The Forli office, which was assigned to handle applications for the entire Romagna area, quickly received 250 requests from non-EU workers seeking employment in Italy's farm sector. On March 25, commonly referred to as "click day," applications were accepted. SchengenVisaInfo states that the country will accept 89,050 workers with a six- or nine-month visa, which is twice the amount of time that they were permitted to stay in Italy last year. Applications will hear back from the government in 30 days. According to Rai News, that is not enough for agricultural companies in the region, which are heavily dependent on manpower. In order to receive the applications and to run a smooth process, there are 15 employees and an IT technician to run the operation centre at the Forli headquarters.

High Demand for Domestic Positions Persists

Applications for domestic work in Italy were at a similar level last year when the number of requests surpassed the number of available jobs in just four minutes. On December 4, 2023, 11,363 applications were recorded for some 9,500 positions, only within the first four minutes of the click day. According to Info Migrants, two days earlier, on December 2, 2024, some 50,576 applications were made compared to the 39,030 available quotas.

Italy to Welcome More Than 10,000 Indian Workers in 2024

The Migration and Mobility Agreement between Italy and India will allow some 6,000 non-seasonal Indian nationals to work in Italy, starting in April. The number of workers from India will change, starting from 8,000 workers in 2023, increasing to 10,000 in 2024 and 12,000 in 2025. In general, the total quota for non-EU workers in India is set at 151,000, which will increase to 165,000 next year. Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale did not approve of the new agreement, raising concerns about the high unemployment rates in India. Data by the Ministry of External Affairs reveals that there are currently 157,000 non-resident Indians in the country, but 45,000 people of Indian origin live there. Data indicates that over the last two decades, the Indian population in Italy has increased by ten times.