Completing and submitting the application
For the year 2023, applications may be submitted:
- from 2 December, for employed non-seasonal workers who are citizens of countries that have cooperation agreements with Italy
- from 4 December for other non-seasonal workers
- from 12 December for seasonal workers.
All applications may be submitted until 31 December 2023 and will generally be processed based on the respective chronological order of submission. If the application is not in quota according to the chronological order of submission, the employer will display the following notice on the ALI portal "The file is currently not in quota".
A prerequisite for the compilation and telematic submission of applications is possessing a SPID identity.
From 9 a.m. on 30 October until 26 November, the application for pre-filling application forms will be available at https://portaleservizi.dlci.interno.it.
In order to allow for the rapid processing of applications submitted, provision has been made - in the application forms - for the possibility of attaching the necessary documentation (including self-certification on the unavailability of workers already in Italy) so as to allow the Single Desks to begin examining it without having to summon the applicants to submit such documentation. If all the original documents are not available at the time of filling out the application, declarations of commitment to deliver the originals of the missing documents must be uploaded; in this case, the acquisition of the original documents will be requested during the investigation phase by the Single Desk for Immigration.
The documentation to be attached to the application also includes the asseveration, i.e. the document through which professionals (labour consultants, accountants, lawyers, etc.) or employers' organisations certify compliance with the contractual prerequisites required by current legislation for the recruitment of foreign workers. This asseveration is also required for the family assistance sector.
It should be noted that according to the latest regulatory changes, subject to spot checks by the National Labour Inspectorate in collaboration with the Revenue Agency, verification of compliance with the contractual prerequisites required by current legislation for the recruitment of foreign workers is delegated to professionals and employers' organisations.
Asseverations are not required in cases where applications are sent, in the name and on behalf of their members, by trade organisations that are signatories to the Memoranda of Understanding with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. In these cases, the simplified procedure according to which it is not necessary to wait for the work authorisation to be issued, but the proposed residence contract is directly transmitted electronically to the diplomatic Representations for the subsequent issuance of the visa.
The forms to be used for sending applications are:
- C-Stag: request for a clearance for subordinate seasonal work
- B2020: request for a clearance for subordinate non-seasonal work
- A-bis: request for clearance for subordinate non-seasonal work in the socio-healthcare sector
- B: request for clearance for subordinate work issued for workers of Venezuelan origins
- VB: application to verify the existence of a quota for the conversion of a residence permit for seasonal work into a permit for subordinate work
- LS: application to verify the existence of a quota for the conversion of an EU long-term residence permit into a residence permit for subordinate work
- LS1: application to verify the existence of a quota for the conversion of an EU long-term residence permit into a permit for domestic work
- LS2: application to verify the existence of a quota for converting an EU long-term residence permit into a permit for self-employed work.
The new Prime Minister's Decree has already set not only the quotas but also the dates from which it will be possible to send applications for work permits in 2024 and 2025, which for both years will be 5 February (for non-seasonal subordinate workers who are citizens of countries with cooperation agreements), 7 February (for other non-seasonal subordinate workers) and 12 February (for seasonal workers).
The prior verification of the unavailability of workers already on the national territory
An important novelty introduced as early as 2022 concerns the need for the employer, before sending the request for hiring workers from abroad, to check with the competent Employment Centre that there are no other workers already present in the national territory available to fill the job for which they intend to hire the worker abroad. This verification must be done by sending a request to the Employment Centre using the form prepared by ANPAL.
The authorisation request may, therefore, only be made if:
a) the Employment Centre does not respond to the request submitted within fifteen working days from the date of the application
b) the worker reported by the Employment Centre is not suitable for the employer for the job offered
c) the worker sent by the employment centre does not appear, except for a justified reason, for the selection interview at least 20 working days after the date of the request.
The occurrence of the circumstances must be evidenced by a self-certification that the employer must attach to the application for work authorisation.
This prior verification of the unavailability of workers in the national territory is not required for stagiaire workers and workers trained abroad.
Preliminary investigation
In the implementation of the latest regulatory changes, 60 days (reduced to 20 days for seasonal work) after the submission of the application without any obstructive reasons having emerged, the authorization is automatically issued and sent - electronically - to the Italian diplomatic representations of the countries of origin, which must issue the entry visa. The authorization will also be sent automatically to the employer, who can view it on the Ministry of the Interior Portal.
As clarified in the Interministerial Circular of 27 October, the applications already submitted by employers in the agricultural sector within the framework of the 2022 Flows Decree, which did not result in the allocation of labour due to lack of quota, will be evaluated in chronological order, with priority over new applicants, falling within the quota for seasonal agricultural work, for the issuance by the Single Desk for Immigration of the relevant authorization.
Also, regarding seasonal work in the agricultural and tourist-hotel sectors, the applications received from the employers' organisations of the respective sectors, on behalf of and in the employers' name, will be evaluated with priority for the Single Desk for Immigration issuing the relative nulla osta.
In particular, in the agricultural sector, priority will be given to applications submitted by: Confederazione nazionale coltivatori diretti, Confederazione italiana agricoltori, Confederazione generale dell'agricoltura italiana, Confederazione di produttori agricoli and Alleanza delle cooperative italiane (National League of Cooperatives and Mutual Societies, Confederazione cooperative italiane and Associazione generale cooperative italiane); For the tourism sector, priority will be given to applications submitted on behalf of employers by : ASSITAI - Association of open-air tourism enterprises, ASSOBALNEARI ITALIA - Association of beach tourism entrepreneurs, ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA CONFINDUSTRIA ALBERGHI, ASSOHOTEL, ASSOINTRATTENIMENTO - Association of entertainment entrepreneurs, ASSOTURISMO, CNA - National Confederation of Craftsmen and Small and Medium Enterprises, FAITA FEDERCAMPING, FEDERAGIT, FEDERALBERGHI, FEDERTURISMO, FEDERTERME - Italian Federation of Spa and Curative Mineral Water Industries, CONFARTIGIANATO IMPESE.
Once the quota reserved for seasonal work applications from employer organisations has been filled, the Single Immigration Desks issue the nulla osta for the other seasonal work applications, according to the chronological order of arrival at the computerised system of the Single Desks.
Please note that according to the updated version of Article 22, par. 6-bis of the T.U.I., a worker who has entered Italy after the issuance of the clearance and the visa may immediately carry out work activities; in this case, the employers' associations, as well as the individual employer, must also independently provide for the mandatory communication.
If, on the other hand, employment is formalised only when the contract of stay is signed at the Sportello Unico, the mandatory communication will be generated automatically by the computer system, except for family assistance, which must be communicated to INPS. A copy of this communication will be given to the worker, who will have to insert it in the postal envelope for the application for a residency permit. In the case, therefore, of employment in the family assistance sector, the employer will have to provide the mandatory communication to INPS independently, even when the contract is being concluded at the Sportello Unico.