Many people dream of working in Italy and build a career. It does sound logical to apply for Italy’s work visa; however, like any other country, even Italy has restrictions in providing a work visa to everyone. If you are one of those, who have plans to apply for a work visa in Italy, here is everything you should know.
First of all, let’s understand what an Italian work visa is. It is nothing but legal permission from the government of Italy that allows international candidates to enter the country and work there. Any non-European citizen should apply for a work visa to get permission to work in Italy. And to apply for the work visa, one must have a job offer from an Italian employer.
There are certain terms that you must get familiar with before applying for a work visa in Italy, which are:
Decreto Flussi: Decreto flussi is like a set of doors that are kept open for the non-European citizens for a few months in a period of one or two years to allow them to submit the work visa applications. When it closed, it means that the government of Italy is not issuing any work visas to the foreign citizens. There is a quota for each foreign country for the maximum number of work visas that can be allotted to its citizens. When the quota gets completed, no more work visas will be issued.
Nulla Osta: An official authorizing document in Italy is known as Nulla Osta. For the work visas, Italy’s immigration office called Sportello Unico s’Immigrazione issues the nulla osta.
Permesso di Soggiorno per Lavoro: While a work visa only grants permission to enter the country, one must have permesso di soggiorno per lavro or the permit to stay card to live in Italy to carry on with the work. You can apply for it only after obtaining a work visa.
Process of applying for a work visa in Italy
The entire process of applying for the work visa can be divided into three parts, which are:
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Securing a job:
Before applying for the work visa, you should have secured a job in Italy. Unless there is an offer from an Italian employer, you won’t be able to fill up the application completely as most of the information is related to your job.
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Employer submitting an application for Nulla Osta:
Once you get a job from an Italian employer, your employer will submit a request to the immigration office for a nulla osta document, usually online.
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If your nulla osta document is accepted and decreto flussi quota is still open, then your local Italian consulate will receive instructions from the Italian government to complete your application process and issue the work visa. In normal cases, the work visa is issued by the consulate within 30 days from the date of application.