Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

WORKING IN ITALY

What happens to your Italian residency permit if you lose your job?

Losing your job is never ideal, but for those in Italy on a work visa there's another layer of worry. Will you lose your residency rights? Can you stay in Italy while you look for a new job?

Published: 30 January 2023 17:39 CET
Updated: 2 November 2023 16:02 CET
What happens to your Italian residency permit if you lose your job?
If you lose your job in Italy, the good news is that your work permit does not immediately become invalid. Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

The information in this article applies to non-EU citizens living in Italy who have a residency permit (permesso di soggiorno) linked to a work permit and visa: not to EU citizens or their family members, nor people with other types of residency permit.

The good news is that you won’t be kicked out of Italy the minute you lose your job: the expiry date on your residency permit for employment reasons (permesso di soggiorno per lavoro subordinato) won’t change.

Effectively, if you end up unemployed you’ll have until at least the date on which your residency permit expires to find a new job, and you may still be able to remain in Italy beyond that.

The duration of your residency permit for employment will depend on the type of work permit and visa you received, but it is normally valid for one or two years.

You’ll need to renew your residency permit before it expires, or at least within 60 days of the expiry date, at your region’s police headquarters (Questura).

There’s no rule that states you still have to be doing the same job, or even the same type of job, when you renew – as long as you can still meet all of the residency requirements.

READ ALSO: When and how should I renew my Italian residency permit?

You must provide a valid employment contract to renew your permit. This can be for a different job, including a job in a different sector.

You could also apply for a different type of permit if you meet the requirements.

If you lose a job, one option may be to work on a self-employed basis instead and then apply for a permit based on self-employment (permesso di soggiorno per lavoro autonomo) when it comes to the time to renew.

“If you have a residence permit for employment you can engage in self-employed activities if you have the required qualifications and fulfil the necessary legal requirements,” the European Commission’s immigration portal explains.

“Your change of status will be registered when your original residence permit expires.”

READ ALSO:

What happens if you’re unable to find a new job in time? 

If you’re still unemployed when your residency permit is up for renewal, this doesn’t automatically mean you have to leave Italy either.

You’ll need to register as unemployed when you lose your job. This means you’ll then be entitled to unemployment benefits, usually for up to one year, and that you may also be eligible to apply for a ‘residence permit while awaiting employment’ instead of renewing your current permit.

“If you have a residence permit for salaried employment but lose your job or resign, you may be put on the employment placement lists [meaning registered with the job centre] for the remaining period of validity of your residence permit or for a period of no more than twelve months,” the EC immigration portal website states.

“If you lose your job at the end of your permit you can ask for a renewal for a period of no more than twelve months.”

In fact, it may also be possible for residency permits while awaiting employment to be extended beyond 12 months, since Italian law “has not imposed a maximum limit on the possible renewal of an entitlement document conferred previously,” according to the Italian Labour Ministry’s website.

“It is up to the police to assess the situation of applicants on a case-by-case basis, paying particular attention to their family ties, the number of years spent in Italy, and any previous criminal convictions.”

Please note that The Local is unable to advise on individual cases or assist with job applications.

For more information on how these rules apply in your circumstances, see the Italian labour ministry’s immigration website, visit the sportello unico (immigration ‘one stop shop’), or consult the patronato for free immigration law advice.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

WORKING IN ITALY

​’Talk with everybody’: Five key tips for building up freelance clients in Italy

Freelancing is an attractive option for those seeking the freedom and flexibility of working for themselves. We asked three freelancers in Italy for their best tips on finding new clients.

Published: 16 September 2024 16:40 CEST
​'Talk with everybody': Five key tips for building up freelance clients in Italy

With full-time salaries in Italy falling below the EU average, many foreigners turn to freelancing as a way to earn more money while maximising flexibility. But freelancing is never easy – especially in a country where business opportunities are so often tied to personal networks.

The Local spoke to three freelancers in different fields about how they find – and keep – freelance clients in Italy. Here are their tips and tricks.

Find an anchor client

To strike the right balance between stability and flexibility, many freelancers look for opportunities to establish an “anchor client” that grounds them to the market and provides some regular, reliable work.

