Italy's highest court has ruled that a migrant does not need a permanent work contract to be granted a stay permit for humanitarian reasons. The judges ruled that a Nigerian man who attended Italian classes and had fixed-term employment should be allowed to stay, overturning a lower court ruling.
Italy's highest court has ruled that, in order to be granted a stay permit for humanitarian reasons, a migrant does not need a permanent work contract. Instead, it is enough for them to have learned the Italian language and to be employed, even if not stably, to prove their "serious intention" to integrate into Italian society.
Migrant from Nigeria filed appeal
The court upheld an appeal filed by a man from Nigeria and overturned the verdict of a lower court. Patrick W. had been denied a stay permit by the Cagliari Court of Appeals in January 2021 which said that W. attending Italian language classes and having a fixed-term work contract were insufficient to show that he was rooted in Italy.
The Cagliari Court of Appeals will now have to grant a stay permit to Patrick W. and follow the guidelines established by the supreme court in other migrants' cases.
No permanent contract need for stay permit
The supreme court judges said that it is difficult even for Italians to get a permanent work contract. They ruled that "the serious intention to integrate socially" should be evaluated based on "a plurality of activities" -- not only by looking at whether a migrant met singular benchmarks, such as permanent employment. The supreme court noted that both work and training were evidence of a migrant's "serious will" to put down roots in Italy.
Patrick W. had presented evidence to the court showing that he had been in a job -- though not with a permanent contract -- "uninterruptedly since 2018". He also presented certificates showing that he had achieved a good command of the Italian language through attending language classes.