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WORKING IN ITALY

How many work permits will Italy grant in 2023?

The Italian government has announced plans to allocate next year's batch of work permits under the new 'decreto flussi'. Here's what we know so far.

Published: 5 December 2022 17:37 CET
Updated: 27 December 2022 16:53 CET
How many work permits will Italy grant in 2023?
The majority of work permits in Italy are usually reserved for seasonal workers in sectors like agriculture or tourism. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP)

Italy’s government has announced the first details of the next annual decree governing how many and which types of workers will be allowed to move to Italy next year for employment reasons.

The number of work permits available to non-EU nationals will increase under the 2023 decreto flussi, which is expected to be finalised by the end of December, Undersecretary to the Prime Minister Alfredo Mantovano confirmed on Friday.

The number of work permits available overall will rise to 82,705 next year – up from 69,700 in 2022 and 30,000 in 2021.

However, the allocation of permits is expected to be subject to more limited criteria.

Mantovano confirmed that the Italian government will offer a larger quota of work permits to “those who have completed training programs in their countries of origin”, as well as to workers from countries that agree to sign repatriation agreements with Italy for irregular migrants, according to newspaper Corriere della Sera.

READ ALSO: Visas and residency permits: How to move to Italy (and stay here)

The countries involved were not named in the announcement, and no further details were immediately given about the number of permits allocated for workers in each employment sector.

“We would like to have workers arriving in our country already trained” and with a job already lined up, Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, said earlier in December.

The hiring process is expected to become more complex and time-consuming, however, as from 2023 employers will be required to check whether there are already any workers “already present in the country” who could take the jobs available before offering them to workers coming from outside the EU.

The stipulation comes into force as the Italian government cuts unemployment benefits for those in Italy who are deemed fit to work.

The new decree is also expected to extend some types of work permit to two or three years – rather than permits having to be renewed after one year, as is currently the case.

It’s hoped that this change could ease the workload at Italian government offices which have reportedly faced problems in processing work permit applications due to a chronic shortage 

READ ALSO: How many people does Italy grant work permits to every year?

The decreto flussi, which is usually translated as ‘flows decree’, is the piece of legislation which governs the number of work permits available to those coming to Italy from outside of the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA).

The Italian Labour Ministry publishes an updated decreto flussi at the end of every year, and the final draft for 2023 has not yet been published.

The decree is not expected to mention the planned ‘digital nomad’ visa, which was approved last year but now appears to have been sidelined.

Applications for work permits usually open at the end of January. Further details about the application process for 2023 will be available when the new decreto flussi is published.

Getting one of these permits is just the start. As a non-EEA citizen, there are three main documents you’ll need to live and work in Italy: a work permit (nulla osta), a work visa (visto) and a residence permit (permesso di soggiorno).

Find out more information about the types of Italian work visa available here.

Please note that The Local is unable to advise on individual cases or assist with job applications.

For more information about visa and residency permit applications, see the Italian Foreign Ministry’s visa website, or contact your embassy or local Questura (police headquarters) in Italy.

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VISAS

Will Italy follow Spain in cancelling its ‘golden’ visa?

Italy is one of a handful of EU countries still offering a 'golden' or investor visa option to wealthy would-be residents. As Spain moves to stop issuing these visas, how likely is the Italian government to follow suit?

Published: 25 July 2024 10:22 CEST
Will Italy follow Spain in cancelling its 'golden' visa?

‘Golden passport’ schemes have become an increasingly controversial topic across Europe amid concerns that they’re fuelling inequality and offering some criminals a gateway to life in the European Union.

Following a push from the European Commission, several countries have now limited or pledged to scrap these visa schemes; most recently Spain, which said this week it plans to eliminate all types of golden visas.

Spain’s culture minister recently described the existence of golden visas as a “European disgrace… which creates first and second-class citizens.”

Italy however continues to offer its ‘investor visa’ allowing non-EU nationals to move to the country, in exchange for paying anything from €250,000 to invest in an Italian start-up to €2 million in government bonds, under four different investment options.

Although some immigration experts argue that the Italian investor visa is not technically the same thing as ‘golden visa’ schemes elsewhere in Europe, it’s commonly known as the visto d’oro regardless.

It does allow successful applicants to become residents – although this is entirely optional – and then to apply for citizenship via naturalisation after ten years. It also allows freedom of movement around the Schengen zone, which is another major draw for applicants.

READ ALSO: Interest in Italy’s investor visa is growing – but who can actually get it?

With growing interest in moving to Italy from outside the EU, the number of would-be residents looking into this option after struggling to meet strict criteria for other visa types is also thought to be on the rise.

But, as neighbouring countries retract similar offers amid a Europe-wide trend towards tightening immigration rules, could the Italian investor visa’s days now be numbered, too?

Housing crisis

Spain’s initial reasoning for scrapping golden visas was the impact they’re having on the property market, in the wake of protests over a widespread lack of affordable housing.

Many believe the issue is partly linked to an ever-rising number of foreigners buying property in Spain, who are willing to spend more and more on a Spanish home, although the proliferation of short-term holiday lets in residential buildings is shouldering most of the blame.

According to the Spanish government, 94 in every 100 golden visas issued were linked to homes bought in cities such as Barcelona or ​​Madrid, where property prices and rents have risen exponentially.

EXPLAINED: How Spain has found a way to officially axe its golden visa

But there’s no parallel in Italy, where the investor visa does not offer an option to apply based on a property purchase.

While Italy’s cities are also seeing a rise in rents and property prices, leading to a shortage of affordable housing in many areas, there’s no clear link here to visas or international buyers.

Plus, there’s very little political interest in this issue in Italy: there’s been no discussion so far at the national level of limiting or further regulating tourist rentals to free up housing for local residents – much less limiting investment.

Easy route?

As well as the property option, Spain’s golden visa is – for now – also open to those who invest €1 million in shares in Spanish companies, or €2 million in government bonds, or transfer €1 million to a Spanish bank account.

These options have led to Spain’s golden visa becoming known as one of the easiest ways of gaining Spanish residency as a third-country national – at least for those wealthy enough.

Since Spain’s golden visas were made available in 2013, some 15,450 have been granted – and that’s not including authorisations for family members of golden visa holders who have also gained Spanish residency through the scheme. 

But again, the situation in Italy is very different: the number of investor visa applications here is miniscule by comparison.

Since 2018, when Italy’s investor visa was introduced, only a few dozen have been approved each year. The number has steadily increased, but according to the latest available data in 2021 the total number of applications was just 64.

The largest number were from American and Russian citizens (14 of each), and Italy has since stopped issuing the investor visa to Russian nationals following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

There is also no data available on how many of these applications were successful.

Visa consultants and previous applicants say the process of obtaining an investor visa is opaque, complex, and involves a thorough investigative process, and warn that there’s a high risk of being turned down.

At the moment, there’s no discussion of scrapping Italy’s investor visa – the low number of applicants and limited investment options seems to mean it simply isn’t viewed as a problem.

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