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Why the registered address decides everything
The sequence that cost Alex five weeks is a specifically Italian trap, and it follows from something Lesson 56 introduced almost in passing: la residenza is not where you live, it is where the state has written down that you live. Every public body writes to that address and to no other. A reminder, a refusal, a summons or a fine goes there, and if nobody is collecting the post, the deadline inside it runs anyway. There is no general obligation on an office to try again, and for many procedures a letter correctly sent to the registered address counts as delivered whether or not it was read. The practical consequences are worth stating plainly, because Italians treat them as obvious and foreigners discover them one at a time. Register the change of address within the time your comune allows. Keep the old occupants' goodwill if you can, because a forwarded envelope is a favour and not a service. And when a procedure is running, check its progress rather than waiting to be told — the sportello will usually look it up on the protocollo number from Lesson 57, which is the second reason that number matters. Francesca's advice at the end is exactly right: go in person, bring the document, and have your copy stamped.