From 9:00 a.m. on 23 October 2025, Italian employers and accredited consultants can begin pre-filling online applications for the 2026 tranche of the government’s new three-year immigration quota, known as the *Decreto Flussi*. The measure, published in the Official Gazette on 15 October and explained in a joint inter-ministerial circular on 16 October, authorises 497,550 entries for non-EU workers between 2026 and 2028—164,850 of them next year. Pre-filling is available on the Ministry of the Interior’s ALI portal until 7 December 2025.
The decree breaks the annual quota into four “click days”: 12 January (seasonal agricultural), 9 February (seasonal tourism), 16 February (non-seasonal multi-sector and self-employed), and 18 February (domestic and care workers). Employers that complete pre-filling now will be able to transmit applications automatically at the stroke of 9 a.m. on the relevant click day—a decisive advantage in the first-come-first-served race for visas.
Behind the numbers lie serious demographic and economic pressures. Italy’s working-age population is shrinking, with 281,000 more deaths than births recorded in 2024. Business associations in agriculture, tourism and elder-care have lobbied hard for bigger quotas, arguing that labour shortages already hamper production and service quality. At the same time, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition wants to show it can expand legal pathways while tightening the screws on irregular arrivals.
For global mobility managers the timeline is tight. Candidate sourcing, document gathering, and the mandatory labour-market “availability check” with employment centres must all be completed before the click day. Companies should also note the new requirement—introduced in January 2025—for biometric data capture at Italian consulates for all national-type visas, which adds an extra appointment to the process and should be built into project plans.
Practically speaking, organisations with large seasonal workforces or ageing-population services should map their 2026 head-count needs now, ensure they have SPID or CIE digital credentials for the ALI portal, and earmark specialist counsel for the pre-filling period. Failure to act early could mean waiting another year—or paying a premium on the grey market—for desperately needed talent.
The decree breaks the annual quota into four “click days”: 12 January (seasonal agricultural), 9 February (seasonal tourism), 16 February (non-seasonal multi-sector and self-employed), and 18 February (domestic and care workers). Employers that complete pre-filling now will be able to transmit applications automatically at the stroke of 9 a.m. on the relevant click day—a decisive advantage in the first-come-first-served race for visas.
Behind the numbers lie serious demographic and economic pressures. Italy’s working-age population is shrinking, with 281,000 more deaths than births recorded in 2024. Business associations in agriculture, tourism and elder-care have lobbied hard for bigger quotas, arguing that labour shortages already hamper production and service quality. At the same time, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition wants to show it can expand legal pathways while tightening the screws on irregular arrivals.
For global mobility managers the timeline is tight. Candidate sourcing, document gathering, and the mandatory labour-market “availability check” with employment centres must all be completed before the click day. Companies should also note the new requirement—introduced in January 2025—for biometric data capture at Italian consulates for all national-type visas, which adds an extra appointment to the process and should be built into project plans.
Practically speaking, organisations with large seasonal workforces or ageing-population services should map their 2026 head-count needs now, ensure they have SPID or CIE digital credentials for the ALI portal, and earmark specialist counsel for the pre-filling period. Failure to act early could mean waiting another year—or paying a premium on the grey market—for desperately needed talent.
