President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano has signed the measure that will allow illegal immigrant workers in Italy to be regularized.
The law will be published in the Official Gazette within days.
Applications for regularisation of illegal immigrant workers will be submitted from 15th September to 15th October 2012.
Italian citizens, European Union citizens and non-EU citizens who are holders of the EC long term residence permit will qualify as employers, if at the time the measure enters into force, they have been hiring an illegal immigrant for at least three months.
Workers to be regularized must have fulltime jobs. Only domestic workers are allowed to have part time jobs of at least 20 hours per week.
The immigrant worker will be required to show a document issued by public authorities proving that he/she has been in Italy since 31st December 2011.
This rule has been included to keep off new illegal immigrants who may be thinking of coming here now to take advantage of the regularization measure.
An employer who has been condemned for any of the following crimes, even if it’s not a definitive sentence, will be banned from regularising his/her workers: aiding and abetting illegal immigration; for exploiting illegal immigrant workers; for human trafficking; for exploitation of prostitution and minor children; and for hiring illegal immigrants.
An employer who in the past submitted an application to regularise an illegal immigrant worker or for authorisation to work under the Quota Agreement (Quota Agreement) but failed to hire the worker will also be banned from submitting an application this time.
Immigrants who have been expelled from Italy for being a threat to public order and State security, and those who have been condemned even if it’s not a definitive sentence, for crimes foreseen in Article 380 of the Criminal Code will be excluded from the regularisation.
The employers may be required to pay 1,000 Euros for each worker to be regularised.
At the time of undersigning the Residency Contract (contratto di soggiorno), the employers will have to prove that they have been regularly paying social security contributions and taxes for at least six months, or throughout the period they have been hiring the workers.
Within 20 days of the publication of the law in the Official Gazette, a Legislative Decree will be published providing full details of how the applications will be submitted, how to pay the regularization fee, etc.
