Working Holiday Visa for Italy (12 months duration) which is in their passport. They followed procedure on arrival in Italy. They have been there just over three months and one has signed her integration agreement (the Questura took her postal receipt when they gave her the agreement), the other is still waiting for her letter so still has her receipt from the Post Office.

They have gone to Greece for a 2 week tour that we had booked before they left Australia, flying from Bergamo (Milan) to Athens. They had no trouble entering Greece yesterday.

After the tour they were planning on flying direct to London for a few weeks in the UK before returning to Italy for the rest of their stay (unless the one that hasn't received her letter gets notification of its arrival in case she would return to Italy to complete her appointment). As Australian citizens they can holiday in the UK so I am not concerned about getting into the UK.

However the following from the Italian State Police website is confusing me.

The same facilitated procedure is granted to foreigners who have submitted their application for their first residence permits for employment, self-employment, or family reunification, provided that: they leave and re-enter Italy through any Italian external border crossing point (cicular letter 11th March 2009); they show their passport or other equivalent travel document, along with the entry visa specifying the reasons of their stay (employment, self-employment, or family reunification ) and the receipt issued by Italian Post offices (Poste Italiane S.p.A.); they do not transit through other Schengen countries, as this is not allowed.

So my questions:

Can they fly direct from Athens to London?

Or do they need to return to Italy before leaving the Schengen area?

Will they be allowed back in to Italy from the UK with just their postal receipt (for one of them) or just their integration agreement (for the other)?

(They went through an international airport - Bergamo - which would have been an external border crossing point for their flight to Athens.)

The whole process has been very confusing there is little information out there, so thankyou in advance!

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    AFAIK Bergamo-Athens flight would be considered a "domestic" flight because it is within Schengen states. They wouldn't have had their passports stamped.
    – RedBaron
    May 22, 2019 at 12:01
  • Have they exceeded the 90-day stay to which Australian citizens (among others) are entitled without a visa?
    – phoog
    May 22, 2019 at 13:44
  • Yes phoog, they have.
    – Annette
    May 23, 2019 at 6:37

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This bit from the Italian police means that when they return to Italy from outside the Schengen area using only the post office receipt, the flight must go directly to Italy from a non-Schengen country.

For example, LHR-BGY (London-Milan) is permitted, but LHR-CDG-BGY (London-Paris-Milan) is not.

It is not relevant to flights within the Schengen area such as from Athens, nor for departing the Schengen area.

If the working holiday visa itself is still valid and has not expired, then they can simply re-enter the Schengen area using the visa.

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