STP Card in Rome: Free Healthcare for Undocumented Foreigners

What it is, briefly

The STP card (Straniero Temporaneamente Presente — Foreigner Temporarily Present) is the healthcare code that allows people without a residence permit to receive free medical care in Italy. Any ASL (Azienda Sanitaria Locale — your local public-health authority) or public hospital in Rome can issue it the same day, and all you need is your name and a signature. Italian law explicitly prohibits the ASL from reporting you to the Questura (police headquarters — also responsible for immigration matters) simply because you are undocumented (DLgs 286/1998, art. 35, paragraph 5).

At a glance

Cost	Free. Always. Including care and Class-A medicines related to your treatment.
Timeline	Card issued same day (15–30 minutes at the desk). Valid for 6 months, renewable with no limit.
Where in Rome	STP desks at ASL Roma 1–6 and all major public hospitals. Also Caritas Poliambulatorio (Via Marsala 109, near Termini) and INMP (Via di S. Gallicano 25, Trastevere).
Documents	None required. Your stated personal details (even a false name) and a signature are enough.

What the STP card covers

With an STP card you are entitled to:

• Urgent care: Pronto Soccorso (A&E), ambulance, emergency hospital admissions — all free, including the €25 triage co-pay waiver
• Essential care: visits, tests, and treatment for acute or chronic conditions that would worsen if left untreated
• Ongoing care: treatment for chronic conditions such as HIV, TB, diabetes, and psychiatric disorders
• Maternity care: all antenatal check-ups, ultrasounds, hospital delivery, and voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) — completely free
• Children's health: paediatric visits and vaccinations
• Vaccinations: national schedule, including for adults
• Substance abuse and mental health: access to SerD (addiction services) and ASL mental health centres

Art. 35 of the Testo Unico Immigrazione (Italy's consolidated immigration law) says "urgent or essential": either condition is sufficient on its own.

How to get it: step by step

Go to an STP desk at any ASL office or public hospital in Rome. A staff member fills in a form with your stated personal details (first name, surname, date of birth, nationality, sex). These are not verified.

You sign a self-declaration of financial hardship: you state that you don't have sufficient income to pay for care. No proof is required.

The staff member generates a 16-digit code (STP + numbers) — that is your card. Some ASL offices issue a laminated card, others give you a paper printout. The whole process takes 15–30 minutes and costs nothing.

The STP code is valid throughout Italy, not only in Lazio. If you move to another city, the code still works.

Renewal: go back to the same desk before or after expiry, show your old card, and they renew the same code for another six months. You can renew as many times as needed. Even if your STP has already expired, urgent care is never refused: they will renew your card at the same time as they treat you.

Where to go in Rome

ASL Roma 1 — Borgo S. Spirito 3, 00193 · tel. 06 68351 · STP Central Desk: Via Luzzatti 8, 00185 (Termini area)

ASL Roma 2 — Via Filippo Meda 35, 00157 · tel. 06 41434001 · Desks at district polyclinics (Tiburtino, Casilino, Tuscolano, EUR)

ASL Roma 3 — Via Casal Bernocchi 73, 00125 · tel. 06 56487 · STP Ostia desk: Via Forni 9 · Marconi desk: Via Portuense 332

ASL Roma 4, 5, 6 — Desks at district offices in outlying municipalities; websites: aslroma4.it, aslroma5.it, aslroma6.it

Hospitals: Policlinico Umberto I (Ambulatorio Migranti, Viale del Policlinico 155), Gemelli, Tor Vergata, S. Camillo-Forlanini, S. Giovanni Addolorata, IRCCS Spallanzani (Via Portuense 292 — regional referral centre for HIV and TB), Bambino Gesù (for children).

If you're uncomfortable going directly to an ASL office, you can start with civil society organisations:

• Caritas Poliambulatorio — Via Marsala 109, 00185 Roma (near Termini) · tel. 06 4452160 · free, open to everyone even without an STP card, offering GP visits, dentistry, ophthalmology, and gynaecology
• INMP (National Institute for Migrant Health) — Via di S. Gallicano 25, 00153 (Trastevere) · tel. 06 58552980 · inmp.it
• MEDU (Medici per i Diritti Umani — Doctors for Human Rights) — active in informal settlements and camps around Rome · mediciperidirittiumani.org

Mistakes to avoid

1. Never pay anyone to "get your STP quickly". The card is free and immediate. Only the ASL or a public hospital can issue it: any intermediary asking for money is running a scam.
2. Don't believe anyone who says you'll be reported. Art. 35, paragraph 5 of DLgs 286/1998 explicitly bans any report to the authorities based solely on someone accessing healthcare. This applies to ASL offices, hospitals, A&E departments, ambulances, and family planning clinics. The only exception is mandatory reporting of specific injuries (e.g., gunshot wounds), which applies equally to Italian citizens and does not identify the patient as "undocumented."
3. Don't lend your STP card to someone else. The code is personal: every person gets their own. Using someone else's STP card disrupts your own medical history and can create dangerous confusion in your clinical records.

Special cases

Want to use a false name? You can. The ASL won't check. It's a good idea to use the same pseudonym every time, though — this keeps your clinical history connected. If you use a different name at each visit, your test results and referrals won't link up.

Living with HIV or TB? Treatment is completely free and confidential at IRCCS Spallanzani (the regional referral centre), Via Portuense 292. Antiretrovirals and prophylaxis are provided at no cost. You can also get a free, anonymous HIV test at Spallanzani or at Caritas.

Pregnant? Go to the Consultorio Familiare (public family-health clinic) in your ASL. With an STP card all visits, ultrasounds, tests, delivery, and IVG are free. If your baby is born in Italy and you have no documents, the child is assigned a paediatric code for healthcare until regularisation.

Already an asylum seeker (you have submitted Form C3 at the Questura)? You don't need the STP card. You are enrolled in the SSN with a full health card and exemption code X01. If you are still waiting to formalise your application, the STP card covers you in the meantime.

Victim of trafficking or violence? You are entitled to full care and dedicated protected pathways. Contacts in Rome: Casa Internazionale delle Donne, Be Free Onlus, Differenza Donna. National anti-violence helpline: 1522 (24/7, multilingual, free).

Unaccompanied foreign minor (UAM)? By law (Legge 47/2017) you are automatically enrolled in the SSN with a full health card — not an STP card. Care is entirely free, including dental, ophthalmological, and mental-health services.

Lazio Regional Health Information Line: 800 098 543 — multilingual information on accessing the regional health service for foreigners.

Official sources

• Ministry of Health — Healthcare for foreigners
• Ministry of Health — STP code
• Salute Lazio — Official regional portal
• Regione Lazio — Health
• INMP — National Institute for Migrant Health
• IRCCS Spallanzani — HIV/TB referral centre
• ASL Roma 1 · ASL Roma 2 · ASL Roma 3
• Caritas Roma — Poliambulatorio
• MEDU — Doctors for Human Rights
• Emergency — Italy Programme
• Anti-violence helpline 1522

Legal references: DLgs 286/1998 art. 35 (healthcare for undocumented foreigners), DPR 394/1999 art. 43, Accordo Stato-Regioni 20/12/2012 (guidelines on healthcare for undocumented foreigners), DPCM 12/01/2017 (LEA — essential levels of care), Legge 194/1978 (maternity and IVG), Legge 47/2017 "Zampa" (unaccompanied minors), DCA Lazio U00606/2015, Costituzione art. 32.