Circular No. 10 of May 5, 2025: the conversion of residence permit for seasonal work and the right to work

The residence permit for seasonal work allows non-EU citizens to enter and reside in Italy for up to 9 months within a year to carry out work in the agricultural or tourism sector.

It is a permit this, part of the quota system of the Flows Decree, which is numerically significant in Italy, which makes its own agricultural firstlings and its highly touristic territory two cornerstones of its economy.

For those who obtain this permit, the period spent in Italy can be an opportunity to develop or show knowledge and skills such that they can enable them to obtain employment that is no longer of a seasonal nature, but rather of a continuous nature, whether fixed-term or indefinite with an Italian employer.

This case is regulated within Article 24 of Legislative Decree 286/98: paragraph 10, in fact, allows the conversion of such a residence permit into a residence permit for nonseasonal subordinate employment, provided that the seasonal worker has done at least 3 months of work in Italy and has been offered a fixed-term or indefinite contract of employment.

This conversion has always been subject to the availability of quotas allocated to it within the Flows Decree, but this changed with Decree-Law No. 145 of October 11, 2024, converted with amendments by Law No. 187 of December 9, 2024, which placed the conversion, to be applied for at the Single Desk for Immigration at the territorially competent Prefecture, outside the quotas of the Flows Decrees, with the possibility therefore of submitting the relevant application at any time of the year and without any numerical limit.

This has been followed, until now, by a period of uncertainty, as it has never been clarified whether the seasonal worker who has applied for conversion can already carry out the work activity on the basis of which he or she has applied for conversion, or whether he or she should instead wait for the completion of the conversion file.

In Circular No. 10/2025, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy-Department for Social, Third Sector and Migration Policies-offered clarification on the point, following numerous requests received.

In fact, the Ministry confirmed that, through an extensive interpretation by virtue of the principles of equality and the right to work established by the Italian Constitution, as well as the application of the principle of reasonableness, Article 5 paragraph 9 bis of the same Consolidated Act can also apply to this case of conversion, an administrative procedure that does not preclude the regularity of stay and therefore the right to work, pending the conclusion of the procedure.

This decision is likely to have an impact on the sectoral mobility of workers entering Italy to work in the tourism and agriculture sectors, thus favoring the shift of resources from neuralgic sectors to other sectors, including developing ones. This will also promote economic growth, as well as for individuals, the possibility of staying permanently in Italy and developing their lives here.

Finally, it should be considered that this initiative will make it possible to greatly diminish the risk of illegal work, at the same time protecting foreign workers from both the labor and income point of view, since they will be able to continue to receive income, and thus to support themselves, while waiting for the administrative process to be concluded, which may take even longer than expected given the workload of the Single Desks of Immigration. 

Indeed, there is no denying that the risk of delays is significant, both because of the number of possible conversion requests and the other activities for which Single Desks of Immigration are responsible. This may risk creating situations of administrative slowdowns or silences, limbo in which some practices could find themselves if the government does not prepare, in support of the administrative machine, sufficient resources and manpower to cope with the requests that are already arriving now, and which, given the recent news, promise to increase.

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The content of this article is intended to provide general guidance on the topic. You should seek specialized advice regarding your specific situation.