Italy has a special immigration channel in 2026 for families and other employers who need to bring a foreign caregiver, care worker or babysitter from abroad to assist a person aged 80 or over, a person with a recognised disability, or a child from birth up to six years of age. The procedure is particularly important because it is separate from the ordinary Decreto Flussi quotas and applications can be submitted throughout the year, although an annual ceiling of 10,000 entries still applies.
A special route outside the ordinary Decreto Flussi quotas
The mechanism was originally introduced by Decree-Law no. 145/2024 and was subsequently extended for the following years. Under the rules applicable in 2026, up to 10,000 foreign workers per year may enter Italy through this special channel to perform family assistance or social and healthcare assistance.
The beneficiaries of the assistance may be persons with a recognised disability, persons who have reached the age of 80, and, following the subsequent legislative extension, children from birth up to six years of age. This means that the procedure can be used not only for the traditional employment of a caregiver for an elderly or disabled person, but also, where the statutory requirements are met, for the employment of a worker providing assistance to a young child.
It is important to understand what “outside the quotas” means in practice. The application does not compete with the ordinary numerical quotas allocated under the Decreto Flussi and there is no ordinary click day. However, the special scheme itself is subject to a maximum of 10,000 authorised entries per year. It is therefore incorrect to assume that applications are numerically unlimited.
Applications are open throughout 2026
For 2026, applications using the specific A-BIS fuori quota form have been available from 1 January and may continue to be submitted during the year. This makes the procedure substantially different from the ordinary quota system, where employers often have to prepare an application in advance and transmit it on a specific click day.
The absence of a click day does not eliminate the need to prepare the case carefully. The employment relationship, the person receiving assistance, the employer’s position and the worker’s details must all satisfy the statutory requirements, and the competent authorities carry out the usual immigration and labour checks before the nulla osta can be issued.
The employer cannot normally file the application directly
One of the most important practical features of this procedure is that the prospective employer must use an authorised intermediary. The application must be submitted through an employment agency registered in the appropriate national register or through an employers’ association that is a signatory to the national collective agreement for domestic work.
The authorised intermediary submits the request electronically through the Ministry of the Interior’s Portale Servizi, using the section dedicated to applications outside the quotas. A family that wishes to employ a worker from abroad should therefore verify the eligibility of the person requiring assistance and contact an authorised intermediary before preparing the immigration application.
Who can be the employer?
The request may concern assistance to the employer personally, but the person signing the employment contract does not always have to be the person receiving care. According to the administrative guidance currently in force, an application may also be submitted for the assistance of the employer’s spouse, relative or relative by marriage within the second degree, even when the parties do not live together, provided that the person receiving assistance resides in Italy.
Where the person with a disability requires intensive support, the relevant family relationship may extend, under the applicable rules, to the third degree. These family links and the position of the person receiving assistance should therefore be checked before the application is filed.
Who qualifies as a person aged 80 or over?
For this particular immigration channel, the legislation does not require an 80-year-old person to be totally dependent. A person who has reached the age of 80 falls within the relevant category even if he or she remains self-sufficient or only partially dependent. This is a significant practical point because the special route is not restricted to cases involving complete non-self-sufficiency.
The position is different for applications based on disability. The condition of disability must be established in accordance with the applicable legislation. The mere existence of health problems or a factual situation of reduced self-sufficiency, without the required recognition of disability, does not automatically allow the employer to use this special outside-quota procedure.
Income requirements must be assessed case by case
The employer’s economic capacity remains relevant in domestic employment procedures. However, the administrative instructions expressly provide an important exception: a person affected by an illness or disability that limits self-sufficiency and who applies to employ a worker for his or her own assistance is not required to demonstrate the ordinary minimum income requirement.
In other cases, the employer’s economic position should be assessed before filing the application, together with the proposed salary, working hours and the conditions required by the applicable collective agreement.
There is no automatic nulla osta after 60 days
The application is examined according to the rules governing the employment of foreign workers under Article 22 of the Consolidated Immigration Act. However, the mechanism of tacit approval does not apply to these cases. The fact that a certain period has elapsed therefore does not mean that the nulla osta has automatically been granted.
The authorities must complete the necessary checks, including those concerning public security and compliance with employment requirements. Families and workers should not make irreversible travel or employment arrangements on the assumption that silence by the administration amounts to approval.
What residence permit does the worker receive?
After the nulla osta has been issued and the worker has obtained the appropriate entry visa, the worker may enter Italy and complete the procedure for the employment-based residence permit. The resulting title is a residence permit for subordinate employment, within the framework of the single work permit system, and may have a duration of up to two years depending on the employment relationship.
The employment contract may be for a fixed term or an indefinite term, provided that all statutory and contractual conditions are respected.
Restrictions during the first twelve months
The special channel gives the worker a real route to legal employment in Italy, but it also contains safeguards intended to ensure that the entry is genuinely used for the care work for which it was authorised. During the first twelve months of lawful employment in Italy, the worker must in principle perform the activity for which the entry was authorised.
A change of employer during this initial period is not entirely free and is subject to prior authorisation by the competent Territorial Labour Inspectorate. This point is particularly important where the employment relationship ends early because of changes in the condition of the assisted person, family circumstances or incompatibility between the parties.
Why this route matters in 2026
For many families, the ordinary Decreto Flussi system is difficult to reconcile with care needs that arise unexpectedly. An elderly person may suddenly require daily assistance, a disability may create new care requirements, or a family with a young child may need stable domestic support without being able to wait for the next ordinary quota calendar.
The 10,000-entry outside-quota channel provides a more flexible legal instrument because applications can be submitted throughout the year. At the same time, it is not an informal or simplified route: the annual ceiling, the compulsory involvement of authorised intermediaries, the requirements concerning the person receiving assistance and the employment conditions must all be carefully verified.
Before filing an application, it is therefore advisable to identify the correct legal basis, verify that the assisted person falls within one of the eligible categories, assess who may act as employer, prepare the employment conditions in accordance with the domestic-work collective agreement and ensure that the application is submitted through an authorised entity using the correct A-BIS fuori quota procedure.
Avv. Fabio Loscerbo
Avvocato Cassazionista
Iscritto nel Registro dei rappresentanti di interessi della Camera dei deputati in materia di Immigrazione
Lobbista registrato presso il Registro per la Trasparenza dell’Unione europea n. 280782895721-36 in materia di Migrazione e Asilo
ORCID: 0009-0004-7030-0428
Articolo redatto con l’ausilio di strumenti di AI, sotto la direzione, revisione e responsabilità editoriale dell’autore.
