Italy to
issue half million non-EU work visas over next three years
By
Reuters
June 30,
20257:56 PM GMT+2Updated June 30, 2025
ROME,
June 30 (Reuters) - Italy will issue nearly 500,000 new work visas for non-EU
nationals from 2026 to 2028, a cabinet statement said on Monday, as part of a
strategy to expand legal immigration channels in response to labour shortages.
A total
164,850 people will be allowed in next year, aiming to reach a cumulative total
of 497,550 new entries by 2028.
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It is the
second such move Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has made since she took office
nearly three years ago as the head of a right-wing coalition. The government
had already decided to issue over 450,000 permits to migrants between 2023 and
2025.
Alongside
rules to allow in new workers, Meloni has taken a tough stance against illegal
arrivals, moving to speed up repatriations and curbing the activities of
charities rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean.
"The
quotas were determined taking into account the needs expressed by the social
partners and the actual applications for work permits submitted in previous
years, with the aim of a programme that responds to the needs of businesses and
is also realistic," the statement said.
An ageing
population and a sagging birthrate highlight the need to attract foreign
workers in the euro zone's third largest economy. There were some 281,000 more
deaths than births in 2024 and the population fell by 37,000 to 58.93 million,
continuing a decade-long trend.
Agricultural
lobby Coldiretti welcomed the government's plan, saying it represented an
important step to guarantee the availability of workers in the fields and the
country's food production.
"The
government will continue with determination to allow legal migration channels,
benefiting important sectors of our economy," Interior Minister Matteo
Piantedosi told daily La Stampa on Sunday.
To
counter the ongoing depopulation and maintain current levels of inhabitants,
Italy would need to take in at least 10 million immigrants by 2050, according
to research by the Osservatorio Conti Pubblici think tank.
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