A statement from Italian Statistics Bureau ISTAT reveals the number of residence permit and visas after COVID-19 to Italy last year
A document containing the statement of ISTAT was published on 9th July 2021 on the official Italian migrant integration website. According to the ISTAT statement, the number of new entries (issuance of new residence permits and visas) was very low in 2020 amid COVID-19. The country will face its impact (loss) later in the upcoming years. Fighting all odds, the legalization process (amnesty scheme) helped about 207,542 settlings in the country though.
According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics:
- The percentage of migrants to Italy decreased to a huge extent after the closing of borders due to COVID-19 in 2020,
- The issuance of the new visas, work and residence permits also decreased in 2020 as compared with the past years. In 2017, the number of residence permits issued was 263,000. Furthermore, in 2019, it was 177,000 and now in 2020, it has a drop of 40%,
- There was no such drop in entries observed in the past 5 years in Italy. If we compare the percentage of entries in 2020 with the past 5 years, there is a drop of 30.6%.
Country-wise percentage of entries in Italy 2020
The statement reveals the decrease of entries in detail. Here is the decrease in the percentage of entries from the given countries:
| Country | Decrease in percentage of entries |
| The Gambia | 67% |
| Nigeria | 54% |
| Mali | 67% |
| Ghana | 54% |
| Romania | 40% |
| Africa | 37.4% |
Legalization programme of the government 2020
ISTAT statement also reveals the legalization programme of the government 2020. According to this programme, the number of applications of foreigners (non-EU citizens) was 207,542 total, from which:
- Applications specified for household assistance (domestic worker) were 122,247,
- Applications specified for the help of special category people (assistance to non-self-sufficient people) 54,601,
- Applications specified for working in farms and fishing were 30,694.
ISTAT Statistics of entries in Italy
Below is the time-wise decrease in the entries of immigrants into the country:
Before the lockdowns
In the months of January and February 2020, there was no enforcement of emergencies in the Health sectors. No lockdowns were implemented as well in Italy at that time. The decrease in the entries was 8.8% as compared with the past 5 years’ record. But there was an increase in entries from Latin America at that time.
In the first wave of COVID-19
From March to May, a lockdown was implemented in Italy. After that, the huge amount of entries decreased from all over the world. The percentage of this drop in entries is 66.3%.
In the second wave of COVID-19
During the second wave, the decrease ratio was greater than before. On the other hand, the number of entries from North Asia was getting better.
The entries from African countries like Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, and Ghana were decreasing to a huge extent as compared to the other states.
The huge ratio of decrease from Asia was also recorded from the Philippines and China.
Romania is the state from where maximum entries were recorded from the past year. In this pandemic, the decrease in percentage was not that much as compared with the African countries.
According to this statement, the decrease of the new entries was also due to the slow performance of the administration which was caused by fewer people available in government offices to deliver in time.
After June 2020, there was an improvement in the immigrant entries but no new residence permits were issued. The information on the new residence permits issuance will be published in the 2021 statement on the official Italian migrant integration website.