Q: May everyone just come to Italy and legally look for a
job ?
A: Unless
you are a EU Citizen in order to work in Italy it is necessary to obtain both a
'Permit of Stay' and a 'Work Permit', rather than a 'Visa'. The Italian '
Dependant Work Permit ' application process must be begun by the company in
Italy that hires the worker. The Italian work permit cannot be applied for by
either the employee or a recruiting firm or a job agency.
Q: What is the general rule about obtaining the
Visa/Permit of stay ? A: In Italy
the is a “quota” system: the
quotas limit the number of non-European Union nationals who are allowed to
enter and stay in Italy to work. However, there are no limitations to
entry into Italy for certain categories of employees. Each year,
before the 30th of November, the Italian Prime Minister issues a decree,
which lays down the aggregate number of non-European Union workers who can
be admitted into Italy for the subsequent year (the so-called “Decreto
Flussi”). As a rule, an Italian national or corporation employer is required to
prepare and file a work permit application on behalf of the non-European
Community alien. Therefore, an individual is not allowed to lodge a work permit
application on his/her own. There are certain categories of employees excluded from
the quota system: being entitled to apply for a work permit at any
time and without numeric restrictions:
• Executives or highly qualified employees of
foreign companies with offices in Italy;
•
Exchange or mother-tongue university lecturers, professors and
researchers;
•
Translators and interpreters;
•
Home-keepers (provided that they have been hired abroad for at least a
year by Italian or European Community citizens who live abroad but are moving
into Italy);
•
Individuals entitled to stay in Italy for training purposes;
•
Employees of foreign companies working in Italy for the purposes of
performing specific assignments;
•
Employees of foreign individuals or companies executing a contract in
Italy;
• Artists;
• Professional athletes;
• Journalists;
• Individuals
participating in exchange or mobility programmes;
•
Professional nurses.
The permit of stay for
subordinate jobs purposes: The Italian national or corporation
employer of the foreign must forward the application to the Ministry of
the Interior as from the date and time Txed by the “Decreto Flussi”
via Internet. For this purpose, it will be necessary to download a special
computer program from the website of the Ministry of the Interior. The
quota (and therefore the work permit) will be granted on a Trst-come,
Trst-served basis. The Ministry of the Interior will forward the
application to the appropriate Immigration Office of the
employer’s province of residence. After receiving the opinion on
the work permit application of both the local Italian Labour Office
and the Police Office (“Questura”) of the employer’s province of
residence, the Immigration Office will release an authorization (“Nulla
Osta al lavoro”) to the alien’s employer. The employer will thereafter
send the authorization to the foreign employee (who must be out of Italy).
The latter will have to apply for the relevant work visa at the
Italian consulate in his/her country of residence within 120
days from the day when the authorization was issued. Otherwise, the
authorization becomes invalid. Upon arrival in Italy, the foreign employee
must go to the Immigration Office in order to execute a “contract of
stay” (similar to an employment agreement) with the Italian employer
and then apply for a work permit (“Permesso di soggiorno”) to the local
Police Office.
The permit of stay for
self-employed jobs: As for the subordinate jobs, also the selfemployed jobs
are also
limited by quotas. However, these quotas are not consumed as fast as the
quotas for subordinate jobs. Non-European aliens wishing to perform a
self-employed activity in Italy are allowed to do so provided that the performance
of such activity is not reserved by law to Italian natives or to natives
of the European Union States. Foreign aliens may carry out the following
self-employment activities:
• professional
activities;
• entrepreneurial,
business or craft activities;
• service and consultancy
activities;
• setting up a company or
hold an office in a company or
corporation (i.e., be
member of the Board of Directors);
Moreover, the following
aliens are also entitled to apply for a permit of stay to work as
independent contractors:
• Exchange or
mother-tongue university lecturers, professors and researchers;
• Translators and
interpreters;
• Artists;
• Professional athletes.
The non-European alien
who wishes to perform the activities above or belong to the categories
above must:
• prove to the Italian
authorities to be in possession of adequate financial means to perform the
desired selfemployed activity; The exact amount of the
financial means, which are necessary to perform the
self-employed activity in question, will be determined by the
competent Chamber of Commerce or professional body in case
of professional activities. If the activity is not subject
to registration with the Chamber of Commerce or with a professional
body, the foreign alien must have a contract with an Italian company as an
independent contractor (i.e., have in place a contract of services);
• meet the requirements
set forth by Italian law to perform the desired self-employed activity,
including, if mandatory, the requirements for the registration with a
professional body or bar association (i.e., to work as a lawyer it
is necessary to have a degree in law and the relative admission to
the bar recognized by the Italian government);
• be in possession of a
certificate released by the competent authority attesting that there are
no legal obstacles for the release of the authorization or the license
required to perform the activity which the foreign individual wishes
to perform (such certification must not be older than three months)
(i.e., it is necessary to prove that there are no legal obstacles to
obtain a license to open a shop or a restaurant);
• have an adequate
lodging;
• have an annual income
higher than 8,500.00 Euros.
Procedure in order
to obtain a permit of stay for self-employed Jobs: The documents and
evidence above must be submitted to the competent Police Office (also by
means of a representative) who will release the authorization
(“Nulla Osta”) which is necessary to obtain the visa for selfemployed work
at the Italian consulate. Once arrived in Italy,the foreign alien must apply
for a permit of stay to the local Police Office.
