Italy Decreto Flussi 2026: Click Day Dates, Who Files, and What to Have Ready

What the Decreto Flussi is

Italy does not let a non-EU worker apply for a work visa on their own. Every year the government publishes a decree, the Decreto Flussi, that says how many foreign workers may enter for work and in which trades. Employers in Italy then file requests for named workers on fixed days, the so-called click days, through an online portal. If your request is inside the quota, you get a nulla osta (work authorisation), and only then can you apply for a visa in your own country.

For 2026 to 2028 Italy adopted a three-year decree instead of a yearly one. That gives the quotas in advance: roughly 497,550 places over the three years, with about 164,850 in 2026, as published in autumn 2025. The exact numbers for each trade and each year are in the decree text on interno.gov.it. Confirm them there before you plan anything, because corrections are published as circulars.

The click days for 2026, as published

The decree sets separate click days for separate groups of workers. The dates below are the ones published for 2026; confirm each on interno.gov.it, because the ministry has moved dates before.

• Non-seasonal work in the listed trades (construction, transport, mechanics, tourism, food industry and others): a click day in the first half of February 2026.
• Family care and domestic assistance (badanti and colf): a separate click day a few days after the first.
• Seasonal work (agriculture and tourism): a click day in the second half of February 2026, with a further window for agriculture later in the year.
• Workers trained abroad in Italian-approved courses and some protected categories: outside the quota, filed any time.

A click day opens at 9:00 Italian time. The requests are accepted in the order they arrive. For the popular trades the quota is exhausted within minutes, sometimes within the first minute. That is why the preparation matters more than the day.

Pre-filling: the window before the click

Since 2024 the portal lets employers prepare the request in advance. In the weeks before the click day (the precompilazione window, usually from late autumn), the employer logs into the Sportello Unico per l'Immigrazione portal with SPID or CIE digital identity, fills in the whole request, uploads the documents, and saves it. On the click day the employer only presses send. An employer who starts filling the form at 9:00 on the day has no chance.

Since the 2025 changes the employer also has to declare, before the click day, that they asked the local employment centre whether an Italian or already-resident worker was available for the job. This check is a formality for most trades, but it must be done in time.

Who files, and who cannot

The request is filed by the employer in Italy, never by you. The employer must be a company registered in Italy or a private family (for domestic work), with income enough to pay the contract. A friend, an agent abroad or you yourself cannot file. Licensed employment agencies and certain trade associations may file for their member companies.

What the employer needs from you before the window closes:

• Your passport, valid for well over a year, with a clear scan of the photo page.
• Your full name and date of birth exactly as in the passport. A spelling difference between the request and the passport can void the nulla osta months later.
• Your address abroad and the consulate you will apply at.
• For some trades, proof of qualification or experience, translated and legalised.
• A signed job offer or draft contract, with the pay level under the national collective agreement for that trade.

What happens after the click

If the request is inside the quota, you will not hear anything for a while. The prefettura checks the employer: tax position, turnover, no previous violations, and that the pay meets the agreement. The questura checks your name against security databases. When both pass, the Sportello Unico issues the nulla osta, which is sent electronically to the Italian consulate in your country. Only then do you book a visa appointment. Our page on nulla osta waiting times gives the realistic durations.

One more thing changes after the click: your employer may be asked, during the checks, to prove the job is still open and the company still solvent. A firm that loses a big customer in May may withdraw the request in June. It happens, and it is not about you. If it happens, the only way back in is another employer and the next click day, which is why it is worth keeping your profile visible to more than one company while you wait. The Workuro register is searched by Italian employers all year, not only in February, and a second company that finds you in the summer can file for you the following winter.

If the request is outside the quota, it is not rejected; it stays in a queue and can be served if the quota is increased or if earlier requests are withdrawn. In 2025 a second round served many of the queued requests. Do not pay anyone to "move you up"; the order is fixed by the system.

If your employer is a small company or a family

Most requests come from small firms: a builder with six workers, a restaurant, a farm, a family hiring a badante. They have no HR department and often learn the portal on the day. Three things help them, and therefore help you. First, SPID digital identity for the owner takes a week to obtain the first time; it must be ready before the pre-filling window opens. Second, the trade associations (Confartigianato, CNA, Coldiretti for farms, the domestic work associations for families) file hundreds of requests for their members on click day and are faster than a single employer at a laptop; ask your employer whether they are a member. Third, the labour consultant (consulente del lavoro) who does the company's payroll can file on their behalf and usually does it well. An employer who says "I will try myself on the morning" has a weaker chance than one who has handed it to a consultant in December.

For families hiring a caregiver the rule is the same: the family member who will be the employer needs SPID, the pre-filled request, the income documents (ISEE or tax return showing they can pay), and your passport details, all before the window closes.

Reality check

• The quota is small compared with the demand. Hundreds of thousands of requests arrive for tens of thousands of places. A request is a chance, not a ticket.
• You cannot buy a slot. Agents who sell "a guaranteed click-day place" are selling nothing. Every request costs the employer a 16 euro stamp and nothing else.
• An employer who has never met you and wants money from you is not an employer. Real companies file for people they intend to hire.
• Plan for a year. From click day to your first working day, 8 to 14 months is normal.
• Keep every message and every paper. The job offer, the employer's company details, the dates. If a request is rejected and appealed, or if an agent turns out to be a fraud, the record is what the lawyer, the union or the police will ask for first, and it costs nothing to keep.

Where this leaves you

Read these next, in this order:

• Italy's Decreto Flussi explained
• Nulla osta waiting times in 2026
• Italy work visa 2026: types, cost, processing time
• Working in Italy from Pakistan: visa, permit, costs
• Construction jobs in Italy for foreign workers

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