NAPLES, Italy — An amnesty, of sorts, is available for military dependents and federal civilians in Italy on expired residency permits — but time is short.

Individuals have until Monday to renew expired sojourner permits without having to travel back to the U.S. to file paperwork for a new visa, and wait for approval.

"This is a golden opportunity," said Lt. Cmdr. Julia Crisfield, who heads up the civil law department for the Navy’s Regional Legal Service Office on the Capodichino base in Naples.

"Normally, individuals whose permits have expired have to travel back to the U.S. to go through the visa application process again. They have to pay their own transportation and lodging costs, so it can be very expensive."

While a visa is good for a year, it serves only as an approval to enter the country. The sojourner permit is what actually allows individuals to remain in the country legally for longer than three months.

Individuals are supposed to apply for the permit within eight days of arriving in Italy. While military personnel are not required to have visas or residency permits, their family members are.

"This seems to be a bigger problem in Naples than at other bases in Italy," Crisfield said. "We’re not sure why, but hopefully individuals will take advantage of the chance to renew their permits here. We’ve seen some people go back to the States to fix this, and have been denied a visa — because technically, they were in Italy illegally if their sojourner’s permit expired while they were still here."

Navy officials described the problem of expired permits as "an unfortunate trend," in an e-mail sent to all Naples commands Wednesday. Leaders were urged to make sure individuals knew of the local renewal opportunity, which was arranged by the Sending State Office, a branch of the U.S. Embassy in Rome.

Applicants will need to bring a valid U.S. no-fee passport and passport photos. Base legal offices will have complete information on requirements for renewing the sojourner permit.