Italy Plans To Issue Hundreds Of Thousands Of Non-EU Job Visas

JAKARTA - The Italian Cabinet on Monday announced the country plans to issue nearly 500,000 new work visas for non-EU citizens from 2026 to 2028 in stages.

The move is part of a strategy to expand the legal immigration route in response to labor shortages.

A total of 164,850 people will be allowed to enter next year, with a target of achieving a cumulative total of 497,550 new entries by 2028.

This is the second step that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken since taking office nearly three years ago as head of the far-right coalition. Previously, the government had decided to issue more than 450,000 permits for migrants between 2023 and 2025.

In addition to the rules for allowing the entry of new workers, PM Meloni has taken a firm stance against illegal migrants, moving to speed up repatriation and curb the activities of charities that save migrants in the Mediterranean.

"The quota is determined by considering the needs expressed by social partners and actual applications to work permits submitted in previous years, with the aim of programs responding to business needs and also being realistic," the statement said.

Italy, the country with the third-largest economy in the European Union, is experiencing population aging and declining birth rates, highlighting the need to bring in foreign workers.

There are about 281,000 more deaths than births in 2024 and a population down 37,000 to 58.93 million, continuing the trend over a decade.

The Coldiretti farmer group welcomed the government's plan, saying the plan was an important step to ensure the availability of workers in the country's fields and food production.

"The government will continue to be determined to allow legal migration routes, which will benefit our economic important sectors," Home Affairs Minister Matteo Piantedosi told La Stampa on Sunday.

To counter the ongoing depopulation and maintain the current population level, Italy will need to accept at least 10 million immigrants by 2050, according to research by think tank Osservatorio Conti Pubblici.