The decreto flussi

Decreto Flussi 2026:

From 9:00 a.m. on 23 October 2025 until 7 December 2025, employers, employers’ organizations, and authorized professionals intending to submit applications during the click days may pre-fill the forms on the Services Portal of the Ministry of the Interior, in the “One-Stop Desk for Immigration” section.
To access the Services Portal, a digital identity (SPID or CIE) is required.

The decreto flussi is an Italian government law that sets how many non- European citizens can enter Italy for work.

Specifically, the decreto flussi establishes the number of non-European citizens who can enter Italy for lavoro stagionale (seasonal work), lavoro subordinato non stagionale (non-seasonal employed work) or lavoro autonomo (self-employed work).

In addition to the number of non-EU citizens who can enter Italy for work, the decreto flussi also sets the number of people who can convert their permesso di soggiorno (for example permesso di soggiorno per studio) in permesso di soggiorno per lavoro subordinato o autonomo.

Decreto Flussi2026-2028

The Decreto Flussi 2026-2028 states that a total of 164.850  can come to Italy for work reasons in the year 2026.

The industries considered for lavoro subordinato (non-seasonal subordinate work) in this period will be: agriculture, forestry and fishing; food, beverage and tobacco industries; textile, clothing and footwear industries; metallurgical and metal products industries; other industries; construction; wholesale and retail trade; accommodation and food services; tourism services; transport, logistics and warehousing services; operational support services for businesses and individuals; health, social care and private healthcare services; other services and self-employment.

Lavoro subordinato

Applications can be made for lavoratori subordinati:

• 25,000 slots in 2026  from Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Korea (Republic of Korea), Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, the Philippines, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Japan, Jordan, Guatemala, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Moldova, Montenegro, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of North Macedonia, Senegal, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan;
• 18,000 for citizens from other countries with whom there are migration cooperation agreements.
• 320 people recognized as stateless or refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or by the competent authorities in the first asylum or transit countries (300 for lavoro subordinato and 20 for lavoro autonomo).
• 13600 non stagionali workers in the family assistance and health care sector.

Lavoro autonomo

(therefore for jobs that have a longer duration than lavoro stagionale)

650 foreign citizens residing abroad are expected to enter in 2026 if they are entrepreneurs, freelancers, famous artists, or startup creators.

Lavoro stagionale- Seasonal Work 

(i.e., for work that only happens during a certain period of the year):

• 88000 people are allowed to enter Italy in 2026 for lavoro stagionale  in the agricultural and tourist-hotel sectors. Specifically, allowed to enter Italy for lavoratori subordinati.
• 12600  workers stagionali from countries with which there will be migration cooperation in the three years.
• 5,000 foreign workers who have entered Italy to perform lavoro subordinato at least once in the previous five years, and for whom the employer submits a multi-year clearance request for seasonal subordinate work.
• 47,000 people, for the agricultural sector, whose clearance requests to enter Italy for lavoro stagionale are submitted by professional employer organizations of the National Confederation of Direct Cultivators, the Italian Farmers Confederation, the General Confederation of Italian Agriculture, the Confederation of Agricultural Producers, and the Alliance of Italian Cooperatives (National League of Cooperatives and Mutuals, Confederation of Italian Cooperatives, and General Association of Italian Cooperatives).
• 13,000 in the tourism sector.

How to Apply

The application must be made online on the portal https://portaleservizi.dlci.interno.it/AliSportello/ali/home.htm. To be able to fill in the application, you must have SPID credentials.

For lavoro stagionale et non stagionale work, it is the employers who must apply, while for lavoro autonomo and conversions, it is the person with the permesso who must apply.

After the pre-filling phase, the Portal will reopen from 9 to 13 December 2025. During this period, it will not be possible to complete new applications, but only to modify and save those already pre-filled.
Pre-filled applications with the status “to be sent” (da inviare) may be submitted starting at 9:00 a.m. on the respective click days:

• 12 January 2026 for seasonal employment in the agricultural sector (model C-stag agricolo);

• 9 February 2026 for seasonal employment in the tourism sector (model C-stag turistico);

• 16 February 2026 for non-seasonal employment (model B2020);

• 18 February 2026 for non-seasonal employment in the domestic and family care sector (model A-bis).

Among the information to be included in the application are:

• details on the worker’s accommodation in Italy (i.e. where the worker will live)
• and the documents necessary for carrying out the work, such as the contract (for lavoro subordinato e stagionale) or the licenza for the activity for the lavoro autonomo). The licenza is the authorisation that allows the self-employed person to start his business.

The application will be received and examined by the Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione. 

After the application

If your application for nulla osta is approved by the Sportello Unico, you can apply for a visto (visa) for Italy at the Italian embassy or consulate in your country of origin.

Once you have obtained the visto, you can enter Italy and apply for a residence permit to stay regularly and carry out your work.

IMPORTANT: The nulla osta is valid for 6 months. This means that you must enter Italy and apply for a residence permit within 6 months from the date of issue of the nulla osta.

If your application for the nulla osta is denied, you will not be able to receive a visa to enter Italy. It is not possible to apply twice in the same year, but it is possible to try again the following year if you meet the requirements of the new decreto flussi.

Remember that people who want to apply for international protection do not have to follow this procedure, but they must apply for international protection.

If you need more information and you are in Italy, you can go to the offices of the Comune that deal with immigration or to a patronato.

To find the immigration office of the Comune, you can do this search on the internet: “Ufficio immigrazione Comune di + the name of your city” (for example, Ufficio immigrazione Comune di Firenze).

To find your local patronato, you can do this search on the internet: “patronato + name of your city (for example patronato Firenze).