Opposition MPs have submitted to Parliament a Bill calling for creation of visa and Permit of Stay for job search in Italy.
The Bill seeks to allow foreigners to enter Italy legally to look for a job, and to make it possible for those already living legally in Italy with permits for other motives other than job, to be allowed to work.
It aims at making it possible for employers to directly hire foreigners whom they’ve had a chance of meeting and knowing in someway, unlike the current system which requires employers to hire workers from abroad, hiring people they’ve never met nor known.
If approved, this Bill would save many employers from waiting for years for workers from abroad, as they first have to wait for the Quota Agreement to be published, then submit application for authorisation to work (nulla osta) before finally being allowed to bring the foreign worker into the country.
It would also save foreigners who are already in the country without work permits from waiting for years to be issued the nulla osta before travelling back to home country to apply for work visa.
Before being allowed into the country the foreigner would have to prove that he/she has accommodation and enough money to take care of him/herself, pay for medical expenses and eventual repatriation..
The foreigner could as well be sponsored by someone in Italy. This could be either an Italian citizen or a foreigner with the Permanent Resident Permit, or an association, a trade union, a benevolent institution, or a local institution.
A foreigner who meets the above conditions would be given a Visa to enter the country and once here, given Permit of Stay for job search. This permit would be valid for a maximum period of one year. If after this time the holder is still unemployed, he/she would have to leave the country. Those who fail to do so if found would be deported at their own expenses.
The same Bill also calls for a possibility of converting Tourist Visa into work permit. Normally many illegal immigrants in Italy are those who arrived legally as tourists but failed to return home after the expiry of their visas because in the meantime they found jobs.
As a way of avoiding to create illegal from legal immigrants, the Bill wants to make it possible for those with valid Tourist Visas to be hired and given work permits.
The Bill has been signed by the following MPs: Luigi Bobba, Cesare Damiano, Franco Narducci, Savino Pezzotta, Marco Calgaro, Andrea Sarubbi, Jean Leonard Touadi, Pier Paolo Baretta, Donato Mosella, Paola Binetti. All the MPs belong to Democratic Party except Mr. Pezzotta who belongs to the Unione di Centro.
By Stephen Ogongo
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