In a swift ruling that could reshape Italy’s 2025 decreto-flussi quota season, the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Lazio on 24 December suspended a consular refusal issued to a Moroccan employee whose work-visa application had been rejected on procedural grounds. The Italian Consulate in Casablanca had refused the visa because the employer confirmed the hire via certified e-mail (PEC) rather than through the Foreign Ministry’s online portal.
Judges held that the consulate violated the principle of ‘soccorso istruttorio’, which obliges authorities to invite applicants to correct minor documentation errors before issuing a refusal. They also ruled that Article 3 of Decree-Law 125/2024—allowing blanket suspensions for nationals of ‘high-risk’ countries—cannot override a valid nulla osta unless the Labour Inspectorate has issued a negative opinion.
For employers and foreign workers who want to avoid exactly these kinds of pitfalls, VisaHQ can provide invaluable, up-to-date guidance on Italian visa procedures. Through its dedicated Italy platform (https://www.visahq.com/italy/), the service pre-screens documents, monitors consular rule changes and flags technical issues—like the correct transmission channel—that can otherwise derail an application.
![Administrative court reinstates Moroccan worker’s Italian visa, setting precedent for quota-year appeals]()
Although the measure is an interim order pending a merits hearing, immigration lawyers say it opens the door for hundreds of stalled cases from the 2025 quota allocation to be revived. Many employers complained that the still-glitchy online system led to inadvertent filing errors that consulates then used to deny visas after months of waiting.
Practical impact: companies that sponsored non-EU talent for the 2026-28 quota window should audit their filings for similar technical defects and be ready to file TAR appeals within 60 days of refusal. Legal advisers note that the court issued its precautionary suspension in less than ten days—evidence, they say, that the judiciary is impatient with purely bureaucratic denials.
Policy-wise, the decision intensifies pressure on the Foreign Ministry to deliver an end-to-end digital visa platform before next year’s quota opening and to clarify when anti-exploitation screening can legitimately be used.
Judges held that the consulate violated the principle of ‘soccorso istruttorio’, which obliges authorities to invite applicants to correct minor documentation errors before issuing a refusal. They also ruled that Article 3 of Decree-Law 125/2024—allowing blanket suspensions for nationals of ‘high-risk’ countries—cannot override a valid nulla osta unless the Labour Inspectorate has issued a negative opinion.
For employers and foreign workers who want to avoid exactly these kinds of pitfalls, VisaHQ can provide invaluable, up-to-date guidance on Italian visa procedures. Through its dedicated Italy platform (https://www.visahq.com/italy/), the service pre-screens documents, monitors consular rule changes and flags technical issues—like the correct transmission channel—that can otherwise derail an application.
Although the measure is an interim order pending a merits hearing, immigration lawyers say it opens the door for hundreds of stalled cases from the 2025 quota allocation to be revived. Many employers complained that the still-glitchy online system led to inadvertent filing errors that consulates then used to deny visas after months of waiting.
Practical impact: companies that sponsored non-EU talent for the 2026-28 quota window should audit their filings for similar technical defects and be ready to file TAR appeals within 60 days of refusal. Legal advisers note that the court issued its precautionary suspension in less than ten days—evidence, they say, that the judiciary is impatient with purely bureaucratic denials.
Policy-wise, the decision intensifies pressure on the Foreign Ministry to deliver an end-to-end digital visa platform before next year’s quota opening and to clarify when anti-exploitation screening can legitimately be used.
