Working in Italy
There are three different ways to have a non-EU citizen in Italy for business/working reasons:
- with an employment contract (hiring and Italian payroll);
- with an international secondment or;
- with a business visa (only for business activities, work is not allowed), trough an invitation letter.
Italian Employment agreement
Hiring in Italy a non EU-citizen is possible only when there are annual quotas available for the relevant non EU country. It is possible under a fixed term employment agreement or an open ended employment agreement.
Our Law Firm will be proud to assist you in order to obtain:
- the WORK PERMIT (known as “nulla osta al lavoro”) at the relevant Immigration Office (“Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione”). PLease be aware that the work permit is usually released within 45 days from the deposit of all the needed documents but it can be longer depending on the political situation and the Immigration Office;
- the RESIDENCE CONTRACT (known as “contratto di soggiorno”);
- the RESIDENCE PERMIT (known as “permesso di soggiorno”) at the relevant Police Office.
Italian secondment
A secondment of a non-EU citizen employee to Italy (as set by art. 27 of the Legislative Decree n. 286/1998, as recently modified) is always possible. Several sort of secondments do exist and we will have to study accurately which one fits the best with your own case(s). The most commonly used is an intra-company secondment where the seconding company and the seconded company are part of the same international group for executives or highly specialized employees with not less than 6 months of seniority.
Our Law Firm will be proud to assist you in order to obtain:
- the WORK PERMIT (known as “nulla osta al lavoro”) at the relevant Immigration Office (“Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione”). PLease be aware that the work permit is usually released within 45 days from the deposit of all the needed documents but it can be longer depending on the political situation and the Immigration Office;
- the RESIDENCE CONTRACT (known as “contratto di soggiorno”);
- the RESIDENCE PERMIT (known as “permesso di soggiorno”) at the relevant Police Office.
Business visa
Exceptionally, and only for visits for business reasons (not work) up to a maximum of 90 days per semester, non-EU citizens can enter and stay in Italy, keeping in mind that they are, in any case, not allowed to work (carry out employment activities) in Italy without an Italian visa that allows a working activity.
Concerning the risks, article 22, section 12, of Legislative Decree 286/98 sets that “the employer that employs a foreign employee without the due work permit is punished with an arrest going from 3 months to 1 year and the pecuniary penalty of Euro 5000 per each employee employed”. This concerns the employer, the migrant will risk the administrative expulsion or to be escorted to the Italian boundary.