Italy decreto flussi 2023

On the 3rd of October 2023, the ‘Prime Minister’s Decree” on the planning of flows of legal entries of foreign workers in Italy for the three-year period 2023-2025, so called Flow Decree,’ was published in the Official Gazette, therefore determining the entry quotas and rules regarding the entry of foreign workers into Italy for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025.

As widely known, many types of visas for Italy are subjected to yearly quantitative restrictions. In the sector lexicon, these quantitative limitations are referred to with the term “quotas”, to which we will refer to below.

The aforementioned Decree was adopted in accordance with the provisions of Decree Law No. 20 of March 10, 2023 (known as the ‘Cutro Decree’), which introduced several changes to the Italian Immigration Code (Legislative Decree 286/1998).

Among the changes brought by the Decree, we first note the provision of quotas for the three-year period 2023-2025, thus a three-year forecast of quotas and no longer an annual one, as in recent years. As will be mentioned later in this paper, the Government may still provide for more quotas by adopting supplementary Decrees, like the increase of entry quotas provided for the year 2023 by the Decree of December 29, 2022, with the provision of 40,000 additional quotas in the agricultural and tourism-hotel sectors.

In the chart below, published in an explanatory note of the Parliament, we note the growth of entry quotas allowed under the New Decree in comparison with previous Decrees. Despite the significant growth compared to previous years, the allowances provided still do not seem to fill the identified need, which is around 274,800 for the year 2023, 277,600 for the year 2024, and 280,600 for the year 2025.

decreto flussi quote 2023 2025

We invite you to further read for a more analytical examination of this Decree, all types of entry allowed, the countries from which entry can be applied for, and the maximum number of entries allowed for each type.

A. Self-employed work

Regarding entry for self-employment, the categories identified in Article 6 of the Decree are as follows:

  • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against smuggling and irregular migration (art. 6, co. 2);
  • workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela (art. 6, co. 4, lett. a);
  • stateless persons and refugees (art. 6, co. 4, lett. b);
  • conversion of other residence permits into permits for self-employment (art. 6, co. 6);
  • citizens belonging to the following specific categories (art. 6, co. 7):
    • entrepreneurs who intend to execute an investment plan of national interest with an initial investment of at least 500,000 euros and creating at least three new jobs;
    • self-employed professionals who intend to carry out regulated o professions, or unregulated ones but still represented by professional associations at a national level;
    • holders of corporate roles expressly provided for in Interministerial Decree No. 850 of May 11, 2011, such as directors of Companies and auditors;
    • artists of clear reputation or high and well-known professional qualification, hired by public or private entities;
    • foreign nationals who intend to establish “innovative start-up” enterprises, thus characterized by a strong component of technological and/or information technology innovation, with an initial capital to be invested in the project of at least 50,000 euros.

B. Employment

The sectors in which non-seasonal employed workers may be admitted to the country, as listed in Article 6, are as follows:

  • road haulage;
  • construction;
  • tourism-hotel sector;
  • mechanics;
  • telecommunications;
  • food industry;
  • shipbuilding;
  • bus passenger transport;
  • fishing;
  • hairdressing, electricians, and plumbers sector.

More labor sectors are considered compared to the previous years, marked above by italics.

The quotas of the above sectors for non-seasonal employment purposes are reserved for citizens of countries that have current or future agreements on cooperation in migration matters, as well as citizens of states that promote campaigns against smuggling workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela, stateless persons, and refugees.

The countries with which immigration agreements have been stipulated to date are: Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia Herzegovina, South Korea, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Philippines, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Japan, Jordan, Guatemala, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Moldova, Montenegro, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of North Macedonia, Senegal, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine. The countries included for the first time in the new Decree are marked here in italics: Jordan and Kyrgyzstan.

In addition, comma 4(c) of Article 6 reserves a quota for non-seasonal employed workers in the family and socio-health care sector, with no restrictions with regards to the country of origin.

Seasonal work

Seasonal work quotas, mentioned in Article 7 of the Decree, are reserved for employment in the agricultural and tourism/hotel sectors. No changes are noted from previous years.

These entries can be required only for citizens of countries with current or future agreements on immigration matters with the Italian State, mentioned above under Section B, and for stateless persons and refugees.

Workers employed in agriculture and tourism, coming or transiting from countries that sign certain agreements on the matter with Italy, have the option of having their applications for Nulla Osta (for seasonal work, including multi-year work) submitted by the most representative labor organizations, which oversee the procedure until the actual hiring of the worker.

Conversions

Certain quotas are provided for the conversions of residence permits issued for other purpose into residence permits for employment and self-employment. Specifically, the above conversions concern residence permits for seasonal work and EU long-term resident permits issued to third-country nationals by another EU state.

The conversion of residence permits for self-employment is allowed only in the second case, thus with regard to EU long-term resident permits issued to third-country nationals from another EU state.

Finally, it is worth noting that an important change regards all residence permits for study/training purposes, which can now be converted into residence permits for employment purposes outside the quota limits (outlined more precisely below). This possibility was previously provided only for those holding a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in Italy. This is therefore an important opening compared to the past, which facilitates the stable integration in Italy of a greater number of foreign students.

