For the entry, transit, or stay in Italy foreigners must have a valid passport or other valid travel document recognized by the Italian government.

The passport might be diplomatic, service, or ordinary. The passport is usually individual and is valid only for the person who holds it.

As an alternative to a passport, are considered valid for crossing Italian borders the following travel documents: 

• a travel document for stateless persons that is issued to a person who are considered stateless pursuant to the Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons, signed in New York on September 28, 1954, ratified by Italy on February 1, 1962;
• a travel document for refugees that is issued to a person who have been granted refugee status under the Convention on the Status of Refugees, signed at Geneva on July 28, 1951, ratified by Italy on July 24, 1954;
• a travel document for foreigners that is issued to a person who cannot have a valid travel document by the authorities of the country of his origin;
• a seaman's book is the professional document that is issued to seafarers for their business and is valid for entry into the Schengen area only for the professional needs of the seafarer;
• an air navigation document is issued to the pilots and the crew of the civilian airlines for the exercise of their activities and exempt from visa only if the input is determined by their professional needs;
• an United Nations license is issued by the United Nations and to the employees of the institutions;
• a document issued by the NATO headquarters that is released to the military and civilian personnel serving in the State of the Atlantic Alliance. The members of NATO forces are exempt from the visa, but not their family members or civilian personnel;
• an identity card for citizens of the states of the European Union that allows its holder the free movement within the European Union, even for work;
• an identity card for the citizens of the States Parties to the European Agreement on the abolition of passport that is valid for travel, tourism, and trips of less than three months without of visa;
• a list of participants in school trips within the European Union that is issued to foreign students residing in the states of the European Union which are exempt from the visa;
• a border pass that is granted to a resident in border areas, for the transit of the frontier and the circulation in the corresponding areas of the neighboring states.