Click day 2023-2024, residence contract for 16% of workers

Only a small proportion of the non-EU workers who were envisaged by the three-year flows decree for the years 2023 and 2024 have arrived in Italy. And even fewer have signed the residence contract, the last stage of the entry process that allows them to obtain a residence permit and reside completely legally in our country. From the data provided by the Ministry of the Interior it emerges that this step was reached by 20% of workers asked in the click days of December 2023 and by 12% of those called with the click days of March 2024. The average for the two years is 16 per cent.

The new flows decree that established the quotas for the three-year period 2026-2028 (497,550 entries) received the first green light from the Council of Ministers, but the numbers envisaged on paper risk not translating into regular arrivals and employment of the labour required by companies and families.

And the fact that the number of entry visas is higher than the number of residence contracts also indicates that many workers who entered our country legally have remained in a limbo of irregularity that is a prelude to undeclared work and exploitation.

The three-year flows decree 2023-2025 made available 136,000 places for 2023 (click day December 2023) and 151,000 for 2024 (click day March 2024). Excluding the places intended for the conversion of residence permits already issued, the quotas become 131,850 and 146,850 respectively. The admissions concern seasonal and non-seasonal subordinate workers, including family assistance and socio-medical assistance .

But during the long journey from the click days to the actual arrival of the worker, the numbers dwindle. For the click days of December 2023 the issue of the nulla osta by the one-stop immigration desks (the first step of the procedure) involved 95 thousand workers; the issue of entry visas by diplomatic representations abroad 40 thousand workers (this second step can take months in some countries) and the signing of the residence contract 26 thousand; the numbers for 2024 are even lower because less time has passed since the click days and the procedures are ongoing. The family and socio-medical assistance channel is the one with the best results.