Avvocato per Immigrazione: New on TikTok: Seasonal Permit: If You Don’t Follow the Procedure, You Don’t Get the Permit Welcome to a new episode of the Immigration Law Podcast. My name is Fabio Loscerbo, and I am an Italian immigration lawyer. Today I want to talk about a very practical and often misunderstood issue: the seasonal work residence permit and the obligation to strictly comply with the administrative procedure required by law. The seasonal permit is not a flexible residence title. It is a permit that exists only within a clearly defined administrative framework. The procedure involves the employer, the Immigration Desk at the Prefecture, and only at a later stage the Police Headquarters. Each step must be completed in the correct order. Skipping even one of them can invalidate the entire application. This principle was clearly reaffirmed by a recent decision of the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio, First Ter Section, issued in January 2026, in a case registered under general register number 15944 of 2025. In that case, the Police Headquarters declared a first application for a seasonal work residence permit inadmissible because a key procedural step was missing: the signing of the residence contract at the Immigration Desk. The applicant had submitted the request directly to the Police, arguing that the failure to complete the procedure was attributable to the employer. The Court was unequivocal. In the absence of the residence contract, the decision of inadmissibility is a mandatory and bound administrative act. The Police have no discretion. Factors such as social integration, family ties, or even ongoing employment relationships are legally irrelevant if the statutory procedure has not been properly completed. The judgment also clarifies an important additional point. When the issue lies in a delay or inactivity by the Prefecture, the solution is not to bypass the procedure, but to activate the appropriate legal remedies provided by law, such as proceedings against administrative silence. The takeaway is simple and should not be underestimated: with seasonal permits, procedure is substance. Administrative rules are not mere formalities; they are the legal foundation of the right to stay. We will continue to analyse real cases like this, because in immigration law, knowing the rules — and respecting them — truly makes the difference. See you in the next episode of the Immigration Law Podcast.