After eight years of embargo, the Italian government will allow hiring workers from Bangladesh both in "seasonal" and "non-seasonal" categories starting from this year.

Bangladesh has been included in a list of 30 labour-sending countries while a process of submitting applications is going on at present, which will continue till December 31 this year, said officials.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on October 12 said Italy has included Bangladesh in their "seasonal and non-seasonal workers programme" responding to a request from Dhaka, according to UNB report.

"The Italian government earlier withdrew this privilege as Bangladeshi farm workers violated conditions of this programme by not returning home after each season," he had said.

At present, Italy is home to about 1.45 lakh Bangladeshis who are registered with the Italian government.

Besides, a significant number of undocumented Bangladeshis also live in the European country, said sources at the Bangladesh mission there.

Arfanul Haque, labour welfare counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Rome, said Italian government hires seasonal and non-seasonal workers each year under the "Flussi Decree".

"This year, both categories will be applicable for Bangladesh," he told this newspaper in a WhatsApp call.

Under the present initiative, Italy will hire about 30,850 workers in both categories, he said, adding, 18,000 of them will be recruited under seasonal visa and the rest as non-seasonal workers.

He, however, could not tell how many Bangladeshis will get the opportunity this year.

He said although the number of Bangladeshi workers might not be high, it is important that a new labour market has been opened for them.

Arfanul said employers have to apply directly to Italian authorities by submitting worker's passport number, name, address and other details.

The embassy has plans to collect employers' list once this year's recruitment is done, he said, adding this will help create link between Bangladeshi workers and prospective Italian employers in future.

Workers' recruitment from Bangladesh under the process remained suspended after 2012, he further said.

Ministry  urges workers to avoid syndication 

Meanwhile in a release sent to media, the expatriates' welfare ministry yesterday urged job-seeking Bangladeshi workers to avoid any syndication and restrain from making illegal payments while securing seasonal and non-seasonal Italian visas.

The ministry said it has learned from different sources that a syndicate has been active to lure job-seeking Bangladeshis, and urged potential migrants to abide by rules and regulations set by the Italy government.

Wishing anonymity, an embassy official said the embassy has received information that some job-seeking Bangladeshis were trying to get a "contract" per visa of Tk 14 lakh to Tk 15 lakh.

He said under a seasonal visa, a Bangladeshi worker will be able to stay in Italy for nine months while a non-seasonal visa-holder will get the opportunity to work for two years.

Validity of non-seasonal visa can be extended in future, he said.

He raised concerns that paying high amount of money would make Bangladeshi workers stay in the country illegally after visa expiry. This could portray Bangladesh's image negatively, he added.

Rules and Regulations

According to the expatriates' welfare ministry release, to recruit a worker, an Italian employer has to apply via a designated email to Prefettura, a local government body, mentioning details of the potential migrant worker, to get a no-objection certificate known as "Nulla Osta".

Once the employer gets the letter, he will send it to the potential migrant in Bangladesh. Later, the migrant has to apply for visa at the Italian embassy in Dhaka along with the no-objection certificate.

Upon obtaining the visa, the worker will fly to Italy and later sign in his employment agreement at the Prefettura.

For the whole process, up to 116 euro could be spent including a 16 euro payment for a revenue stamp during application process.

Besides, workers will have to pay visa fee to the Italian embassy.