- For Italy’s Decreto Flussi 2024 program, the final application day observed 690,000 applications for 151,000 available places.
- In December 2023, there were 580,000 applications submitted for 131,000 available quota.
- In 2023, only 23.52% of the received applications were successful in obtaining residence permits.
- There is a significant decline in the success rate from 2022 to 2023, indicating a challenging process for obtaining residence permits.
On 30 May, in the Senate, for Decreto Flussi, the Ero Straniero network presented its dossier monitoring the system of regular entry for work by foreigners through the system of so-called quotas established by the government.
Giulia Gori, for the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI) on this occasion said:
There is the problem of bureaucratic procedures, with long waits for the issuing of visas and for summons to the embassy, and waits incompatible with the immediate needs of companies and families.
The report presented on this occasion also highlighted that:
Only 30% of the established quotas convert into actual contracts, leaving 70% of workers in a condition of irregularity and blackmail. Furthermore, many workers are victims of scams, in some cases, there is even talk of payments of thousands of euros to be called by a company. The residence permit while awaiting employment, required by law to avoid these situations, is used in a residual manner.
We also asked for the opinion of an “Immigration Expert” about this situation and he answered;
“The “Decreto Flussi” immigration program has observed much demand and fame over the past few years. With each passing day, the number of applicants is increasing dramatically. The set aside quota by the Italian government, can not do justice to the number of people interested in working in Italy. Furthermore, the process of issuing residence permits has drastically gone down which is not helping companies and workers”
He further added,
“Despite winning the click-day lottery and falling within the established number of entries, the goal is still long and reached only by a small part of those who passed the first step. A significant number of applications do not even reach the second step of the entry procedure such as the issuing of the work visa”.
Analysis of the current statistics
Though the Italian government has taken revolutionary steps to overcome the issues of Decreto Flussi still the system needs a more streamlined system. The main issue is also the large number of applicants from non-EU countries which shows the immense increasing demand.
The immense increase is also due to the nature of the eligibility criteria as the work visa routes do not require skills, qualifications, or language proficiency hurdles. This number of applications is likely to increase further next year but the quota available will only be 165,000 as announced by the government in advance.
Increasing applicants for Decreto Flussi Work Visa Streams
The available quotas are insignificant compared to the applications for the seasonal and nonseasonal work visa routes. In March, the last click day observed about 690,000 applications received against 151,000 quota allocation.
The same is true for the last year when in December 2023 there were 580,000 applications submitted against 131,000 available quota. In all of last year, 6,702 applications were submitted, by those who also followed training programs in their country of origin, compared to a thousand quotas. A number six times higher than a percentage doubled compared to 2022.
Low conversion of applications into residence permit rates
The number of applications submitted converted into residence permits remained very low. For 2023, only 23.52% of the applicants received residence permits. The year before, in 2022, the success rate of the entry procedure stopped at 35.32%.
What is Decreto Flussi?
Italian government through the Ministry of Interior, establishes how many foreign people (from non-EU countries) can work in the country. The rules are contained in a law called the Decreto Flussi (flows decree).
Decreto Flussi Quota for 2023,2024, and 2025
First time in history, the Italian government announced this program for continuous 3 years from 2023 to 2025. Normally the available places for seasonal and nonseasonal work visas are announced annually. The following quota distribution was set on 3 October 2023 as the law was published in the official gazette:
| Year | Total Quota | Seasonal | Non-Seasonal | Self-Employed |
| 2023 | 136,000 | 82,550 | 52,770 | 680 |
| 2024 | 151,000 | 89,050 | 61,250 | 700 |
| 2025 | 165,000 | 93,550 | 70,720 | 730 |
Files from schengenvisa.news, Umer Rasib, and Ministry of Interior Italy.