The Italian Ministry of the Interior has confirmed that employers will be able to submit applications for seasonal work permits at 09:00 on Monday, 12 January 2026, when the first “click-day” under the new three-year Flow Decree (decreto flussi) opens. The quota for 2026 sets aside 88,000 permits for non-EU nationals who will work in agriculture and the tourism–hospitality sector during the coming season.
Under the procedure, employers had the chance to pre-fill applications on the ministry’s online One-Stop Immigration Portal between 23 October and 7 December 2025. When the portal reopens on 12 January, applications will be queued electronically and processed in the order of arrival until the sectoral quota is exhausted. As in previous years, companies must prove that they tried—without success—to recruit locally before turning to foreign labour, and must provide housing, fair wages and return-flight guarantees.
The 2026 seasonal quota is part of the record 497,550 work-permit slots authorised for the 2026-2028 period. Business associations say the 88,000 positions will only partly relieve labour shortages in coastal resorts and fruit-and-vegetable supply chains, but praise the earlier timetable, which should allow employers to complete paperwork before the Easter tourism peak. Immigration lawyers note that the new decree has streamlined background checks: prefectures now have 30 days (down from 60) to issue the nulla osta, while consulates will rely on video interviews for low-risk nationals.
![Decreto Flussi 2026: Italy schedules 12 January “click-day” to allocate 88,000 seasonal-work permits]()
For employers needing extra hands with the visa paperwork or tracking multiple consular appointments, VisaHQ offers a convenient online solution. By working with VisaHQ’s Italy specialists (https://www.visahq.com/italy/), companies can outsource form preparation, receive real-time status alerts and arrange secure courier delivery of passports—an efficient way to lighten the administrative load on HR teams during the frantic click-day period.
For mobility managers the key takeaway is timing. Internal hiring requisitions should be finalised this week, because once the quota closes no further applications will be accepted until the next click-day—expected in March for non-seasonal hires. Multinationals with decentralised HR structures are urged to centralise submissions to avoid duplicate applications, which are automatically rejected by the system.
Practically, employers will need a SPID digital identity, a certified e-mail address (PEC) and up-to-date electronic labour contracts in Italian. Experts recommend logging in at least 30 minutes before the portal opens and having multiple authorised users on standby in case of connection failures. In past years the system processed around 9,000 submissions per minute, exhausting agricultural quotas in under 20 minutes.
Under the procedure, employers had the chance to pre-fill applications on the ministry’s online One-Stop Immigration Portal between 23 October and 7 December 2025. When the portal reopens on 12 January, applications will be queued electronically and processed in the order of arrival until the sectoral quota is exhausted. As in previous years, companies must prove that they tried—without success—to recruit locally before turning to foreign labour, and must provide housing, fair wages and return-flight guarantees.
The 2026 seasonal quota is part of the record 497,550 work-permit slots authorised for the 2026-2028 period. Business associations say the 88,000 positions will only partly relieve labour shortages in coastal resorts and fruit-and-vegetable supply chains, but praise the earlier timetable, which should allow employers to complete paperwork before the Easter tourism peak. Immigration lawyers note that the new decree has streamlined background checks: prefectures now have 30 days (down from 60) to issue the nulla osta, while consulates will rely on video interviews for low-risk nationals.
For employers needing extra hands with the visa paperwork or tracking multiple consular appointments, VisaHQ offers a convenient online solution. By working with VisaHQ’s Italy specialists (https://www.visahq.com/italy/), companies can outsource form preparation, receive real-time status alerts and arrange secure courier delivery of passports—an efficient way to lighten the administrative load on HR teams during the frantic click-day period.
For mobility managers the key takeaway is timing. Internal hiring requisitions should be finalised this week, because once the quota closes no further applications will be accepted until the next click-day—expected in March for non-seasonal hires. Multinationals with decentralised HR structures are urged to centralise submissions to avoid duplicate applications, which are automatically rejected by the system.
Practically, employers will need a SPID digital identity, a certified e-mail address (PEC) and up-to-date electronic labour contracts in Italian. Experts recommend logging in at least 30 minutes before the portal opens and having multiple authorised users on standby in case of connection failures. In past years the system processed around 9,000 submissions per minute, exhausting agricultural quotas in under 20 minutes.
