Italy has started 2026 by providing much-needed certainty for the roughly 170,000 Ukrainians who fled the war and have been living in the country under temporary or so-called “special protection.” In an emergency decree (No. 201/2025) signed late on New Year’s Eve and published in the Official Gazette on 1 January, the cabinet authorised renewals of these permits through 4 March 2027. The move aligns national rules with the EU-wide Temporary Protection Decision 2025/1460 and avoids a looming expiration in March 2026 that had worried both migrants and employers.
Under the extension, permit holders may apply for renewal at their local Questura; the police booking portals are expected to reopen after the holiday break and are likely to fill quickly. The decree also allocates state funds to cover mandatory insurance and safety training for freelance journalists travelling back to Ukraine, reflecting Rome’s broader support for Kyiv. Crucially, Ukrainians benefiting from special protection remain exempt from Italy’s annual work-visa quotas (decreto flussi), meaning their continued stay will not squeeze out other nationalities competing for the 164,850 work permits available in 2026.
![Italy Extends ‘Special Protection’ Residence Permits for Ukrainians to March 2027]()
If you need practical help gathering paperwork, securing appointment slots or simply keeping track of Italy’s fast-changing rules, VisaHQ’s Italy platform (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) offers step-by-step guidance and live support for both individuals and corporate mobility teams. The service can generate personalised document checklists, monitor processing times and even courier application packs to and from the relevant Questura, saving applicants and HR departments valuable time.
For multinational employers the implications are immediate. Employees whose documents were set to lapse in two months can stay on payroll without interruption, averting costly termination-and-rehire cycles and preserving project continuity. Mobility teams should nonetheless diarise renewal windows, prepare updated employment letters and ensure staff have proof of adequate housing and income — documents still required at the renewal stage. Companies with Ukrainian assignees rotating in from other EU states should note that Italy’s rules only protect those who arrived before 24 February 2022; later arrivals must use standard work or study channels.
Legal advisers say the full 15-month extension signals continued political backing for displaced Ukrainians and may presage similar renewals in other EU countries. It also buys time for a longer-term solution at European level, where discussions on a post-temporary-protection framework are expected to intensify in 2026. In the meantime, HR departments can breathe a sigh of relief and refocus resources on upcoming decreto-flussi click-days rather than emergency contingency planning.
Under the extension, permit holders may apply for renewal at their local Questura; the police booking portals are expected to reopen after the holiday break and are likely to fill quickly. The decree also allocates state funds to cover mandatory insurance and safety training for freelance journalists travelling back to Ukraine, reflecting Rome’s broader support for Kyiv. Crucially, Ukrainians benefiting from special protection remain exempt from Italy’s annual work-visa quotas (decreto flussi), meaning their continued stay will not squeeze out other nationalities competing for the 164,850 work permits available in 2026.
If you need practical help gathering paperwork, securing appointment slots or simply keeping track of Italy’s fast-changing rules, VisaHQ’s Italy platform (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) offers step-by-step guidance and live support for both individuals and corporate mobility teams. The service can generate personalised document checklists, monitor processing times and even courier application packs to and from the relevant Questura, saving applicants and HR departments valuable time.
For multinational employers the implications are immediate. Employees whose documents were set to lapse in two months can stay on payroll without interruption, averting costly termination-and-rehire cycles and preserving project continuity. Mobility teams should nonetheless diarise renewal windows, prepare updated employment letters and ensure staff have proof of adequate housing and income — documents still required at the renewal stage. Companies with Ukrainian assignees rotating in from other EU states should note that Italy’s rules only protect those who arrived before 24 February 2022; later arrivals must use standard work or study channels.
Legal advisers say the full 15-month extension signals continued political backing for displaced Ukrainians and may presage similar renewals in other EU countries. It also buys time for a longer-term solution at European level, where discussions on a post-temporary-protection framework are expected to intensify in 2026. In the meantime, HR departments can breathe a sigh of relief and refocus resources on upcoming decreto-flussi click-days rather than emergency contingency planning.
