The residence permit is the administrative act that authorizes third-country nationals to legitimately stay in Italy. The permit indicates the length of stay allowed. With respect to asylum seekers who arrived in Italy through the Humanitarian Corridors project, the local police headquarters issues a temporary residence permit after the asylum application, which is valid only within the permitted territory for six months, but is renewable so that it can be effective until the date of decision on the application. It allows an asylum seeker to work 60 days after submitting his or her application.
Once refugee status has been received, the foreigner can ask the Immigration Office to issue a “definitive” or final residence permit with a renewable validity of five years.
A five-year residence permit for subsidiary protection is issued to holders of subsidiary protection status (for a definition of this status, see the entry for “International Protection Status”).
Only after the final permit has been obtained can an individual request the travel document allowing him or her to legally expatriate (see entry for “travel document”).
