I want to understand the filing procedure. The main applicant submits the documents and receives a receipt (ricevuta). Can other applicants who entered on a tourist visa later apply separately? Does that process even work?
Detailed breakdown of the topic: Processing times at the questura in Italian cities, documents, status
Family reunification on a tourist visa is a separate matter, not just “apply separately”. A ricevuta (receipt) is not a valid basis for the spouse here; you need to do family reunification (ricongiungimento familiare) — that is, the main applicant first obtains the permesso di soggiorno (residence permit), and only then applies for reunification. While the permesso is not in hand, the second spouse is in limbo, and if the tourist visa expires, that’s already a problem. At the Questura in Rome, when I asked about a similar scheme they told me straight out — it doesn’t work simultaneously, only sequentially.
Look: the tourist visa is 90 days, and I’ve heard that the residence permit (permesso) — at best you wait six months. While the primary applicant goes through all this, the secondary applicant’s term expired long ago. This is no longer a “suspended state” but an “overstay”, with all the consequences.
That’s exactly it — the process is sequential, not parallel. At the questura in Prato they told me: first the main applicant’s permesso (residence permit), then the family reunification (ricongiungimento). Meanwhile, no one pauses the 90 days of the tourist visa, and if the visa expires before that, it’s an overstay, not a suspended status.