The permit of stay for
study purposes: Non-European aliens are entitled to attend a course
or University program in Italy. If the course or University program
lasts for more than three months, it will be necessary to apply for a
permit of stay. For this purpose, the first step is to ask for the release
of a visa for study purposes to the Italian consulate of
the student’s country of residence. Once in Italy, the student
will have to apply for a permit of stay to the local Police
Office. The duration of the permit of stay for study will be equal to
the duration of the course or University program and at the end
of the study period it can be converted into a work permit.
This possibility of conversion is subject to the availability of
the quota within the framework of the Decreto Flussi. The permit of
stay for study allows the student to work under a part-time regime for no
more than 20 hours per week, which can be accumulated for 52 weeks. In any
case, the limit of 1,040 hours per year must be respected.
Conclusions: It may not
be so easy to obtain a work permit to perform
a subordinate job if you do not fall into one of the categories under Art. 27
of the Italian Immigration law. Should this be your case, for a successful
application your Italian employer must be ready to apply on exactly
the date and time indicated by the Italian Government (if the “green
light” set up by the Government is scheduled for 12.06.2010 at 9 am for
example, the application must be sent on 12.06.2010 at 9.01
am!!!). On the other hand, if you fall into one of the
categories under Art. 27 of the Italian Immigration law, your moving
to Italy will be easier, but the duration of your stay will
be limited (in general no more than two years). In any case, it is
highly advisable (but no compulsory) to hire or to consult an agency who
works in favor of immigrants/expatriates in order to apply for a permit of stay
for work (either in case of subordinate or self-employed jobs). If you do
not have a good command of Italian, an attorney or an agency can really
help you. Unfortunately, it is impossible to give you advice on
how long it takes to get a permit of stay (in general it may take a few
months), so it is better to lodge the application as soon as you decide to
come to Italy (of course this is not applicable if you have to wait for
the “green light” of the Italian government).
Q: What is the'SportelloUnico'?
A: It is a Public office which
handels some specific sort of immigration procedures like working permits
within the quotas, family reunions. Being only one office in Rome expect long
lines !
Q: May I switch a ' Tourist Visa ' into a ' Work Visa '
?
A: A non EU Citizen with a ' Tourist
Visa ' cannot switch it into a
"Dependant Work Visa". The tourist visa is valid for a stay upto 90
days.
Q: I am a U.S. citizen married to an Italian citizen. We
want to move to Rome. How I go about obtaining my paper work to become legal in
Italy ?
A: Being married to an Italian citizen you are eligible to apply
for citizenship
immediately. (note it doesn't imply that you'll get it
immediately.)
You have get the full record - in original of the
"Application for a marriage license" as this contains all the
necessary information as well as a subsequent notation of the marriage itself
at the office in the county where you were married Then, according to
international treaty, you'll need to have the document certified by the state
department (of the state you were married in - not the US state department).
The certification is called an "Apostille."
Submitting a simple
"certificate of marriage" might cause problems....
You'll also have
to have your marriage certificate translated into Italian.
Then you should
register your marriage at the Italian Consulate which have
jurisdiction for the area in which you have residence in. The local
Italian Consulate will forward the registration here to record it. Of course
you also have to show your husband documentations proving his citizenship.
If
your husband was born in Italy, all his family records are on file with the
'Ufficio di stato civile' at the Comune where he comes from.
And at the end you
can claim the Visa for "Visto per familiare al seguito" or "
Visto per coesione familiare"
Q: I'm a NON - EU citizen currently in Italy for 2 months
as a tourist and I want to stay longer for up to one year to study. What can I
do?
A: Assuming that you
are here on a tourist visa and if your plan is to stay longer, you would need a
different type of visa. To obtain another type of visa you would need to
return to your home country and apply for it at the Italian
consulate which have jurisdiction for the area in which you have residence
in.
By law you are only allowed to stay in the EU for a total of 90 days after
your entrance and then are supposed to leave for 90 days before you can come
back again. If your passport is stamped in any of the "Schengen
agreement" Countries and you overstay your time, you can risk being
deported from any of these countries !
As of May 30th 2005 the Italian
Authorities in U.S. requires you to be enrolled in a college back home .
"In order to better serve the student
population and in an effort to
efficiently process student visa applications, we have adapted new regulations
for the presentation of
student visa applications. We are now accepting
applications and all required documents ONLY from a designated STUDY ABROAD
ADVISOR representing those programs recognized by AACUPI (Association of
American College and University Programs in Italy). The jurisdiction
requirements remain the same i.e. the student must either live or be a
matriculated student within this Consulate's geographic jurisdiction (see
above). If the student is temporarily enrolled in a University for the duration
of the study abroad program, the applicant is not considered part of this
consulate's jurisdiction. He/she must follow the procedures set forth by the
consulate which has jurisdiction in their area of residence/study."
You
can check on Google "AUCPI" and there is a website explaining which colleges
are part of this program. With this information you should ask if
your
University can apply thought the Advisor for the appropriate paperwork for you,
perhaps your school here can do the same.In case you may be registering
directly in a university in Rome, you simply need a letter of acceptance from
that university.
Q: What is the 'Residenza' ?
A:
The 'Residenza' is the registration at the local cty Council. This
procedure became complicated and in Rome it may take some months. Once approved
you will be released a 'Certificato di residenza' needed for signin at the
national health plan and other local admnistrative procedures.
Q:
Is my driving licence recognized ?
A:
The driving licence of the EU Countries are recognized. Some Countries have a
bilateral agreement and licenses of other Countries must be converted into an
Italian, sometime by attending a written and driving test.
