Starting at 9.00 AM on 27 March 2023, all applications for seasonal or nonseasonal work can be submitted according to Decreto Flussi program. According to the regulations, this is 60 days after the publication of the Decreto Flussi in the Official Gazette of the Italian Government. Interested applicants from selected countries will be able to apply from 27 March or their employers can do this on their behalf.
This immigration flow program is also known as a seasonal work program or Italy immigration program which allows 9 months work visa to seasonal work applicants after having a job offer from an Italian employer.
The government has made some important changes to this year’s decreto flussi program. First of all, thirty days after the submission of the applications without the impediment reasons having emerged, the no impediment document is automatically issued and sent – electronically – to the Italian diplomatic missions of the countries of origin which will have to issue the entry visa within twenty days of the relative application.
Secondly, the next change concerns the need for the employer to verify, at the competent Employment Center, before sending the request for authorization to work, that there are no other workers already present on the national territory willing to fill the job for which the intention is to hire the worker who is abroad. This verification must be carried out by sending a request for personnel to the Employment Centre, using the appropriate form.
Therefore, the authorization request can only proceed if:
- the Employment Center does not respond to the request presented, within fifteen working days from the date of the request;
- the worker reported by the employment center is not suitable for the job offered by the employer;
- the worker sent by the employment center does not appear, unless there is a justified reason, for the selection interview, after at least twenty working days from the date of the request;
- The occurrence of the aforementioned circumstances must result from a self-certification that the employer must attach to the application for a work permit.
This preventive verification of the unavailability of workers present on the national territory is not necessary for seasonal workers and for workers trained abroad.
The new Decree sets a maximum quota of workers equal to 82,705. From a total quota, 44,000 are reserved for applications for seasonal workers. Whereas 500 quotas are for self-employment work, namely for entrepreneurs; startuppers; professionals; well-known artists; Chairman, CEOs, Members of the board of directors, and Auditor in Italian companies active for at least 3 years). Furthermore, 7,000 are reserved to permit conversion for foreign citizens already in possession of a residence permit in Italy or the EU (study, seasonal work, permanent) intending to change status i.e. to convert the existing permit into a permit for employment/self-employment. About 31,205 quotas for subordinate work, but only for specific sectors of activity and for certain nationalities. These sectors are working in the road haulage, construction, and tourism-hotel sectors, as well as, new this year, from the mechanics, telecommunications, food, and shipbuilding industries.
The eligible countries for the program are:
- Albania,
- Algeria,
- Bangladesh,
- Bosnia-Herzegovina,
- Korea (Republic of Korea),
- Ivory Coast,
- Egypt,
- El Salvador,
- Ethiopia,
- Philippines,
- Gambia,
- Georgia,
- Ghana,
- Japan,
- Guatemala,
- India,
- Kosovo,
- Mali,
- Morocco,
- Mauritius,
- Moldova,
- Montenegro,
- Niger,
- Nigeria,
- Pakistan,
- Peru,
- The Republic of North Macedonia,
- Senegal,
- Serbia,
- Sri Lanka,
- Sudan,
- Tunisia,
- Ukraine.
Finding Farm Worker jobs in Italy
Read here the Gazzate Articles of Decreto Flussi in English.