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Seek reliable help in applying for regularisation
Tuesday, 01 September 2009 10:10 | 
1st September 2009: From today, employers can submit applications to regularise illegal immigrants doing domestic work in Italy.
There are only 30 days for doing so. All applications must be submitted by 30th September 2009.
If you are an illegal immigrant doing domestic work, please make use of this golden opportunity to regularise your status.
Before submitting your application, make sure know exactly what you must do. Make sure you have true information. Make sure you and your employer meet the requirements for taking part in this regularisation.
Please prepare all required documents in advance. Should you decide to personally fill in the application, do it carefully, making sure you provide all important information.
To be on the safe side, I would suggest you seek help of Benevolent Institutions (patronati) and City council offices (in cities where they provide the service) in preparing and submitting your application.
These offices have up to date information, know requirements and the procedure. They can therefore provide technical advice and help you solve any problem with your application.
It is equally important to know that they provide this service for FREE.
Do not risk doing it alone if you are not sure of what should be done. You can only apply once. Doing it wrongly means losing a chance of being regularised.
Another reason why I suggest you go to Benevolent Institutions (patronati) and City council offices is their familiarity with handling online applications. As you may be aware, all applications for regularisation of non-EU domestic workers must be submitted online. This might be a complex procedure for those who are not good at computer use (you must have powerful computer, download the SUI software, register with the Ministry of Home Affair’s website, generate the forms, fill them in and then submit them online).
It’s not a bad idea to have someone assist you through this process.
There are also private professionals helping with the preparation and submission of applications. They include lawyers, professional accountants (commercialisti), work consultants, etc. If you decide to seek help of these people, please be informed that you must be ready to pay for their services.
As you may know, where money is involved, it’s always wise to be careful. The first thing you must know is that not all these professionals are experts in Italian immigration law. Some may not be fully informed about the procedure for regularising domestic workers working illegally. You should therefore check and confirm that the person you are seeking his help truly knows what is to be done. If you don’t do this, you risk paying a high fee for a poor service and lose the chance of regularising your status.
And as it normally happens, there are many conmen out there (who are not professionals they claim to be – fake lawyers, etc) whose only objective is to make money out of this exercise, fully aware that can’t handle applications. You should not trust anyone blindly.
Do not believe anyone who collects your documents and tells you that he is going to apply for you. Be there while he is applying, make sure you see what is being done and ask for a copy of the receipt showing your application has been submitted.
You and your employer may meet all the requirements for regularisation, but if you don’t carefully prepare and submit your application in time, you risk having your application rejected.
Don’t listen to people who claim they know what they don’t know. I’ve listened to many incredible stories from those preparing to submit their applications, as well as from some of these people who claim to be professionals. There is a lot of misleading information out there which, if followed, will lead to automatic rejection of applications. This is why I allow myself to repeat: go to Benevolent Institutions (patronati) and City council offices.
You should also not postpone submitting your application, thinking that there is still much time. The golden rule is: Do it in advance. Don’t wait to do it at the last minute. Something might happen that makes it impossible for you to submit your application.
Good luck!
By Stephen Ogongo
Last Updated (Friday, 05 February 2010 08:10)