"DECRETO FLUSSI" TO BE PUBLISHED SOON

It will open Italy’s borders to 100,000 foreign workers
Decreto flussi to be published soon.
It will open Italy's borders to 100,000 foreign workers

Finally a new Quota Agreement (Decreto flussi) is about to be published. This is a document the Government normally publishes establishing the number of foreigners who can come to Italy for work.

The document was signed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on 30th November and will only become effective once it is published on the Official Gazette.

The new Quota Agreement will open Italy’s borders to about 100,000 non-EU foreign workers.

Some 50,000 quotas will be reserved for subordinate workers in all sectors, and to citizens of countries that have signed bilateral agreements with Italy to fight irregular immigration. The following countries have so far signed such agreements with Italy: Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Philippines, Ghana, Morocco, Moldavia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, India, Peru, Ukraine, Niger and Gambia.

About 30,000 quotas will be reserved for domestic workers (housekeepers - colf and caregivers – badanti) from all countries.

Some 4,000 quotas have been reserved for workers who underwent training and formation organized by Italian institutions in their home countries.

Five hundred quotas have reserved for descendants of Italians in Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela and Brazil who are enrolled at the Italian Consulates in their home countries.

The document also reserves 11,000 quotas for conversion to ordinary subordinate work permits of the following permits: student permits, apprentice permits, seasonal work permits and EC long-term residence permits issued by other EU Member States.

There are also 500 quotas reserved for conversion of EC long-term residence permits issued by other EU Member States into self-employed work permits.

Employers will have to submit their applications online and the quotas will be allocated on the first come first served basis.

The so-called click day (the official day of beginning to submit online applications) is expected to be in February 2011.

The last time the Government published the Quota Agreement was in 2007. There were only 170,000 quotas, but the Government received almost 800,000 applications from employers.

History will repeat itself this time as well. Since the new quotas are much lower than the number of foreign workers needed by the Italian families and companies, only a few lucky and the very first to submit their applications will obtain the quota.

While the Quota Agreement is meant to be used as a channel of bringing into the country foreign workers who are living abroad, it is no secret that it is normally used to regularise the status of foreigners already in Italy and working illegally.

Those who will be lucky to obtain the quota will have to travel to their home countries in order to apply for work visa before returning to Italy to apply for the work permit.

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By Stephen Ogongo Ongong’a