Work visa for employment in Italy

A non-EU national who wants to take up employment in Italy enters, as a rule, through the annual quota decree (Decreto Flussi). The route runs mainly through the Italian employer, and it rewards early timing and a complete, correctly prepared file. We guide both the worker abroad and the employer in Italy, from the first check of eligibility through to the residence permit (permesso di soggiorno).

What this visa is for

This is the ordinary route for a non-EU national coming to Italy to work as an employee for an Italian employer. The legal basis is Article 22 of the Consolidated Immigration Act (Testo Unico sull’Immigrazione), and the main channel is the annual quota decree, which fixes how many workers enter each year and in which categories.

The annual quota decree (Decreto Flussi)

Entries for employed work are capped each year. The three-year decree adopted on 2 October 2025 covers 2026 to 2028 and authorises around 165,000 entries a year, close to half a million over the period. For 2027 the decree sets 76,200 places for non-seasonal employed work, of which about 14,000 for domestic and care work, 89,000 for seasonal work in agriculture and tourism, and only 650 for self-employment, with forty per cent of the places reserved for women workers. Applications run on the Ministry of the Interior’s online portal (Portale Servizi ALI), with access by public digital identity (SPID or CIE), and open on fixed dates known as click-days, set in January and February. Against limited places, the timing of the application and the quality of the file weigh heavily on the outcome.

How the procedure works

Before the application, the employer checks with the Public Employment Centre (Centro per l’Impiego) whether a suitable worker is already available in Italy, as Article 22 requires. The employer then applies for the work authorisation (nulla osta) at the Single Immigration Desk (Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione). Once granted, the authorisation stays valid for six months, within which the worker obtains the entry visa at the Italian consulate and enters Italy. Within eight days of entry the employer sends the file electronically to the Single Immigration Desk, the residence contract (contratto di soggiorno) is signed and the worker applies for the residence permit (permesso di soggiorno) at the police headquarters (Questura). Since the 2023 reform the permit for employed work lasts up to two years under a fixed-term contract and up to three under an open-ended one, and during its validity it also allows self-employed work once any licence the activity needs is in hand, so a change of activity waits for the renewal rather than for a new visa. The decree and its operational circular set the processing times for each stage, and for some nationalities additional checks apply before the authorisation issues.

Your qualification and documents

Where the role belongs to a regulated profession, the foreign qualification has to be recognised before the worker takes it up, and the recognition follows the ministry competent for the profession. In every case the documents supporting the application, qualifications and certificates alike, are legalised or carry an Apostille and are translated into Italian by a sworn translator. Preparing these in advance, in the country of origin, is what keeps the file moving.

Entries outside the quota

Not every employed worker falls under the quota. Highly qualified professionals on an EU Blue Card and the categories listed in Article 27 of the Consolidated Immigration Act, among them managers and specialists transferred within a group, university lecturers and researchers, translators and interpreters, nurses engaged by health facilities, professional sportspeople, performing artists and domestic workers who have served the same family abroad for at least a year, enter outside the Decreto Flussi, on their own rules and timetable, and where your role is highly qualified the Blue Card is often the faster and more secure route. Someone already in Italy sometimes reaches employed work by converting an existing permit rather than entering on the quota. A study permit held for a university course converts to a work permit outside the quota and without a click-day, provided it is still valid and a genuine job offer is in hand, while a permit for a language course does not convert. A seasonal permit converts to non-seasonal employment under Article 24. The study-visa page sets this out in full.

Who files the Decreto Flussi application?

The Italian employer files online through the ALI portal, directly or through an authorised association or professional. The worker, usually still abroad, then follows with the entry visa once the authorisation issues.

What has to be ready before the click-day?

Everything. The file is pre-compiled in the window the circular opens beforehand, and on the click-day the quota is claimed in order of submission, so a file finished late loses its place. Preparation ahead of the date is the difference between a place and a wasted year.

What happens if the authorisation is refused?

Unused places are redistributed after a set period, and a refused applicant applies again under the following year’s decree, on a corrected file. Reading the reason for refusal and putting it right is where a prepared application pays off.

How we assist, from abroad and in Italy

We assess whether the quota route or a route outside it fits your case, prepare and translate the documents, and coordinate with the employer on the authorisation. We then follow the file in Italy through the visa, the residence contract and the residence permit, so the worker and the employer deal with one team across both the qualification and the immigration procedure.

Legal references: Article 22 of the Consolidated Immigration Act, Legislative Decree 286/1998, Prime Ministerial Decree of 2 October 2025 (flows for 2026 to 2028), joint circular No. 7185 of 1 October 2026 with the operational instructions for 2027.