Italian Government Announces the Number of Foreign Workers Allowed in Italy for 2022

Italian Government Announces the Number of Foreign Workers Allowed in Italy for 2022
16 September 2025

Foreign Workers Allowed in Italy

The Italian government has announced a cap of 69.700 on the number of foreign workers from outside the EEA allowed in Italy for 2022. The decree, dated 21 December 21, will be published on the Official Gazette of January 17, 2022.

More than half of quotas are reserved to entries for seasonal work (42.000); there are 20.000 quotas for subordinate work, but only for specific sectors of activity (road haulage, building, and hospitality/tourism industry) and for certain nationalities; the majority of remaining quotas are reserved to permit conversion (7000) for foreign citizens already in possession of a residence permit in Italy or EU (study, seasonal work, permanent) intending to change status i.e. to convert the existing permit into a permit for employment/self-employment.

The rest, a few quotas, are for self-employment work (500) and special categories (200) of foreigners (such as Venezuela’s residents with Italian ancestors or individuals who have completed specific training in their country of residence).

Category: 24 | Blog

Author:

Marco Mazzeschi

One of the leading corporate immigration lawyers in Italy. Admitted to the Milan Bar Association (1988) and to the Taipei Bar Association (2016), a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and of the International Bar Association (IBA). Marco Mazzeschi, the founder of Mazzeschi Srl, has 30 years of experience in corporate immigration and commercial law. He is “an absolute top name” who stands out as “the most prominent attorney in Italy” in the area according to Who’s who legal’s Corporate Immigration 2019: Analysis, he is also the most highly recommended immigration lawyer in Italy in the WWL 2018’s research.

mm@mazzeschi.it
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