08/27/2026
FROM ST. LOUIS TO CHICAGO: A PASSPORT, A FRIENDSHIP, A TASTE OF ITALY, AND A LITTLE HISTORY 🇮🇹🚗🇺🇸🛂 🏢
Today I made the journey from St. Louis to Chicago to apply for my new Italian passport at the Consulate General of Italy.
As someone born and raised in Salerno who has now lived in the United States for many years, an Italian passport is more than a travel document. It represents identity, heritage, freedom—and the invisible thread that continues to connect us to our country of origin.
My destination was:
📍 Consulate General of Italy
150 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1500
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Technically, Italian passports are not “renewed.” When your old passport expires, you apply for the issuance of a new one.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR APPOINTMENT ONLINE 🛂
For Italian citizens beginning this process for the first time, passport appointments must be booked through the Italian government’s official Prenot@Mi portal:
🔗 https://prenotami.esteri.it
Create an account, select the Consulate General of Italy in Chicago, choose the passport service, and search for the first available appointment. Appointments can be difficult to obtain, so begin the process well before your passport expires and continue checking if no dates are immediately available.
This part is extremely important: after reserving your appointment, you must return to your Prenot@Mi account and confirm it between 10 and 3 days before the appointment date. If you fail to confirm it during that window, you may not be received at the counter.
Booking through the official portal is free. There is no need to pay an intermediary or agency to obtain an appointment.
Before traveling, also verify that your AIRE registration and Italian vital records are accurate and current. First-time passport applicants or citizens whose records were processed by another consulate may need additional documentation, so always review the instructions for your particular situation.
Official consular information:
🔗 https://conschicago.esteri.it
WHAT TO BRING FOR AN ADULT PASSPORT APPOINTMENT 🇮🇹
✅ Your most recently issued Italian passport. You must present it so that it can be cancelled or marked void as part of issuing the new passport.
✅ One recent passport photograph—a fototessera—with a white background. Make sure your entire head is visible and nothing is cropped. I learned firsthand how important this small detail can be!
✅ Proof of your legal status in the United States. Naturalized U.S. citizens must provide a copy of their Naturalization Certificate. U.S.-born citizens provide a copy of their U.S. passport. Other applicants may need a valid Green Card or long-term visa.
✅ The signed Authorization or Consent to Return the Passport by Mail.
✅ A self-addressed, prepaid USPS, FedEx, or UPS envelope. The applicant’s name and address should appear in both the “TO” and “FROM” sections of the shipping label.
✅ The exact passport fee. For July through September 2026, the fee is $135.50, payable in cash or by money order made out to the Consulate General of Italy.
Consular fees are adjusted every three months, so never assume that a previously published fee is still correct. Check the current amount shortly before your appointment.
At the consulate, the staff reviews your documents and collects your fingerprints and signature. The completed passport is now returned by mail; in-person pickup is no longer available.
A PARKING TIP 🚗
I parked at the Rolls Royce Garage:
📍 60 E. Lake Street
Chicago, Illinois 60601
It is only a short walk from the consulate. The entrance is on Lake Street between Wabash and Michigan, next to the Billy Goat Tavern. Reserving your parking in advance can make navigating downtown Chicago much easier.
A SWEET ITALIAN SURPRISE 🍫🇮🇹
Because even Italian bureaucracy deserves a sweet reward, I also enjoyed visiting the Nutella Café Chicago:
📍 189 N. Michigan Avenue
It is located almost directly across Michigan Avenue from the consulate and is owned and operated by Ferrero—the Italian company behind Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, and many other familiar products.
Ferrero describes the newly renovated Chicago location as the world’s only permanent Nutella Café. It is designed as a complete Nutella experience, with a beautiful interior, dining areas, merchandise, and plenty of tempting creations.
Visitors can enjoy Nutella-filled croissants, crêpes, waffles, French toast, grilled baguettes, gelato, tiramisu cups, milkshakes, mocha frappes, ice-cream cones, coffee, and other hot beverages. You can also purchase customized Nutella jars and special Nutella merchandise.
Whether you are looking for breakfast, brunch, coffee, dessert, an Italian souvenir, or simply a reward after completing your consular appointment, it is a delightful and very convenient place to visit!
A DEAR FRIEND AND AN INSPIRING SPIRIT 💙
But paperwork and Nutella were only part of this beautiful day.
I also had the great pleasure of spending time with the one and only Reverend Celeste A. Frazier , a very precious friend 🙏💎
A native of Chicago’s South Side, Rev. Celeste is an ordained New Thought minister. She is also a spiritual counselor, inspirational speaker, author, community activist, diversity educator, visioning facilitator, and host of the Mystic Magic podcast.
Be sure to like and subscribe to her YouTube channel 🎙️: https://youtube.com/?si=XmNJa7OKJjRpO45S
Throughout her ministry, she has led outreach serving people in hospitals, hospices, convalescent homes, and prisons. Her work brings together spiritual wisdom, healing, social awareness, creativity, and a profound commitment to helping people recognize their own Divine Light.
I also had the pleasure and honor of interviewing Rev. Celeste on my Yogaphora YouTube channel. In our conversation, “The Divine Within Us,” we explored healing, consciousness, spiritual growth, and what it means to live from the heart.
You can watch our full conversation here:
🎥 The Divine Within Us: Rev. Celeste Frazier on Healing, Consciousness and Living from the Heart
🔗 https://youtu.be/QIfGaCCH40s
Experiencing Chicago with her was especially meaningful because this is her hometown—a city that forms an important part of her personal history and spiritual journey.
A PIECE OF CHICAGO HISTORY 🇺🇸
Together, we drove past the Obama Presidential Center taking shape in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side.
We also visited the “Obama Kissing Rock” at 53rd Street and South Dorchester Avenue in Hyde Park. The stone commemorates the location where Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson shared their first kiss at the conclusion of their first official date in 1989, outside what was then a Baskin-Robbins ice-cream shop.
What a lovely reminder that even the lives of historic figures are shaped by ordinary human moments—conversation, connection, ice cream, and a first kiss!
A passport connected me to Italy.
The Nutella Café offered a sweet taste of Italian culture.
Reverend Celeste reminded me of the power of friendship, spiritual service, and living from the heart.
The Obama landmarks connected our afternoon to the history of Chicago and the story of two people whose journey began long before the White House.
This is what Speak Italian with Andrea is all about: language, culture, friendship, history, identity, and the real-life adventures that bring them together.
PAROLE ITALIANE DEL GIORNO:
🇮🇹 il passaporto — passport
🇮🇹 il consolato — consulate
🇮🇹 l’appuntamento — appointment
🇮🇹 la fototessera — passport photograph
🇮🇹 la busta preaffrancata — prepaid envelope
🇮🇹 la crema di nocciole — hazelnut spread
🇮🇹 l’amicizia — friendship
🇮🇹 il viaggio — journey
Have you ever applied for an Italian passport while living abroad? What was your experience—and what special place would you visit while in Chicago?
Comment below 👇
