Decreto Flussi: 2026–2028 Quotas, Click Day, and Costs

The Decreto Flussi is Italy’s annual quota decree setting how many non-EU nationals may enter the country for work each year. The current three-year plan, established by the Prime Ministerial Decree of October 2, 2025, opens 164,850 entry slots for 2026, split across seasonal work, non-seasonal employment, and self-employment. Employers compete for those slots through timed online filings known as Click Days, where a submission logged seconds later than another can be the one that falls outside the quota.

2026–2028 Quotas at a Glance

The 2026–2028 plan replaces the 2023–2025 cycle and allocates roughly 497,550 entries over three years: 164,850 in 2026, 165,850 in 2027, and 166,850 in 2028.¹

For 2026, the split is:

88,000 seasonal entries, concentrated in agriculture and tourism and hospitality.
76,200 non-seasonal employed entries, covering construction, transport, mechanics, and domestic care, among other sectors.
650 self-employment entries for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and professionals.

Within the non-seasonal quota, 13,600 slots are reserved for family care workers such as domestic helpers and caregivers for the elderly or disabled. Another 300 employed slots and 20 self-employment slots are set aside each year for stateless persons and refugees recognized by UNHCR.¹

Reserved Shares for Bilateral Agreement Countries

A meaningful portion of the 2026 quota, 25,000 slots, is earmarked for nationals of countries that have signed migration cooperation agreements with Italy, with an additional 18,000 held back for countries that finalize new agreements during the year. The current list includes more than 30 countries, among them Albania, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Morocco, the Philippines, Pakistan, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Ukraine.² Workers from these countries file within a dedicated share of the quota, which is a less crowded lane on Click Day.

What Employers Must Prepare Before Click Day

The application burden sits with the employer, and almost all of the real work happens before the submission window opens. Mistakes made in preparation are essentially uncorrectable once the clock starts.

Digital Access

Employers log into the Ministry of Interior’s portal using either SPID (Public Digital Identity System) credentials or an Electronic Identity Card (CIE).³ First-time SPID setup can take several days depending on the identity verification method.

Job Centre Check

Before requesting a foreign hire, the employer files a request with the local Job Centre (Centro per l’Impiego) to confirm that no qualified workers already in Italy are available for the position. If the Job Centre does not respond within 15 working days, the employer may proceed as if the check cleared.⁴ Many Job Centres let that deadline lapse in silence, so document the filing date.

Asseverazione

Companies must obtain an asseverazione, a professional certification from a labor consultant, accountant, or lawyer confirming the employer’s financial capacity and regulatory compliance. Employers using trade associations that have signed simplification protocols with the Ministry of Labour are exempt.⁵

Housing and Pay

The employer must show that suitable housing is available for the worker, meeting Italian health and safety standards, with minimum floor area scaled to occupancy (14 square meters for one person, 28 for two, and so on). The municipality issues a certificato di idoneità alloggiativa confirming compliance. The application must also state the proposed salary and hours, which must match the national collective labor agreement (CCNL) for the sector. Italy sets wage floors through these sector-wide agreements rather than a single statutory minimum wage.⁵

Pre-Filling the Application

All data goes onto the Ministry of Interior’s ALI Portal during a “pre-compilazione” period. For the 2026 cycle, pre-filling opened October 23, 2025 and closed December 7, 2025.⁶ Non-seasonal work uses Modello VA; seasonal work uses Modello VB. Pre-filled forms wait in the system with a “to be sent” status until the employer triggers submission on Click Day.

Click Day: How the Submission Works

At 9:00 AM on a designated date, the portal begins accepting pre-filled applications. Every submission is timestamped to the millisecond, and that timestamp fixes the applicant’s place in line. Anything filed after the quota fills is excluded from that year’s allocation.

The 2026 calendar splits Click Day across four dates:

January 12: seasonal agricultural work.
February 9: seasonal tourism and hospitality work.
February 16: non-seasonal subordinate work and self-employment.
February 18: family care workers and qualified professionals.

Once the submission goes through, the system generates an electronic receipt showing the filing time. That receipt is the employer’s proof of position. The portal has historically strained under Click Day traffic, and a stable connection and precise timing are essential. Some employers hire IT professionals or specialized intermediaries to handle the click itself.

From Nulla Osta to Residence Permit

Landing inside the quota is the first step, not the last. The full pipeline from Click Day to a worker starting a job usually runs several months.

The Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione (SUI), the local immigration office, reviews each in-quota application. If everything checks out, the SUI issues the nulla osta, the work clearance that lets the worker apply for an entry visa. It is transmitted electronically to the employer and to the Italian consulate in the worker’s home country, and it is valid for six months from issuance.⁷

At the consulate, the worker presents a passport and the nulla osta to receive a long-term national visa (Type D) for work. Consular processing times vary, and high-demand posts can have backlogs, so the six-month validity of the nulla osta should be treated as a hard deadline.

After arriving in Italy, the worker must appear at the SUI within eight working days, together with the employer, to sign the contratto di soggiorno (residence contract).⁸ That signature formalizes the employment relationship and triggers the residence permit application. Missing the eight-day window, or failing to maintain the housing declared in the original application, can lead to revocation of the work authorization.

The residence permit application (permesso di soggiorno) is filed through Poste Italiane using a dedicated kit. The worker pays a €16 revenue stamp, a €30 postal processing fee, and €30.46 for card production, plus a duration-based contribution.⁹ The worker is then called to the local Questura for fingerprinting and document verification. Total elapsed time from Click Day to a physical permit commonly runs four to six months, sometimes longer.

What It Costs

€16 revenue stamp on the nulla osta application, paid on the Ministry portal at submission.⁵
Asseverazione fees, typically several hundred euros depending on the professional and the complexity of the employer’s records.
Residence permit costs for the worker: roughly €76.46 in combined stamps, postal fees, and card production, plus the duration-based contribution.⁹
Social security contributions to INPS of roughly 30% of gross salary from the employer and about 10% from the employee, with exact rates depending on sector, company size, and job classification.
INAIL registration and premiums for mandatory workplace accident and occupational disease coverage, with rates set by industry risk level.

Penalties for Hiring Outside the Quota

Italian law treats unauthorized employment of non-EU workers as a criminal offense. An employer who hires a foreign worker without proper authorization faces imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of €5,000 per worker.¹⁰

Those penalties rise by one-third to one-half in cases of “particular exploitation”: more than three unauthorized workers, workers below the minimum working age, or exploitative conditions. Courts can also order the employer to cover the average repatriation cost for each worker. On top of the criminal sanctions, the employer owes back wages, unpaid taxes, social security contributions, and late-payment penalties as if the employment had been lawful from the outset.¹⁰

Converting a Seasonal Permit to Non-Seasonal

Seasonal workers who want to stay longer have a narrow conversion path. The worker must have completed seasonal employment in Italy in at least the two prior years. If that condition is met, the worker or employer can apply at the SUI to convert the seasonal residence permit into a non-seasonal work permit, provided conversion slots remain within the current year’s quotas.¹¹ A signed employment contract for the non-seasonal position must accompany the application. It is one of the few routes from temporary to longer-term status that does not require leaving Italy and re-entering through a new Click Day.

Bringing Family to Italy

Non-EU workers who hold a residence permit valid for at least one year may apply to bring family members to Italy. Eligible relatives include a spouse or civil union partner, minor children (including adopted children), adult children who are fully disabled, and dependent parents under certain conditions.¹²

The applicant must show suitable housing meeting the same health and safety standards required for the Decreto Flussi application, a minimum annual income at least equal to the social allowance amount for each family member, and adequate health coverage. The SUI verifies requirements and issues a nulla osta; the Italian embassy in the family member’s home country then processes the entry visa. Holders of refugee status or subsidiary protection are exempt from the housing, income, and health insurance requirements.¹²

1
Ambasciata d’Italia Abidjan. The Decreto Flussi (Foreign Workers Quota Decree)
2
Portale Integrazione Migranti. Quotas in Detail
3
SPID. Public Digital Identity System
4
Portale Integrazione Migranti. The Procedure
5
Provincia autonoma di Trento. Issuing of Work Authorisation – Decree Flows
6
Portale Integrazione Migranti. Flussi 2026, dal 23 ottobre la precompilazione delle domande
7
Ambasciata d’Italia Abidjan. Family Reunification Visa (with SUI Nulla Osta)
8
European Commission. International Service Provider in Italy
9
Poste Italiane. Residence Permits
10
Portale Integrazione Migranti. Sanctions for the Recruitment of Illegal Workers
11
European Commission. Seasonal Worker in Italy
12
Ministero dell’Interno (Prefettura). Family Reunification