Employees

If you’re a national of an EU member country (your passport must show that you have the right of abode in an EU country), you don’t require official approval to live or work in Italy, although you still require a permit to stay (permesso di soggiorno per lavoro).

If you’re unemployed, you have the right to live in Italy for a ‘reasonable period’ of time in order to look for a job. However, no matter how long you take to find a job, you cannot be asked to leave the country if you can prove that you’re still seriously looking for employment and have a real chance of finding work (for example, you still have interviews to attend or tests to undergo).

In certain circumstances, if you’re receiving unemployment benefit in one EU country, you may continue to receive that benefit for up to three months in Italy. To do so, you must apply to the authorities in the country that pays your unemployment benefit.

EU nationals who visit Italy with the intention of finding a job should apply at the foreigners’ office (ufficio stranieri) at the local police headquarters for a permit (ricevuta di segnalazione di siggiorno) within eight days, which entitles them to remain in Italy for three months while looking for a job. When you’ve found work, you take the ricevuta together with a letter from your employer confirming your employment to the police headquarters to obtain a permit to stay. You must also apply for a work permit (permesso di lavoro, which is valid only for as long as you’re employed and is available to both residents and non-residents.

Non-EU nationals require an ‘entry visa for reasons of work’ (visto d’ingresso per motivi di lavoro), which they must obtain in their home country or country of residence. All employees except managers and executives (dirigenti) require a workers’ registration card (libretto di lavoro) from the Provincial Inspectorate of Work (Inspettorato Provinciale del Lavoro), which is valid for ten years. It’s a booklet that employees (whether Italian citizens or foreigners) require in order to be legally employed, which serves as an employment record (the start and end dates of all periods of employment are entered in it).

Italy has restrictions on the employment of non-EU nationals, which have been strengthened in recent years due to the high unemployment rate (around 8.9 per cent). The 1998 Immigration Law introduced a quota system that restricts the number of freelance people of any nationality and category allowed into the country each year.