L’Eco di Bergamo devoted its front page on 25 February to what it calls the “Flussi flop”. Applications for foreign workers in the province plummeted from 8,381 in 2024 to 3,196 this year, yet only 23 permits of stay have so far been issued. The newspaper, citing the ‘Ero Straniero’ civil-society network, highlights a vicious circle: employers doubt the system, submit fewer requests, and the few workers who do arrive face months-long waits for contracts and appointments. Trade-union leaders warn that the situation fuels undeclared labour.
![‘Flussi flop’ as Bergamo applications plunge and permits stall]()
At the individual level, migrants and the Italian companies that sponsor them can ease some of this red tape by using VisaHQ’s online visa-processing service. The platform’s dedicated Italy section (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) provides up-to-date requirements, document checklists and concierge support, helping applicants secure the right entry visa or residence permit while the government fine-tunes the decreto flussi.
Non-EU nationals often enter with a valid visa but lose sponsorship when an elderly care-recipient dies or construction contracts end, pushing them into irregularity. The unions want Italy to introduce a job-search permit similar to Germany’s, giving migrants time to find alternative employment legally. Employers’ associations, meanwhile, lament the territorial quota allocation that leaves industrial provinces like Bergamo short of authorisations despite record-low 1.5 % unemployment. Some companies are experimenting with overseas training hubs—ITS Academies in Africa—that tie vocational education to a guaranteed contract, thus bypassing the click-day scramble. Policy analysts say the Bergamo data could energise parliamentary debate on converting the decreto flussi from an annual lottery into a rolling, demand-driven system. The interior ministry is expected to publish a white paper on digitalising the workflow before the summer. Until reforms arrive, corporate mobility advisers recommend building extra lead-time into Italian assignments and considering EU intra-company transfer (ICT) permits for key staff.
At the individual level, migrants and the Italian companies that sponsor them can ease some of this red tape by using VisaHQ’s online visa-processing service. The platform’s dedicated Italy section (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) provides up-to-date requirements, document checklists and concierge support, helping applicants secure the right entry visa or residence permit while the government fine-tunes the decreto flussi.
Non-EU nationals often enter with a valid visa but lose sponsorship when an elderly care-recipient dies or construction contracts end, pushing them into irregularity. The unions want Italy to introduce a job-search permit similar to Germany’s, giving migrants time to find alternative employment legally. Employers’ associations, meanwhile, lament the territorial quota allocation that leaves industrial provinces like Bergamo short of authorisations despite record-low 1.5 % unemployment. Some companies are experimenting with overseas training hubs—ITS Academies in Africa—that tie vocational education to a guaranteed contract, thus bypassing the click-day scramble. Policy analysts say the Bergamo data could energise parliamentary debate on converting the decreto flussi from an annual lottery into a rolling, demand-driven system. The interior ministry is expected to publish a white paper on digitalising the workflow before the summer. Until reforms arrive, corporate mobility advisers recommend building extra lead-time into Italian assignments and considering EU intra-company transfer (ICT) permits for key staff.
