Decreto Flussi: the answers for companies

The Decreto Flussi is the decree through which the Italian Government sets, each year, how many non-EU workers may enter Italy for employment. For the 2026-2028 period it provides for 164,850 work entries in 2026, 165,850 in 2027 and 166,850 in 2028, allocated by sector and type of employment.

Any Italian employer may apply — a company, a cooperative, a professional firm or a household — provided it is compliant with its own obligations and able to offer the worker an employment contract and suitable accommodation. Applications are filed electronically with the Ministry of the Interior on the set dates and are accepted in chronological order until the quotas run out.

Timings do not depend on our agency, but on the deadlines set by law, the availability of quotas and the processing times of the various authorities involved. Applications can only be filed on the dates set by the Government — the click days, concentrated in January and February — and are accepted in chronological order until quotas are exhausted. From then on the statutory terms apply: the work permit (nulla osta) is issued in about 20 days for seasonal workers and 60 for non-seasonal ones, then the worker applies for the visa at the Italian consulate in their country, enters Italy and signs the residence contract.

A concrete example. A company that contacts us in the autumn prepares the documentation and the pre-filled application with us over the following months, files on the February click day, obtains the work permit by spring and sees the worker on the job between late spring and summer. A company that contacts us just after a click day works towards the following year's window.

The best moment to start is always now: the longest phase is not the paperwork, it is selecting the right people and preparing the documents before the window opens. Once it opens, quotas are exhausted within hours.

From 780 euros per worker, air ticket included. The fee covers filing the application and the whole process — candidate selection, handling of the case and assistance up to the worker's arrival at the company. Payment is split into three instalments tied to the real progress of the case.

Before the work permit is issued, the company pays nothing. If the application does not fall within the available quotas, it bears no cost for our service. The final instalment is settled once the worker has arrived, not before.

They are few and clear. The company undertakes to hire the worker under a regular employment contract, in compliance with the applicable national collective agreement (CCNL) and with the contractual conditions laid down by law. It also undertakes to cover the travel costs for the worker's return to their country of origin, and signs the residence contract with the worker, which is then submitted electronically to the Immigration Desk.

The law also requires suitable accommodation to be guaranteed. In the sectors we work in — agriculture and tourism-hospitality — it is established practice for the company to provide adequate board and lodging for the entire duration of the employment, and this is the basis on which we set up every selection.

These are commitments the company signs up to at the time of application: this is why we put them in writing from the very first meeting, before any procedure starts.

Yes, and it is an obligation of the company under Italian law. In the residence contract the employer declares that it guarantees the worker accommodation meeting the minimum standards set for public residential housing, and undertakes to cover the travel costs for the return to the country of origin: without these two declarations the contract is not valid for the residence permit.

The guarantee is subsidiary: it applies where the worker does not already have accommodation of their own. Working Link does not provide housing — we handle selection and the procedure, while accommodation remains the company's responsibility and, in our sectors, is provided for the whole duration of the employment.

The level of Italian is assessed case by case during selection, together with experience and qualifications. For some roles technical skill is the decisive criterion, while for those dealing with guests or patients a command of the language carries more weight.

At the request of the company or of the candidate, we can also arrange an A2-level Italian course before departure. The cost of the course is borne by the worker.

If the company has specific language requirements, these can be stated during selection, so that we can identify profiles matching the request.

The visa is what physically brings the worker to Italy, and it comes after the work permit. Once issued, the permit is forwarded by the Immigration Desk to the Italian diplomatic mission in the country where the worker resides: from that moment the worker has six months to attend the consulate and apply for the entry visa for subordinate employment.

The consulate carries out its own checks and issues the visa; with it the worker enters Italy and signs the residence contract with the company. Consular timings vary from country to country: this is the stage where we follow the worker most closely, because a badly prepared document here costs weeks.

Seasonal work covers activities concentrated in specific periods of the year, typically agriculture and tourism: it has dedicated click days — in 2026, 12 January for agriculture and 9 February for tourism — and a faster work permit, issued in around 20 days. The resulting residence permit is tied to the length of the seasonal contract.

Non-seasonal work covers continuous employment, fixed-term or open-ended, in sectors such as engineering, construction, logistics, textiles, care work and shipbuilding. It has its own click day — 16 February in 2026 — and longer processing times, around 60 days for the work permit.

The choice is not free: it depends on the real nature of the activity and on the contract the company can offer. It is one of the first things we check together, because using the wrong channel means losing an entire window.

Applications are accepted in chronological order of filing until the quotas set for each sector are exhausted. If they run out first, the application is not accepted and has to be filed again at the following window: this is why preparation matters more than luck. An application that is pre-filled, complete and ready to go in the first usable second stands a far better chance than one put together in a hurry.

For the company the financial risk is nil: the first instalment of our fee is tied to the issuing of the work permit. If the application does not get through, the company has borne no service cost and can file again at the next window with the documentation already prepared.

Fewer than you might think, and we prepare them together. A Decreto Flussi application mainly requires:

• the company's details and its business registry extract;
• the details and identity document of the legal representative;
• the digital credentials needed to access the Ministry of the Interior's ALI portal;
• the details of the employment relationship and of the proposed contract, with the classification and conditions set by the applicable CCNL;
• the documentation and declarations concerning the worker's accommodation, meeting the requirements set by law;
• the employer's undertaking to cover the return travel costs to the worker's country of origin in the cases provided for by law;
• the documentation needed for the checks on the employer's requirements and, where required, the certification (asseverazione) provided for by law.

From the worker, mainly personal details and the details of a valid passport.

Filling in the application on the ALI portal and filing it on the set click day is our job, based on the documentation and information the company provides. The company therefore has to supply the required documents, work with us on preparing the case and sign the documents that require the employer's signature.

There are two contracts, and they should not be confused. The first is the ordinary employment contract under the sector's national collective agreement, fixed-term or open-ended as the case may be: it is the employment relationship proper, with the same rights and duties as for any other employee.

The second is the residence contract for work, signed by employer and worker after entry into Italy. Since 2025 it no longer has to be signed at the Immigration Desk: it is signed directly between the parties and then submitted to the Desk electronically. It contains the guarantees on accommodation and return travel costs and is the precondition for the residence permit. Without it the worker cannot obtain the permit, even where the employment contract is perfectly regular.

If the selected candidate withdraws, they are replaced. We draw on the selection work already carried out in the countries of origin to propose another profile with equivalent experience and qualifications: the company does not have to start the search over.

It is one of the reasons why we select more candidates than are strictly needed and check their motivation and documents before presenting them: a withdrawal is something to be managed, not endured.

Because the hard part is not filling in a form: it is having the right candidates ready before the window opens. We select people in their countries of origin — Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Morocco — verify their experience, qualifications and documents, prepare the application in advance and file it in the first usable second of the click day, follow the work permit through, assist the worker at the consulate and arrange the journey to the company.

A formal error in the application, or a few minutes' delay in filing, costs an entire window — that is, a year. And with our payment plan the company only starts paying once the work permit has been issued: the risk of the procedure stays on our side.