QUOTAS

The maximum entry quotas provided for each of the aforementioned permits are examined hereafter. However, it is noteworthy that the Government has the possibility of adopting supplementary Decrees during the three-year period, through which it could provide for additional quotas.

In addition, it should be noted that by general rule, applications for Nulla Osta for employment, including seasonal work, can be processed within the quotas that become available with the next Decree.

2023 – TOTAL: 136,000

  • Seasonal Work: 82,550
    • citizens of countries with future immigration agreements (art. 7, co. 2, lett. a): 8,000 entries
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against smuggling and irregular migration (art. 7, co. 2, lett. b): 2,500 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 7, co. 2, lett. c): 50 entries
    • citizens of countries with migration and multi-seasonal agreements (art. 7, co. 3): 2,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with immigration agreements in the agricultural sector with application submitted by employer associations (art. 7, co. 4): 40,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with current immigration agreements in the tourism sector with application submitted by employer associations (art. 7, co. 5): 30,000 entries
  • Self-Employed Work: 680
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against irregular migration trafficking (art. 6, co. 2): 100 entries
    • workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela (art. 6, co. 4, lett. a): 10 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 6, co. 4, lett. b): 20 entries
    • citizens belonging to the following specific categories (art. 6, co. 7): 500 entries
    • conversion of other residence permits into permits for self-employment work (art. 6, co. 6): 50 conversions
  • Employment: 52,770
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against irregular migration trafficking (art. 6, co. 2): 1,900 entries
    • citizens of countries with current immigration agreements (art. 6, co. 3, lett. a): 25,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with future immigration agreements (art. 6, co. 3, lett. b): 12,000 entries
    • workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela (art. 6, co. 4, lett. a): 90 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 6, co. 4, lett. b): 180 entries
    • workers in the family and social-health care sector (art. 6, co. 4, lett. c): 9,500 entries
    • conversion of other residence permits into permits for employment(art. 6, co. 5): 4,100 conversions

2024 – TOTAL: 151,000

  • Seasonal Work: 89,050
    • citizens of countries with future immigration agreements (art. 7, co. 2, lett. a): 12,000 entries
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against irregular migration trafficking (art. 7, co. 2, lett. b): 3,000 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 7, co. 2, lett. c): 50 entries
    • citizens of countries with migration and multi-seasonal agreements (art. 7, co. 3): 2,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with immigration agreements in the agricultural sector with application submitted by employer associations (art. 7, co. 4): 41,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with current immigration agreements in the tourism sector with application submitted by employer associations (art. 7, co. 5): 31,000 entries
  • Self-Employed Work: 700
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against irregular migration trafficking (art. 6, co. 2): 120 entries
    • workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela (art. 6, co. 4, lett. a): 10 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 6, co. 4, lett. b): 20 entries
    • citizens belonging to the following specific categories (art. 6, co. 7): 500 entries
    • conversion of other residence permits into permits for self-employment work (art. 6, co. 6): 50 conversions
  • Employment: 61,250
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against irregular migration trafficking (art. 6, co. 2): 2,380 entries
    • citizens of countries with current immigration agreements (art. 6, co. 3, lett. a): 25,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with future immigration agreements (art. 6, co. 3, lett. b): 20,000 entries
    • workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela (art. 6, co. 4, lett. a): 90 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 6, co. 4, lett. b): 180 entries
    • workers in the family and socio-health care sector (art. 6, co. 4, lett. c): 9,500 entries
    • conversion of other residence permits into permits for employment(art. 6, co. 5): 4,100 conversions

2025 – TOTAL: 165,000

  • Seasonal Work: 93,550
    • citizens of countries with future immigration agreements (art. 7, co. 2, lett. a): 14,000 entries
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against irregular migration trafficking (art. 7, co. 2, lett. b): 3,500 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 7, co. 2, lett. c): 50 entries
    • citizens of countries with migration and multi-seasonal agreements (art. 7, co. 3): 2,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with immigration agreements in the agricultural sector with application submitted by associations of employers (art. 7, co. 4): 42,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with current immigration agreements in the tourism sector with application submitted by employer associations (art. 7, co. 5): 32,000 entries
  • Self-Employed Work: 730
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against irregular migration trafficking (art. 6, co. 2): 150 entries
    • workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela (art. 6, co. 4, lett. a): 10 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 6, co. 4, lett. b): 20 entries
    • citizens belonging to the following specific categories (art. 6, co. 7): 500 entries
    • conversion of other residence permits into permits for self-employment work (art. 6, co. 6): 50 conversions
  • Employment: 70,720
    • citizens of states that promote media campaigns against irregular migration trafficking (art. 6, co. 2): 2,850 entries
    • citizens of countries with current immigration agreements (art. 6, co. 3, lett. a): 25,000 entries
    • citizens of countries with future immigration agreements (art. 6, co. 3, lett. b): 28,000 entries
    • workers of Italian origin residing in Venezuela (art. 6, co. 4, lett. a): 90 entries
    • stateless persons and refugees (art. 6, co. 4, lett. b): 180 entries
    • workers in the family and socio-health care sector (art. 6, co. 4, lett. c): 9,500 entries
    • conversion of other residence permits into permits for employment(art. 6, co. 5): 5,100 conversions