Applied for regularisation? No leaving Italy!

 Ministry of Home Affairs says all who applied must remain in the country,

7th October 2009: Illegal immigrants in Italy who applied to be regularised must not leave the country before their applications have been approved, Ministry of Home Affairs has said.

Almost 300,000 illegal domestic workers submitted applications for regularisation in September.

The receipt they received when they submitted their applications is not considered a valid document and can easily be forged and used by others. It therefore, doesn’t allow the holder to leave and return to Italy, the ministry said.

The receipt, however, protects the holder from being arrested and charged for committing the offence of illegal immigration.

Nobody knows how long it will take for the applications to be processed. The only good news if that even if it takes months or years, illegal immigrants who applied to be regularised have a right to remain in the country throughout that period. They’ll only lose this right if the application for regularisation is rejected.