Case: Ni Luh is an Indonesian woman who has been working for the past 2 years for Giacomo and Priscilla, an Italian couple who has been living for a while in Indonesia and has hired Ni Luh as a full-time domestic worker to take care of the house and children in Jakarta. Giacomo and Priscilla are moving back to Italy but they would like Ni Luh to follow them and move to Italy as well to keep working for them as she has been doing during their stay in Indonesia.
Question: what are the options for Ni Luh to obtain a visa and a residence permit for Italy that would allow her to move to Italy to continue working for an Italian couple who has hired her as a domestic worker in a foreign country?
Solution: Considering that Ni Luh is an Indonesian citizen, who entered into an employment agreement for a full-time domestic worker position with an employer who is an Italian citizen, she might find particularly interesting and appealing for her case the Italian domestic worker visa and residence permit.
This particular residence permit is provided for by Italian Immigration Law by means of article 27, paragraph 1, letter E) of Legislative Decree 286/98 and can be applied for by those third-country nationals who in a foreign country have entered into a domestic employment relationship with Italian or EU nationals relocating to Italy as well.
Ni Luh and her Italian employer shall start the process by applying for the relevant work authorization (nulla osta) through the online portal of the Italian Ministry of the Interior and shall provide, among others, the following material documents:
- copy of the employer’s passport (stating that he/she is an Italian or EU national);
- proof of the fact that she has been hired as domestic worker full-time and has been working for at least 1 year for such employer before relocating to Italy;
- proof of the fact that the Italian/EU employer has been living abroad and is relocating to Italy, willing to continue the employment relationship with Ni Luh as domestic worker.
Once the work authorization (nulla osta) has been issued by the competent Immigration Office (Prefettura – Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione) Ni Luh will be able to apply for a work visa at the Italian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.
After entering Italy with the work visa on her passport, within the 8 days following her entrance, Ni Luh shall file the application for the issuance of the Italian residence permit by appearing at the competent Immigration Office (Prefettura – Sportello Unico per l’Immigrazione) for the execution of her contract of stay with her Italian employer.
Ni Luh’s will receive a residence permit that will allow her to stay in Italy and continue working as a domestic worker for the Italian couple who has hired her, as long as the employment relationship is in place.