Liz Shemaria, a Milan-based journalist and content consultant from California, has an anchor client that occupies half of her billable hours each month and pays enough to cover her basic expenses.

“Since I have my anchor client, I have more flexibility to work on more passion projects,” she said. “That’s the ideal freelance situation.”  

Shemaria started out doing smaller assignments for her anchor client. Once she knew the organisation well and could identify its needs, she pitched herself for a bigger freelance role.

READ ALSO: Is Italy’s flat tax rate for freelancers right for you?

Other freelancers have found their anchor clients by starting out in-house and then going freelance, or collaborating with an agency until they built up their networks.  

Agencies typically pay lower rates than a freelancer would earn working directly with a client, but they can offer legitimacy and stability for freelancers who are still growing their networks.

And since they hire a lot of freelancers, agencies have to expand their talent pool beyond personal connections.

Leverage social media but avoid freelancer platforms

Shemaria has found multiple clients through a Facebook group for professional writers.

Rafaela Reis, a stylist and image consultant from Brazil who has lived in Milan for the past five years, uses Instagram to share her work with her 17,000-plus followers.

Other freelancers swear by LinkedIn. The professional networking site isn’t the trendiest social media platform, but employers in Italy use it to advertise both full-time and freelance positions.

That makes it useful both for identifying potential clients and establishing credibility as a freelancer – especially if the freelancer has connections in common with the prospective client.

The one platform the freelancers we spoke to won’t use is a website such as Upwork or Fiver that connects users with professional service providers.  

These sites tend to create a race to the bottom, forcing freelancers to do more work for lower rates as they try to compete with the platform’s thousands of other users.

Make friends both in your field and related fields

Alessio Perrone, an Italian journalist who freelances for international publications, recommends people who are new to freelancing be friendly and try to meet people in their field.

“Hanging out with people in the same industry will give you a good understanding of where opportunities are and what pay you should be asking for,” he said. “In the beginning, it was really useful to go to events, meet people, get beers with people.”

When he gets requests for jobs that he doesn’t have time for, Perrone refers them to friends – and vice versa.

Reis, who has lived in Milan for the past five years, said she has other friends who are stylists, but professionally it’s been most useful to have friends in related fields.

“I’m friends with photographers, designers. They need me and I need them,” she said.  

She’s been proactive about joining clubs and networking groups to make a wide variety of friends.  

Don’t limit yourself to the Italian market

Despite being based in Italy, the freelancers we spoke to have worked for clients in many different markets, including the US, UK, Germany and even the UAE.  

After earning a Master’s degree in journalism in London, Perrone continued writing for British and then American publications even after he moved back to Italy in early 2020.

He also ghostwrites for an agency based in New York.

“The pandemic helped us out a lot,” he said. “A lot of companies are now used to having their own staff spread across the world. Having a freelancer in a different time zone doesn’t scare anyone.”

READ ALSO: Reader question: Can I have a freelance side gig as an employee in Italy?

Some freelancers, like Reis, are more limited by physical proximity, but Reis works for both Italian and international clients in Milan.  

And she has a large Instagram following in Brazil, which has helped make her work more visible even now that she’s in Milan.

Do referral-worthy work

Eventually, if freelancers do good work, their networks will grow and people will begin referring them to friends and colleagues – or even approaching directly them with jobs, the freelancers we spoke to agreed.

As Perrone has become more established, his strategy for finding clients hasn’t changed. But he’s had to do less outreach as some editors and publications now contact him – instead of vice versa.

Shemaria was also recently contacted to serve as co-author on a book, and Reis agreed that even though finding clients is difficult, persistence is key.

“You need to talk with everybody because you never know who is the person next to you,” she said. “Don’t be afraid or shy, just keep talking. The right connection will arrive sooner or later.”

As for whether she has any desire to find a full-time, in-house position, Reis is unequivocal.  

“I love being freelance,” she said. “I love Milan – even if it’s very hard.” 

Readers can share their own advice and experience on freelancing in Italy in the comments section below.

SHOW COMMENTS