Italy has formally completed the legislative process for its new three-year immigration quota programme. On 11 December 2025 the Official Gazette printed Law 179/2025, which converts the 3 October decree-law on migratory flows into ordinary law. The measure confirms a record 497,550 work-visa places for non-EU nationals between 2026 and 2028 (164,850 in 2026, 165,850 in 2027 and 166,850 in 2028) and immediately brings the decree into force.
The quota is almost 50,000 higher than the previous triennial plan and is designed to help Italian employers fill structural shortages in agriculture, tourism, logistics, construction and caregiving. Seasonal work dominates (267,000 places) but the decree also reserves slots for highly skilled workers, road freight drivers, start-up founders and intra-company transfers. Notably, the digital-nomad visa and EU Blue Card remain outside the quota system, giving companies additional avenues to hire non-EU talent.
Several procedural reforms aim to make the system more business-friendly. The maximum time for labour authorities to issue a ‘nulla osta’ (work authorisation) is cut to 30 days; employers will submit applications entirely online through a new unified portal that will pre-populate data from previous filings. For 2026 the first ‘click-day’—when application windows open—has been scheduled for 12 January and will focus on seasonal agricultural hires, allowing farmers to recruit before spring planting. Ministries must publish detailed implementation circulars in the coming weeks, and HR teams are advised to prepare drafts in advance because quotas historically fill within hours.
![Italy publishes Conversion Law for 2026-2028 Flow Decree, unlocking 497,550 new work visas]()
As companies and prospective workers gear up for the January click-day, many will look for reliable assistance in assembling the required paperwork. VisaHQ’s dedicated Italy page (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) offers an intuitive platform for visa preparation, document legalization and appointment scheduling, giving employers and applicants real-time tracking and expert support so their files are complete when the quota window opens.
The law also strengthens compliance: companies convicted of labour exploitation will be barred from sponsoring visas for two years, and random workplace inspections will double in 2026. On the employee side, the government has simplified family-reunification rules and extended the validity of social-protection residence permits to one year.
For multinational employers the key takeaway is strategic planning. Businesses that missed quotas in 2025 now have clarity to map medium-term staffing, while those with urgent needs may look to out-of-quota pathways like the ICT permit or the still-nascent digital-nomad visa. Recruiters should also watch country-allocation tables: Italy continues to reserve special sub-quotas for states that cooperate on irregular-migration deterrence campaigns, giving preference to workers from Albania, Tunisia, Egypt and the Philippines.
The quota is almost 50,000 higher than the previous triennial plan and is designed to help Italian employers fill structural shortages in agriculture, tourism, logistics, construction and caregiving. Seasonal work dominates (267,000 places) but the decree also reserves slots for highly skilled workers, road freight drivers, start-up founders and intra-company transfers. Notably, the digital-nomad visa and EU Blue Card remain outside the quota system, giving companies additional avenues to hire non-EU talent.
Several procedural reforms aim to make the system more business-friendly. The maximum time for labour authorities to issue a ‘nulla osta’ (work authorisation) is cut to 30 days; employers will submit applications entirely online through a new unified portal that will pre-populate data from previous filings. For 2026 the first ‘click-day’—when application windows open—has been scheduled for 12 January and will focus on seasonal agricultural hires, allowing farmers to recruit before spring planting. Ministries must publish detailed implementation circulars in the coming weeks, and HR teams are advised to prepare drafts in advance because quotas historically fill within hours.
As companies and prospective workers gear up for the January click-day, many will look for reliable assistance in assembling the required paperwork. VisaHQ’s dedicated Italy page (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) offers an intuitive platform for visa preparation, document legalization and appointment scheduling, giving employers and applicants real-time tracking and expert support so their files are complete when the quota window opens.
The law also strengthens compliance: companies convicted of labour exploitation will be barred from sponsoring visas for two years, and random workplace inspections will double in 2026. On the employee side, the government has simplified family-reunification rules and extended the validity of social-protection residence permits to one year.
For multinational employers the key takeaway is strategic planning. Businesses that missed quotas in 2025 now have clarity to map medium-term staffing, while those with urgent needs may look to out-of-quota pathways like the ICT permit or the still-nascent digital-nomad visa. Recruiters should also watch country-allocation tables: Italy continues to reserve special sub-quotas for states that cooperate on irregular-migration deterrence campaigns, giving preference to workers from Albania, Tunisia, Egypt and the Philippines.
