On October 3, 2023, the Prime Minister’s Decree, commonly known as the Decreto Flussi, was officially published in the Government Gazette, outlining the plan for the legal entry of foreign workers into Italy for the period of 2023-2025. This decree establishes entry quotas and regulations governing the arrival of foreign labor for each year. The issuance of this decree follows the guidelines outlined in Legislative Decree No. 20 of March 10, 2023, also known as the Cutro Decree, which introduced several changes to Italian immigration law (Decree 286/1998).
Notably, the Flow Decree represents a departure from the previous practice of annual quotas, providing a comprehensive three-year forecast for 2023-2025. The government retains the authority to introduce additional quotas through subsequent legislation, as exemplified by the December 29, 2022 decree, which allocated 40,000 additional quotas for 2023 to the agriculture and tourism-hospitality sectors.
The tabulated data below, sourced from parliamentary commentary, illustrates that the access quotas authorized by the new decree have increased compared to the previous one. Despite this significant increase, the allocation appears to be insufficient to meet the projected demand of approximately 274,800 in 2023, 277,600 in 2024, and 280,600 in 2025.
Readers are encouraged to delve deeper into a detailed breakdown of the decree, including accepted entry types, eligible countries, and maximum entry numbers for each category.
A. Freelance Work
Concerning entry as a self-employed person, Article 6 of the decree identifies several categories, including:
- Citizens of countries conducting campaigns against smuggling and illegal migration (Article 6, Paragraph 2).
- Workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela (Article 6, Paragraph 4, Letter a).
- Stateless persons and refugees (Article 6, Paragraph 4, Letter B).
- Conversion of other residence permits for independent activities (Article 6, Paragraph 6).
- Citizens belonging to specific categories, such as entrepreneurs executing investment plans in the national interest, individuals engaging in independent activities in regulated or unregulated professions supervised by national-level professional associations, business
roles specified in Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of Interministerial Decree No. 850 of May 11, 2011, and artists with a good reputation or high professional qualifications.
B. Employment Opportunities
Article 6 specifies the sectors where non-seasonal workers may be admitted. These sectors include road transport, construction, tourist hotels, mechanics, telecommunications, food industry, shipbuilding, bus passenger transport, fishing, and hairdressing, electricians, and plumbers sector. More job sectors are considered compared to previous years. Entry quotas for these sectors are reserved for citizens of countries with current or future cooperation agreements in migration matters, those promoting anti-smuggling campaigns, workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela, stateless persons, and refugees. Notably, quotas are allocated for workers in the family and socio-healthcare sector without restrictions on the country of origin.
Quotas for seasonal work, detailed in Article 7, apply to employment in the agricultural and tourism/hospitality sectors. There are no significant changes compared to the previous year. These entries are exclusively available to citizens of countries with current or future immigration agreements with Italy, including stateless persons and refugees.
Workers in agriculture and tourism, originating from or transiting through countries with specific agreements with Italy, have the option of submitting their applications for Nulla Osta (for seasonal work, including multi-year work) through the most representative labor organizations overseeing the process until the actual hiring of the worker.
Conversions
Quotas are allocated for the conversion of residence permits issued for other purposes into permits for employment and self-employment. Notably, residence permits for study/training purposes can now be converted into residence permits for employment outside the quota limits. This marks a departure from previous regulations, which were limited to those holding a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in Italy.
Quotas
The maximum entry quotas for each permit type are outlined below. However, the government retains the authority to adopt additional decrees, potentially providing extra quotas during the three years. Applications for Nulla Osta for employment, including seasonal work, can typically be processed within the available quotas as per the subsequent decree.
Following is the breakdown of the immigration quota for:
1- 2023 from a total of 136,000
Seasonal Work: 82,550
- Citizens of countries with future immigration agreements: 8,000 entries
- Citizens of states running campaigns against smuggling: 2,500 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 50 entries
- Citizens of countries with migration and multi-seasonal agreements: 2,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with immigration agreements in the agricultural sector (application submitted by employer associations): 40,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with current immigration agreements in the tourism sector (application submitted by employer associations): 30,000 entries.
Self-Employed Work: 680
- Citizens of states running campaigns against irregular migration trafficking: 100 entries
- Workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela: 10 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 20 entries
- Citizens belonging to specific categories: 500 entries
- Conversion of other residence permits into permits for self-employment work: 50 conversions.
Employment: 52,770
- Citizens of states running campaigns against irregular migration trafficking: 1,900 entries
- Citizens of countries with current immigration agreements: 25,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with future immigration agreements: 12,000 entries
- Workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela: 90 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 180 entries
- Workers in the family and socio-health care sector: 9,500 entries
- Conversion of other residence permits into permits for employment: 4,100 conversions.
2- 2024 – TOTAL: 151,000
Seasonal Work: 89,050
- Citizens of countries with future immigration agreements: 12,000 entries
- Citizens of states running campaigns against irregular migration trafficking: 3,000 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 50 entries
- Citizens of countries with migration and multi-seasonal agreements: 2,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with immigration agreements in the agricultural sector (application submitted by employer associations): 41,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with current immigration agreements in the tourism sector (application submitted by employer associations): 31,000 entries.
Self-Employed Work: 700
- Citizens of states running campaigns against irregular migration trafficking: 120 entries
- Workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela: 10 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 20 entries
- Citizens belonging to specific categories: 500 entries
- Conversion of other residence permits into permits for self-employment work: 50 conversions.
Employment: 61,250
- Citizens of states running campaigns against irregular migration trafficking: 2,380 entries
- Citizens of countries with current immigration agreements: 25,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with future immigration agreements: 20,000 entries
- Workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela: 90 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 180 entries
- Workers in the family and socio-healthcare sector: 9,500 entries
- Conversion of other residence permits into permits for employment: 4,100 conversions.
3- 2025 – TOTAL: 165,000
Seasonal Work: 93,550
- Citizens of countries with future immigration agreements: 14,000 entries
- Citizens of states running campaigns against irregular migration trafficking: 3,500 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 50 entries
- Citizens of countries with migration and multi-seasonal agreements: 2,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with immigration agreements in the agricultural sector (application submitted by associations of employers): 42,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with current immigration agreements in the tourism sector (application submitted by employer associations): 32,000 entries.
Self-Employed Work: 730
- Citizens of states running campaigns against irregular migration trafficking: 150 entries
- Workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela: 10 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 20 entries
- Citizens belonging to specific categories: 500 entries
- Conversion of other residence permits into permits for self-employment work: 50 conversions.
Employment: 70,720
- Citizens of states running campaigns against irregular migration trafficking: 2,850 entries
- Citizens of countries with current immigration agreements: 25,000 entries
- Citizens of countries with future immigration agreements: 28,000 entries
- Workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela: 90 entries
- Stateless persons and refugees: 180 entries
- Workers in the family and socio-healthcare sector: 9,500 entries
- Conversion of other residence permits into permits for employment: 5,100 conversions.