When does my child's Italian ID card expire?
An adult's ID card lasts ten years, so it's easy to forget about. A child's lasts much less, and you tend to find out it has expired when there is a trip to book or a school trip abroad.
This guide covers how long the electronic ID card (carta d'identità elettronica, CIE) lasts for minors, how to work out the real expiry date, what changes when you travel, and a simple method, on paper if you like, so you aren't caught by surprise. After that I'll show you how I, Insieme, do it.
How long a minor's ID card lasts
The validity of the carta d'identità elettronica (CIE) depends on the age of the holder:
- under 3 years old: valid for 3 years;
- from 3 to 18 years old: valid for 5 years;
- adults: valid for 10 years.
That's why, in a family with two children, the documents expire at different times and rarely line up with the adults' ones. Each child has their own calendar, and a small child's is the shortest of all.
The real expiry date: the birthday
The card shows a nominal expiry date, but its validity extends to the holder's birthday following that date. In practice, the card is valid until the birthday that comes after the printed expiry.
So the printed date is not the only one to look at: you also need the child's date of birth. If you have doubts about a specific card, the safest thing is to ask your Comune.
Travelling abroad
Before you book, keep two rules in mind.
- An ID card valid for travel abroad for a minor: both parents must give their consent.
- Children under 14: to travel abroad they must be accompanied by a parent or by a person named in a declaration.
The passport is the other travel document. For minors, the Italian passport is valid for 3 years if the child is under 3, and for 5 years from age 3 to 18.
Rules can change, and the details (documents to bring, timing, forms) depend on your case and on the Comune. Before booking a trip, check the website of your Comune or of the Ministero dell'Interno and, if needed, ask at the counter.
A pen-and-paper method
The trick isn't remembering the expiry. It's writing it down once, properly, and getting a reminder well in advance.
- List the documents. One line per person and per document: Sofia's ID card, Leo's ID card, passports, and so on for everyone in the family.
- Write the real expiry. The nominal date and the birthday that follows, which gives you the date the document actually stops being valid. If you can't find it, write the month and year: an approximate date is better than none.
- Decide who takes care of it. It sounds unnecessary, but it's where things get lost. Put a name next to each line.
- Choose a margin. The time it takes to get a document varies from Comune to Comune, so decide how much lead time you want and ask your Comune how long it usually takes. Mark on the household calendar the day you need to start, not the day the document expires.
- Update the line when you renew. As soon as you have the new card, cross out the old expiry and write the new one.
Go through the list once a year, for example in September, together with the other parent. Five minutes, and you have a clear view of the next twelve months.
How I do it
Inside Insieme there is «Scadenze di famiglia» (family deadlines), a ready-made list of Italian deadlines, including the ID card, passport, driving licence and health card (tessera sanitaria). You don't write anything from scratch: you pick the item, set the date and the person, and choose how many days ahead you want to be reminded.
- The date can be just a month and year, for example 03/2027, if you don't have the exact day to hand.
- The person is whoever takes care of it. With one tap you can say "Prendo io" (I'll take it), and when it's done everyone sees "Fatto da Marco" (done by Marco).
- The reminder goes to the person it's assigned to, and notifications show only the title.
For each deadline I keep only the title, the date and the person. I never store document numbers or scans: if you need the number, it stays on the document. No ads and no AI training on family data.
When you renew a document, you add the new expiry date. If you like, you can also see the deadlines in your phone's calendar (Google or Apple): the sync is one-way, from Insieme to the calendar.
To see everything on the list, there is a page about family deadlines.
The other deadlines people forget
The ID card is just one of the things that expire silently. The same list also includes the car tax (bollo), insurance, the vehicle inspection (revisione), the car service, the boiler, TARI and the home contract, INPS contributions for a cleaner or carer (colf/badante), and the vet and vaccines for pets. Bills follow the same principle: a date, a name, a reminder. I talk about it in the guide to bill reminders.
Remember that this guide doesn't replace official information: for current rules and for your own case, check with your Comune and the Ministero dell'Interno website.