The campaign "I Was a Foreigner", promoted by various associations operating in the sector of protection and assistance to migrants, sent a letter on February 21 to Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, asking for "immediate intervention with measures to finally complete the regularization procedures, after nearly three years since it was approved."

The organizers say that over 200,000 requests, one forth of the total, are still waiting to be finalized and that tens of thousands of files are waiting to be answered at police stations and prefectures.

"This means that tens of thousands of foreign workers are still in the fragile legal limbo, without the possibility to stabilize their situation and exit the precarious social and work state," they said.

'Extremely serious case of injustice where workers are the victims'

The "I Was a Foreigner" campaign highlights that "these heavy delays have resulted in numerous administrative appeals and a series of verdicts on the subject matter of the procedures laid down for the emergence and functioning of the offices in charge."

In its letter the "I Was a Foreigner" campaign calls on the interior minister to intervene with a memo taking on the decisions of the magistrates to simplify procedures and to put "an end to this grave injustice" faced by workers transitioning out of undeclared work.

The campaign also points out that requests have been rejected due to the insufficient income of the employer or in some cases for reasons that are exclusively related to the employer.

"In these cases it is indispensable for the employee to be granted the residency permit, regardless," the campaign states.

The residency permit delayed even when the procedure is completed

The campaign also brings attention to the fact that "even when the procedure at the prefecture is completed and accepted, the actual release of the residency permit takes time to arrive, with appointments for the photo-fingerprint pads which can take as long as six months from when the residency was approved, despite the fact that the law sets out a clear term of maximum 60 days."

Administrative offices are chronically under-staffed, the campaign states. "This happens despite the fact that there is no specific reference in the appeal for the social clause, the wish is that the continuity of work be safeguarded for the interim personnel employed since March 2021, without losing the competencies they built in nearly two years".

The "I Was a Foreigner" campaign is promoted by various associations: Radical Italians, A Buon Diritto ('In Good Right'), ActionAid Italy, ASGI, the Astalli Center, CNCA, CILD, Fcei- the Italian Federation of Evangelical Churces, Oxfam Italy, the Foundation Home of Charity "Angelo Abriani", ACLI, ARCI and is supported by numerous mayors and tens of organizations.