From February 16th 2007, the EU Long Term Residence Permit replaces the residence card (Carta Di Soggiorno) for foreign nationals. It is issued by the local Police Headquarters (Questura) to persons who have been legally resident in Italy for at least 5 years. The EU Permit does not have an expiry date (it is open-ended) and allows the holder, among other things, to:
enter Italy without a visa;
enter another country within the European Union and reside there for tourism reasons for a period of no longer than 90 days;