Tessera Sanitaria (health card) Should I?

[bmilazzo]

I now have my citizenship and passport. Not planning a trip soon. But should I apply for my Tessera Sanitaria (health card) and my Codice Fiscale (ssn)?

[jennabet]

You can apply for a Codice Fiscale at your consulate but you must live in Italy to apply for the health card.

[Italysearcher]

If you just want to know your codice fiscale number go to www.paginebianche.it and enter your details. It is not a private thing like in North America, it is simply a combination of your name and birth date etc.

[bmilazzo]

I have been told that obtaining an SSN from any source other than an official Italian government office may result in a wrong number. The site you recommend is not an official gov. site?

[Italysearcher]

Its the post office!
I have seen wrong numbers assigned by the official office too. (they spelled the surname incorrectly) Also the Health card number is the same as the codice fiscale.

[bmilazzo]

I understand very little Italian (but am learning). I could not figure out how to look up my SSN. But I will work on it.
Thanks.

[droe]

Bmilazzo:

First of all you are right the site offered above is not an officail government site. The address for the postal service in Italy is:
http://www.poste.it/

As to obtaining your Codice Fiscale "jennabet" said it best. Apply at the Consulate you are registered in AIRE. While the on line generators work they mean nothing unless issued by the government and are not registered in their system.

Look for the form on the Consulate site, fill it in and email it to the Consulate. The NYC Consulate handles the entire process via email.