Italy allows foreigners living in the country to have extensions of their residence permits till July 31. This will allow many to stay in the country even if their visa expires till the end of April. The announcement has been made under Decree-Law 30 April 2021, n. 56.
There are several delayed administrative activities of the “Single Immigration Desk” and of the “Police Headquarters”, for many foreigners who are still waiting for the convocation of the Prefecture, to present the documents of the 2020 emergence and to obtain Italian citizenship. The appointments for the issue and also for the renewal of the residence permit have lengthened and the procedures for renewing the electronic card are longer.
The expired residence permits that have been extended to 31 July 2021 are the:
- residence permits with a two-year and annual expiry, for subordinate work,
- residence permits for self-employment,
- seasonal work permits, for family reasons, for awaiting employment, permits for study purposes.
Following documents (permesso-di-soggiorn ) of foreigners, expired on April 30, 2021, are extendable till 31 July 2021 :
- travel documents of foreign citizens with refugee status;
- the conversion of residence permits from study to subordinate work and from seasonal work to non-seasonal subordinate work;
- residence permits;
- the validity of the permits issued for research work, blue cards, intra-company transfers.
- the validity of the permits issued for seasonal work;
- the validity of the no impediments issued for family reunification pursuant to articles 28, 29 and 29-bis of Legislative Decree no. 286/1998. On the other hand, there is no provision for the extension of the authorization requests for subordinate employment and seasonal work.
According to the official details, the law decree n. 56 of April 30, 2021, provides that residence permits expiring by April 30 are extended to July 31, 2021, while the parties concerned may apply for renewal.
The press release of the Council of Ministers no. 16 of April 29 anticipates the new decree. Previously the law decree n. 2 de 14 January 2021 to art. 5 intervened by modifying the extension of the terms of permits and residence permits contained in law no. 159 of 27 November 2020 (which converted the decree-law 125 of 7 October 2020). With the same Decree, the validity of identification and identity documents expired or expiring after January 31, 2020, was extended to September 30, 2021. The validity for expatriation purposes remains limited to the expiry date indicated in the document.
This includes an extension of the terms of validity of identification and identity documents, as well as residence permits and documents and travel documents.
1. In article 104, paragraph 1, of the decree-law of March 17, 2020, n.18, converted, with amendments, by law April 24, 2020, n. 27, relating to the period of validity of identification and identification documents, the words “30 April 2021” are replaced by the following: “30 September 2021”.
2. In article 3-bis, paragraph 3, of the decree-law of 7 October 2020, n. 125, converted, with amendments, by law November 27, 2020, n. 159, relating to residence permits and permits and travel documents, the following amendments are made:
a) the words “30 April 2021” are replaced by the following: “31 July 2021” ;
b) after the first period, the following is added at the end: “Pending the aforementioned deadline, interested candidates may also submit applications for renewal of the permits and qualifications referred to in the first period, the processing of which is carried out progressively by the related office.