Late on New Year’s Eve, the Italian cabinet issued Decree-Law 201/2025, extending the validity of ‘protezione speciale’ residence permits held by Ukrainian nationals who fled the war prior to 24 February 2022. According to the text published in the Official Gazette and summarised today by labour portal Dottrina per il Lavoro, holders may now renew their permits on request until 4 March 2027, aligning Italian rules with the EU-wide Temporary Protection Decision 2025/1460.
The measure provides multi-year certainty to roughly 170,000 Ukrainians living and working in Italy under temporary or special-protection status. Employers benefit too: staff whose permits were previously due to expire in March 2026 can stay on local payrolls without interruption, avoiding a costly cycle of terminations and re-hiring.
![Italy Renews Special Protection Residence Permits for Ukrainians Until March 2027]()
For organisations and individuals who need hands-on assistance navigating Italy’s permit-renewal maze, VisaHQ offers an end-to-end online service that simplifies document gathering, appointment booking and application tracking. Their Italy desk (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) can support ‘protezione speciale’ renewals as well as standard work, study and travel visas, ensuring compliance while saving valuable time.
The decree also earmarks state funding to cover mandatory war-zone insurance and safety training for Italian freelance journalists, but the mobility headline is squarely the Ukrainian extension. HR teams should diarise renewal windows early: appointments at police headquarters (Questure) are expected to fill quickly once online booking portals reopen after the holiday break.
Critically, the government chose the full 15-month extension allowed under Brussels’ decision, signalling ongoing political support for displaced Ukrainians. Business-immigration advisers say the move may also free up quota space under the ordinary seasonal-worker programme (Decreto Flussi) because Ukrainian nationals with special protection are exempt from those caps.
The measure provides multi-year certainty to roughly 170,000 Ukrainians living and working in Italy under temporary or special-protection status. Employers benefit too: staff whose permits were previously due to expire in March 2026 can stay on local payrolls without interruption, avoiding a costly cycle of terminations and re-hiring.
For organisations and individuals who need hands-on assistance navigating Italy’s permit-renewal maze, VisaHQ offers an end-to-end online service that simplifies document gathering, appointment booking and application tracking. Their Italy desk (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) can support ‘protezione speciale’ renewals as well as standard work, study and travel visas, ensuring compliance while saving valuable time.
The decree also earmarks state funding to cover mandatory war-zone insurance and safety training for Italian freelance journalists, but the mobility headline is squarely the Ukrainian extension. HR teams should diarise renewal windows early: appointments at police headquarters (Questure) are expected to fill quickly once online booking portals reopen after the holiday break.
Critically, the government chose the full 15-month extension allowed under Brussels’ decision, signalling ongoing political support for displaced Ukrainians. Business-immigration advisers say the move may also free up quota space under the ordinary seasonal-worker programme (Decreto Flussi) because Ukrainian nationals with special protection are exempt from those caps.
