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I have a residence permit (permesso di soggiorno) for Italy. I am currently in the Netherlands for an exchange. My permit expired on the 30th of November and I applied for a new one but I will get the card in January. I have the documents supporting that I have applied for the renewal of the permit. In the middle I want to travel to Italy for Christmas and come back to the Netherlands.

Would this be a problem?

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    I don't think this is an expat question. It is a short-term travel question by someone who happens to live in a different place than their nationality says.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Commented Dec 2, 2016 at 11:54
  • technically you're an illegal alien from the moment the permit expires to the moment the new one is issued, which is likely to not be issued if you're found to be an illegal alien. So you're in potential trouble already, no matter where you are (though with the extremely lax attitude towards illegals in the Netherlands you're unlikely to ever get found out, let alone action taken against you). I'd avoid travel though, especially by air.
    – jwenting
    Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 8:02
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    @jwenting That's (as usual) complete BS. For a renewal, it's standard in many countries (including Italy AFAIK) to get a receipt of application that covers your stay until a decision has been made and certainly does allow you to travel within the Schengen area or even to leave and reenter it. And of course the Netherlands is among the strictest countries in Europe in these matters. Even if you wish it would do even more to restrict immigration (which seems neither reasonable nor desirable in my view), it cannot possibly be described as "extremely lax".
    – Relaxed
    Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 13:55
  • @MohitaGupta How long is your exchange? It's not your question but note that a stay of more than 90 days in any 180-day period in the Netherlands is not allowed on an Italian permit. In this context, it might be good to postpone your return to the Netherlands a bit, if at all possible.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 13:57
  • @Relaxed you're, as usual, wrong. You may get a piece of paper saying you've asked for an extension, but that doesn't count as a permit. The Netherlands aren't throwing out any illegals, they're everywhere and all that happens when one is caught is they're asked to "please leave the country if you are so inclined".
    – jwenting
    Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 19:39

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Timatic, the database used by airlines, states:

Residents of Italy holding expired Residence Permits or a copy of an expired Residence Permit are permitted to re-enter Italy, provided also holding a receipt issued by the Italian Post Office or Police Department, confirming new permit has been applied for. Applications for renewal must be made within 60 days of expiring, otherwise immigration could refuse re-entry, even if holding confirmation of application.

In other words, because you applied for an extension no later than 60 days of the expiration date and have a receipt of it, you can go back to Italy without issues, but not return to the Netherlands until the new permit has been issued.

In practice, however, there is nothing stopping you from flying between the countries. Being Schengen states, there are no border checks, only an ID check at the airport bag drop, and, except for Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air (in other words, do not fly with those), they only check you're the person on the ticket.

So like I said, legally speaking you have to return to Italy and wait for your new permit to be issued before returning to the Netherlands, but in practice nothing will prevent you from going back to the Netherlands straight away

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