Flows Decree 2022: greater entries and new opportunities

In times of pandemic, many sectors have suffered, and still suffer, from the lack of manpower for their activities, especially the agri-food sector, now almost entirely made up of foreign workers.

Just Coldiretti, as the major representative of the category, has channeled all the forces in this field, to exert pressure on the Government Executive to anticipate and expand, from a numerical point of view, the Flows Decree for next year.

Compared to the current year, which provided for around 30,000 admissions, the new Decree has almost tripled the quotas of non-EU citizens admitted, bringing the number to about 80,000 workers.

What is the Flows Decree?

With this Decree, the Italian Government establishes, year by year, the maximum number of Non-EU citizens who can enter our country for subordinate, self-employed and seasonal work reasons. Within this number, protected quotas are provided for citizens of countries that have bilateral agreements with Italy (such as Serbia, Albania, Morocco, Moldova, Egypt) or for citizens who have Italian origins and are registered in special registers of national embassies and consulates abroad.

How is the recruitment procedure carried out?

The employer, in the case of subordinate or seasonal work, will be required to submit the request for the authorization to the Single Desk for Immigration ( https://www.interno.gov.it/it/temi/immigrazione-e -asylum / entry method / one-stop-shop-immigration ), which verifies the existence of the requisites provided for by the law and, having received a positive response, issues the go-ahead document, which will then be forwarded to the Embassy or Consulate Italian in the country of the foreign worker.

At that point, the employer is required to send the original authorization to the worker, who must present it to the diplomatic representations to request the entry visa ( https://www.waitaly.net/pacchetti-welcome/extra-ue – entry-visa-applicant / ). Once in Italy, the foreign worker has a time limit of 8 days, to go to the Single Desk for Immigration, both to sign the contract and to request a Residence Permit ( https: // www. waitaly.net/pacchetti-welcome/cittadino-extra-ue-richiedente-permesso-di-soggiorno/ ).

Unfortunately, as can often be seen from the news, the workers falling under the Flows Decree represent a poorly protected category on the issue of health protection. There is no doubt that it is necessary, as well as a duty for a country that considers itself civil, to find a solution to this problem: a first step can be that of welfare solutions ( https://www.waitaly.net/pacchetti-welcome/pacchetti -welcome-welfare / ), specifically designed for foreign citizens who decide to apply for residence in Italy.