Non-EU workers: 194,000 applications for click days 2026

The only sector in which the deviation between the applications of non-EU workers and the quota set for 2026 is still significant is that of family assistance. There are 48,877 applications for 13,600 posts (more than three times the quota).

For family care, however, there is an additional entry channel available to families, which is always open, regardless of the click days. These are 10,000 out-of-quota annual places, reserved forcarers of the elderly disabled or over 80 years old, and - in the three-year period 2026-2028 - also for babysitters of children up to six years old. In order to meet the high demand for care, Decree Law 146/2025 has in fact extended for three years the 10,000 annualextra quota admissions, which had been introduced for 2025. For this quota, applications can be submitted at any time of the year, according to the family's need. The submission, however, cannot be made independently: the intermediation of an employment agency or an employers' association that is a signatory of the national collective labour agreement for the domestic sector is required.

"Having 10,000 extra places available, always accessible, according to the needs of families, is an important possibility," stresses Andrea Zini, president of Assindatcolf. "Moreover," he adds, "for this quota of nanny and baby sitters families must have certain requirements, such as an elderly person over 80 or a child up to six years old. This,' he concludes, 'reduces the risk that the posts reserved for domestic workers could be used to regularise workers from other sectors.

On 12 January, the very day of the click day, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies carried out the territorial allocation of quotas (DG Immigration, note 64/2026). This is a fundamental step, since according to the new rules provided for by Decree 146/2025, it is from the moment of distribution that the deadlines for allocation of the nulla osta by the immigration one-stop shops are triggered.

The Ministry of Labour has allocated 40,075 places for seasonal workers in agriculture, 30,000 of which are reserved for applications submitted through employers' associations. The latter, according to the 2026-2028 flows decree, can submit a total of 47,000 applications. Therefore, 17 thousand remain available. 'It will also be possible to submit applications later,' explains Romano Magrini, head of Coldiretti's labour area, 'based on the actual needs of companies. It is very important that, for the first time, the quotas have been made available on the same day as the click day and in sufficient numbers to satisfy all 30 thousand applications. It shows,' he continues, 'that the conditions exist for overcoming, at least for qualified applications, the logic of the click day lottery and moving to an open and planned system, in compliance with annual limits. There remains the knot of the timing of the entry of workers from Morocco, who are excluded from the automatic nulla osta procedure. 'This is 50% of the total,' Magrini continues. 'We have asked for a derogation for applications submitted by employers' associations,' he adds, 'which already check the validity of applications.