After abruptly introducing major restrictions on who can apply for descent-based Italian citizenship earlier this year, the government has now issued a decree that smooths the path for people from seven countries to relocate to Italy.
Citizens of the United States, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Uruguay with Italian ancestry will be able to bypass the country’s work permit quotas under new rules that make it easier to get an Italian work visa.
These countries were chosen because they each have more than 100,000 Italians registered in AIRE, Italy’s register of citizens living abroad, according to the labour ministry.
Italy’s government had said it planned to ease work visa restrictions for some groups after parliament approved its citizenship clampdown back in May, but didn’t provide details at the time.
For would-be citizenship applicants who were blindsided by the sudden change, the decree opens up an important new potential avenue for moving to Italy.
READ ALSO: The best ways to move to Italy after the citizenship clampdown
Who can take advantage of the scheme?
Descendants of Italian citizens who hold US, Australian, Canadian, Argentinian, Brazilian, Venezuelan or Uruguayan nationality will be able to apply for an Italian work visa outside of annual quotas that impose strict limits on how many non-EU workers can enter the country.
Fewer than 200,000 permits are released each year, with most allocated to seasonal agricultural and hospitality work, the care sector, and heavy industry jobs.
Italy’s foreign, interior and labour minister, who signed off on the decree, said that they had decided not to include citizens of South Africa, Mexico, Peru or Chile for the time being.
The decree says the measure applies simply to "descendants of Italian citizens,” indicating that – unlike the updated rules for ancestry-based Italian citizenship applications – there will likely be no generational limit for accessing the scheme.
READ ALSO: Who can still apply for Italian citizenship via ancestry?
It’s important to note that the decree doesn’t automatically grant a visa to anyone of Italian descent from the listed countries; it simply means those who qualify aren’t subject to the same strict work permit quotas as other non-EU applicants.
How will it work?
Italy issues most of its work visas through an annual quota-based system known as the decreto flussi or ‘flows decree’, which tends to be massively oversubscribed. 164,850 will be released in 2026.
The new rules allow foreign nationals of Italian descent from the above-listed countries to bypass this strict quota.
READ ALSO: LISTED: The work visas you can apply for to move to Italy in 2026
The decreto attuativo or ‘implementing decree’ laying out how the system should work in practice hasn’t yet been published, and the details at this stage are still unclear.
In the meantime, though, it can safely be assumed that successful applicants will need to secure a job offer from an Italian employer before starting the process.
Applicants will likely also need to demonstrate an unbroken line of descent from an Italian ancestor by producing birth, death and marriage certificates, and prove that no one in the chain renounced their Italian citizenship before the next generation was born.
There is currently no indication that people who move to Italy under the scheme will have access to fast-tracked residency-based citizenship.
The Local will provide updates when more information becomes available.
Please note that The Local cannot advise on individual cases. For further information on the visas and how to apply, visit the Italian foreign ministry’s website.
Have you recently applied for an Italian work visa or job? Let us know about your experience in the comments section below or by emailing us.
Comments