An in-depth investigation published by newspaper Domani on 17 November reveals that more than 34 000 Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Sri Lankan nationals who obtained Italian work permits under the 2023–24 ‘decreto flussi’ are still waiting for visa appointments at the Italian Embassy in Dhaka.
Reporters interviewed would-be migrants who paid agencies up to €15 000 for promised jobs only to discover that the permits had been “frozen” after the 2024 Cutro security decree introduced stricter authenticity checks. Embassy officials admit that background verification now exceeds the 60-day legal window, effectively suspending thousands of approvals.
![Investigative report exposes visa bottlenecks leaving 35 000 Bangladeshi workers in limbo]()
The backlog is already distorting Italy’s labour market: hotels, farms and care homes struggle to fill vacancies, while migrants resort to secondary routes through Romania or Libya, swelling irregular flows. Employers complain that only a fraction of the official quotas—7.8 % in 2024—actually translate into residence permits.
Policy experts quoted in the article call for a certified-agency list, digital document authentication and staggered click-days to reduce fraud. Until reforms materialise, companies depending on non-EU talent should factor longer lead-times into workforce-planning and consider EU Blue-Card sponsorship as a parallel track.
Reporters interviewed would-be migrants who paid agencies up to €15 000 for promised jobs only to discover that the permits had been “frozen” after the 2024 Cutro security decree introduced stricter authenticity checks. Embassy officials admit that background verification now exceeds the 60-day legal window, effectively suspending thousands of approvals.
The backlog is already distorting Italy’s labour market: hotels, farms and care homes struggle to fill vacancies, while migrants resort to secondary routes through Romania or Libya, swelling irregular flows. Employers complain that only a fraction of the official quotas—7.8 % in 2024—actually translate into residence permits.
Policy experts quoted in the article call for a certified-agency list, digital document authentication and staggered click-days to reduce fraud. Until reforms materialise, companies depending on non-EU talent should factor longer lead-times into workforce-planning and consider EU Blue-Card sponsorship as a parallel track.
