UNI-QUEST, a new service to help with residence permit applications

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and the Polizia di Stato - Italian National Police have joined forces to offer an innovative service: UNI-QUEST is the new help desk managed by Ca’ Foscari and the Questura di Venezia (i.e. the Central Police Station of Venice) to assist members of the University’s international community in the application for residence permits.

The help desk will be located on the ground floor of Ca’ Foscari’s main building, and every Tuesday - from 9:00 a.m until 1:00 p.m. - it’ll welcome students, researchers, faculty and staff members from non-EU countries.
Specifically trained university staff will work side by side with personnel from the Immigration Office of the Central Police Station.

The aim of this joint help desk - which was made possible thanks to the support of the Italian Postal Service, Poste Italiane - is to help speed up the issuing of residence permits, since the procedures to finalize such permits are carried out by the Italian Ministry of the Interior in collaboration with Poste Italiane.

Additionally, the news service will also help people in filling out postal kits, thus avoiding incomplete requests. The desk staff will also be tasked with scheduling the appointments at the Questura, setting up a timetable specifically dedicated to University members and ensuring that residence permits are issued on time.

The designated staff from the Immigration Office of the Central Police Station will also work “behind the scenes” to provide Ca’ Foscari with further information on the progress of all immigration procedures submitted by international students, researchers and faculty members who come to Ca’ Foscari to study or work.

The UNI-QUEST initiative was formalized today, January 20th, with a special agreement signed by Rector Tiziana Lippiello and the General Director of Public Security, Questore Maurizio Masciopinto.The agreement is a step further in the cooperation between the Questura and our University, a way to share information and strategies for the internationalization of Venice as a university city.

Rector Tiziana Lippiello stated: “I would like to thank the Questore for accepting our proposal, showing a great deal of sensibility and foresight. This cooperation will allow us to welcome international students, faculty and staff members to the best of our capabilities. Our international community has grown considerably and it keeps expanding thanks to our educational programmes in English and to the appeal of Venice. The agreement we’ve reached is a great example of the importance of shared visions and projects for the development of our City”

Questore Maurizio Masciopinto commented: “The Questura di Venezia has always maintained the importance of a close and constant collaboration between institutions, in order to promote and strengthen the communication between law enforcement agencies and citizens, particularly those who are part of the international community. I would like to thank the Rector of this prestigious University, prof. Tiziana Lippiello, for promoting and supporting this important Memorandum of Understanding, as well as the local Poste Italiane offices, which have offered their support to this project from the very first moment.
It is only thanks to this institutional cooperation that we’ll be able to achieve some very important goals, such as a greater participation of students, faculty members and researchers in European and international mobility programmes. This joint project will also allow us to strengthen the institutional synergy and advance the modernization of bureaucracy.