Italy: Work permit system: Migrant groups demand urgent reform

Rome: Migrant rights organizations are calling for urgent changes to Italy’s work permit system, criticizing it as “inefficient, inadequate, and dangerous”. With quotas filling up in minutes, many workers are left without opportunities.

Italy’s Tavolo Asilo e Immigrazione (TAI) has sent a document to the prime minister’s office criticizing the country’s work permit system for foreign workers. The group called it “inefficient, inadequate, and dangerous” and urged the government to make changes.

TAI, a coalition of organizations working on migration and humanitarian issues, sent the document on February 6, just before the scheduled “click days” for foreign worker applications on February 5, 7, and 12.

Every year, Italy sets a limit on how many foreign workers can enter the country. However, TAI says these quotas are not enough to meet the demand for workers. The group pointed out that on February 5, all 25,000 available spots were taken in just four minutes. This system, they argue, works like a “lottery” and leaves out many migrants already in Italy.

TAI is calling for changes to the work permit system, including:

Allowing employers to hire foreign workers without strict quotas.

Removing limits based on nationality or job sector.

Creating new ways for migrants to enter Italy for work, such as sponsorship and job-seeking visas.

Giving migrants the right to stay in Italy while looking for work if they lose their job for reasons beyond their control.

Allowing people already in Italy without valid permits to apply for jobs legally.

Making the work permit process faster and hiring more staff to handle applications.

Allowing all types of residence permits to be converted into work permits.

Who Supports These Changes?

TAI members include: A Buon Diritto, ACLI, ActionAid Italia, Amnesty International Italia, ARCI, ASCS, ASGI, Casa dei Diritti Sociali, Centro Astalli, CGIL, CIES, CIR, Commissione Migrantes e GPIC Missionari Comboniani provincia italiana, CNCA, CoNNGI, Europasilo, Fondazione Migrantes, Forum per Cambiare l’Ordine delle Cose, Intersos, IRC Italia, Italiani Senza Cittadinanza, Medici del Mondo, Oxfam Italia, ReCoSol, RED Nova, Refugees Welcome Italia, Senza Confine, SIMM, UIL, and UNIRE.

The group is urging the Italian government to take quick action and create a fairer system that meets both workers’ needs and Italy’s labor demand.