An avviso di giacenza is the slip the postman leaves in your letterbox when a registered letter (raccomandata) could not be handed to you: the letter is waiting (in giacenza) at the post office named on the slip. The slip does not say what is inside — but the kind of mailing matters.
An ordinary registered letter
A standard raccomandata can be collected free at the post office within 30 days (15 days for a Raccomandata 1); then it goes back to the sender. Bring an ID; someone else can collect it with the delegation on the slip and copies of both IDs. Many letters from banks, utilities and collection companies come as Raccomandata Market, a service for large senders.
Atti giudiziari: the green envelope
Court papers, tax notices, fines and other official acts are served by post as atti giudiziari, in a green envelope. If you were not home, the post office keeps the act and sends you a further notice of deposit by registered mail. The act counts as served 10 days after that notice was sent — or on the day you collect it, if earlier — even if you never go (compiuta giacenza, Law 890/1982 art. 8). It stays available for up to six months, but every deadline inside — 60 days for a cartella esattoriale, 40 for a decreto ingiuntivo — is already running.
The codes on the slip
Lists online "decode" the number printed on the slip (619, 698 and so on) into a sender. Poste Italiane publishes no such list, and the number alone proves nothing. Track the item on the Poste Italiane website with the code on the slip, or simply collect it.
PEC and SEND
The electronic equivalent is PEC (posta elettronica certificata): a document delivered to your PEC address generally counts as received when it reaches the mailbox, read or not. Public bodies also use SEND, the national platform for digital notifications: a notice there counts as served a few days after delivery, or on the day you open it, if earlier.
Away from Italy for months? A lawyer can collect and answer documents for you with a power of attorney.
Prepared by Legal Help Tool. Last updated . General information, not legal advice.
