progetto cofinanziato da Prefettura di Parma The “Friends of the S.P.I” project was carried out thanks to the European fund for the integration of Third Country nationals Friends of the“Immigration S.P.I. Desk” Territorial Centres for Education Prefecture Employment Centre Provincial Police Headquarters Hospital Province Project co-financed by the European Union Immigration Desk School Immigration and Citizenship Department – Prefecture/Territorial Government Office of Parma Civil Defence 39 Strada Repubblica - 43121 Parma Local Health www.prefettura.it/parma Authority Districts Informagiovani Municipality Intercultural centre INDEX Introduction Pag. 3 Entry into Italy ” 5 What must I do when I arrive in Italy? ” 9 Residence permits ” 10 Assisted voluntary repatriation ” 16 How do I obtain Italian citizenship? ” 18 Who do I contact for legal, administrative and social security issues? ” 19 How do I receive healthcare ” 25 Who do I contact about my healthcare? ” 27 Who can I contact if I am in difficulty? ” 33 Where can I learn the Italian language and supplement my training? ” 37 Where can I search for work? ” 40 Where can I meet others in my community? Where can I carry out volunteer work? ” 41 Where can I find my places of worship? ” 48 What can children and young people do in the area? ” 49 Where can i use the internet for free? ” 53 Useful numbers ” 55 1 2 INTRODUCTION Italy has now become a country of immigration, and Parma, with over 59,000 resident foreign citizens on the 1st January 2015, 13.3% of the province’s population represents a district and a community that is first in line to achieve the objectives outlined by the Government in the ‘National plan for safe integration, identity and reception’, which defines the guidelines for the combined action of both public administrations and civil society. It is declared in the Plan that “the success of a pathway towards integration is developed primarily on five axes, where the life of a migrant unfolds. By viewing the centrality of the person and the family, with their responsible freedom and educational function respectively, as essential elements of integration, it appears that the most important factor in facilitating a migrant’s reception is the learning of both the Italian language and the constitutional values on which our Country is founded. School and work are, in any case, the main places where this knowledge is spread. But without access to a home and to essential services, all of this would not be enough to allow the complete integration of an immigrant into the life of our society. Alongside these issues, we aim to highlight the role of women as the driving force behind integration. The social inclusion of foreign women is certainly the litmus test for the level of integration achieved by a society. We therefore consider women to be the first target to reach in order to ensure that the right path is taken towards integration”. To this effect, our province offers a wide variety of specific Services dedicated to foreigners, in accordance with European Union guidelines and with National directives on Immigration, Solidarity and Integration. These services reinforce the ability and the quality of the services offered by public and private establishments to all citizens, in the spirit of principles of equality and non-discrimination as declared by the Constitution. The European Union, together with the SOLID Funds programme, which was established to ensure an equal sharing of responsibilities between Member States and to implement common immigration and 3 asylum policies, funds projects that aim to facilitate the integration of Third Country nationals in their host country. The year-long projects are coordinated and co-financed by the Ministry of the Interior in a strict and transparent procedure. In the context of cooperation with the Territorial Councils that are set up in every Prefecture, the presence of foreigners in the district is monitored and the levels of social and employment insertion are analysed with the aim of promoting useful integration policies, and also through EFI (European Fund for Integration) projects presented by any district Body. This year the Prefecture of Parma has also had access to the EU Funds set up by the individual Prefectures/Territorial Government Offices and has implemented the EFI project ’Friends of the S.P.I.’ (the One- Stop Immigration Desk). The project’s objectives also include the compilation of this Guide which has been translated into the major languages. The aim of this guide is to increase knowledge of Services offered by the district and to facilitate access to these services for Third Country nationals, describing how and what to do, where to go and whom to contact, and which documents they must provide in order to enjoy their rights and to find out what their responsibilities are. This guide lists the functions and the means of access to all of the institutional Offices and Bodies in the province, as well as to Third Sector organisations. The organisations supplement the Services offered by these Offices in supporting foreign citizens in the long journey towards integration, which can only be fully achieved once citizens, immigrants and non-immigrants have equal rights and responsibilities, through undifferentiated access to all of the Services offered by the district. In the belief that we have produced a useful instrument for encouraging the use of the many opportunities offered, as is an inherent tradition in the culture of Parma, we thank all of those who collaborated in creating this guide. Giuseppe Forlani Prefect of Parma http://www.integrazionemigranti.gov.it/Pagine/default.aspx 4 ENTRY INTO ITALY If you are in Italy you have obtained an entry visa following recognition of clearance for ENTRY FOR EMPLOYMENT PURPOSES: entry for non-seasonal or seasonal subordinate work and for self-employment happens exclusively within the entry quotas set by the so-called ‘flow-decree’. Entry visas for work purposes are therefore issued within the limits of this numerical quota. The issue of entry clearance for the employment of a foreign worker, by the competent One-Stop Immigration Desk for the employment location, is given only for seasonal or non-seasonal subordinate work. The employer who intends to employ a worker who is resident abroad must send the online request within the timeframes and dates indicated by the flow-decree and within 6 months from when the decree came into force. What are the requirements? The requirements for entering and residing for work purposes in Italy are normally laid out detail in the flow-decree, but in general the following requirements apply: • proof of a minimum income to be paid by the employer; • documentary evidence of suitable accommodation for the foreign worker; • a residence contract proposal containing all of the agreement’s essential components (services, hours, employment contract) and the commitment to pay the foreign worker’s return travel costs to their home country or country of origin in the event of dismissal; • declaration of the non-existence of grounds for impeding the foreign worker’s entry into Italy. The applications are examined by the One-Stop Immigration Desk through an investigation involving the Territorial Labour Office, who 5 verifies the validity of the contractual conditions contained in the application and the Provincial Police Headquarters’ Immigration Office who verify the eligibility of conditions for the worker in the Schengen Area. If these are successfully verified, the employer will be notified that entry clearance has been issued. The One-Stop Immigration Desk will send the entry clearance to the Diplomatic Mission of the worker’s Country of residence. The entry clearance for employment is valid for six months. REMEMBER After entry to Italy you have 8 days to make an appointment at the Municipality where you live to visit the Prefecture to register your arrival, sign the Integration Agreement and the residence contract. The One-Stop Desk will send you a pre-filled request form for the residence permit which you must send using the authorised post office desk who will then issue you with a receipt for the request submission and a sheet indicating your appointment (with date and time) at the Immigration office of the competent Provincial Police Headquarters for photo-identification. If you have met all of the requirements, you will then be sent an SMS containing the issue date for the residence permit. You can check the status of your request for the residence permit on the ‘immigrazione.it’ website portal, using the user ID and password shown on your Post Office receipt. If you are unable to collect your permit or have your photo-identification on the assigned date, the computer program used by the Police Headquarters’ Immigration Office will automatically generate a new appointment; you will be notified of this by the SMS service on your mobile phone as well as by registered Italian Post; you will also be able to check the new appointment by visiting the ‘immigrazione.it’ website using the user ID and the password indicated on the Post Office receipt. The receipt for the residence permit request entitles you to the rights of residency and it is important to note that: 6 - you must show the receipt as proof of the regularity of your residency - you may provisionally request registration in the vital statistics records and the national health service, documenting your entry clearance, the permit request and the existence of an employment contract. ENTRY FOR FAMILY REASONS: You can request family reunification if you are the holder of a • residence permit for subordinate work or self-employment, for a duration no less than one year; • permit for political asylum; • permit for subsidiary protection; • permit for study or religious reasons; • permit for family reasons; • EU residence permit for long-term residents; • permit while awaiting citizenship.