Regularisation: Many illegal immigrants left out
Thursday, 01 October 2009 15:52 | 
Income requirement prevented many employers from regularising their workers
1st October 2009: The Government’s measure to regularise illegal immigrants doing domestic work in Italy was supposed to help many finally obtain the work permit and live a normal life. Unfortunately it didn’t prove useful to most of the illegal immigrants who could not use it to legalise their stay.
In fact most of the illegal immigrants doing domestic work didn’t apply to be regularised.
The last day for submitting applications was 30th September. The Ministry of Home Affairs had projected that they would receive between 500,000 and 750,000 applications. But they only received 300,000 applications.
Why is it that so many illegal immigrants failed to apply to be regularised? One of the main obstacles was the income requirement.
Employers who wanted to regularise their illegal housekeepers (colf) were required to have an annual income of at least 20,000 Euros. Many employers who earn less than that amount were locked out.
Workers were also expected to be working for the same employer for at least 20 hours per week. Many domestic workers work for more than one employer, and in most cases they work for each employer for less than 20 hours per week.
There were also many employers who meet all the requirements but simply refused to regularise their workers, threatening to fire them if they insisted on being regularised.
Another reason why many employers refused to regularise their workers was the 500 Euro contribution they were required to make before submitting the application. Many also feared that once they regularised their workers, they would be obliged to continue making social security contributions.
Many domestic workers who wanted to be regularised but their employers refused could not report their employers because they feared being arrested and deported for being in the country illegally. Some of them decided to pay others to pose as their employers so that they could submit their applications. There are cases of illegal immigrants who paid several thousands of Euros for this purpose.
As usual, there were conmen who took such money without submitting the application, just as there were those who were selling the forms for making the payment of 500 Euros, while those forms could be downloaded for free from the internet.
Domestic workers who didn’t have a chance of applying to be regularised have no alternative but to wait for the next Quota Agreement (Decreto flussi). This is a document the Italian Government publishes every year to open the country’s borders to foreign workers. Many illegal immigrants already working illegally in the country normally use it to legalise their stay. There are slim chances that the Government will publish it this year. Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni has said a couple of times that they will not publish it this year.
Those who were lucky to submit their applications now have to wait for their applications to be examined. It will most probably take long before they know the outcome of their applications. This is because the applications will be examined by the Provincial Police Headquarters and the Immigrations Office at the Prefecture (sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione), the same offices already busy examining applications for authorisation to work under the Quota Agreement and applications for family reunification. In big provinces like Rome and Milan where most applications were submitted, it may take more than one year for the applicants to know the outcome of their applications.
By Stephen Ogongo
Last Updated (Friday, 05 February 2010 08:09)