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The Employer Applies, the Job Centre Is Asked First, and the Quota Decides Whether Anyone May Apply At All

Answer

The general rule applies to you

No exception is recorded for citizens of Dominican Republic on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.

98 exceptions recorded across 37 countries · none match Dominican Republic to Italy · Residency through work

Italy runs employment immigration through a quota and a one-stop desk. An employer who wants to hire a foreigner living abroad must first check with the competent employment centre that no worker already in the country is available, document it, and then send the single immigration desk of the province a named request for a work clearance together with evidence of where the worker will live. The desk sits in the prefecture and runs the whole procedure. Above that sits the decreto flussi: outside the quota, an ordinary employed application cannot be made at all.

Verified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-09

At a glance

Who applies
The employer, to the single immigration desk in the prefecture
Labour market check
Done before the application, at the employment centre
Accommodation
Documented as part of the application
The quota
The decreto flussi, which is what makes the route open or closed in a given year

Article 22 applies to workers resident abroad; article 3(4) is where the quota is set.

Investors
Outside the quota entirely

Article 26-bis says so in terms, which is the clearest statement in the Act of what money buys.

Requirements

  • An employer established in Italy, or a foreigner lawfully resident there, willing to apply
  • A documented check with the employment centre that no worker already present is available
  • A named application for a work clearance to the single immigration desk of the province
  • Evidence of accommodation for the worker
  • A place within the quota, where the quota applies

What applies to you

Nothing changes for a citizen of Dominican Republic

We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.

What the law says

Text layer - verbatim verifiedDecreto legislativo 25 luglio 1998, n. 286, Testo unico sull'immigrazione, testo vigente · Articolo 22, commi 1 e 2
«In ogni provincia e' istituito presso la prefettura-ufficio territoriale del Governo uno sportello unico per l'immigrazione, responsabile dell'intero procedimento relativo all'assunzione di lavoratori subordinati stranieri a tempo determinato ed indeterminato. 2. Il datore di lavoro italiano o straniero regolarmente soggiornante in Italia che intende instaurare in Italia un rapporto di lavoro subordinato a tempo determinato o indeterminato con uno straniero residente all'estero deve trasmettere in via telematica, previa verifica, presso il centro per l'impiego competente, della indisponibilita' di un lavoratore presente sul territorio nazionale, idoneamente documentata, allo sportello unico per l'immigrazione della provincia di residenza ovvero di quella in cui ha sede legale l'impresa, ovvero di quella ove avra' luogo la prestazione lavorativa: (104) a) richiesta nominativa di nulla osta al lavoro; b) idonea documentazione relativa alle modalita' di sistemazione alloggiativa per il lavoratore straniero»

The procedure and the order of its steps. The labour market check comes before anything about the worker is considered, and the employer rather than the worker is the applicant.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Italian state's portal for legislation in force. It shows each article as currently amended, with an explicit testo in vigore dal date, and links the amending instruments.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It gives the text and not its interpretation. Article 3-bis reads clearly and has still generated years of litigation over what it means, which is why the Constitutional Court is watched alongside it. A consolidated text can also lag a very recent amendment.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Practical notes

This is the ordinary employed route for a worker abroad. Italy has separate regimes for highly qualified workers, researchers, seasonal work and intra-corporate transfers, none of them read here.

The quota is set annually by decree and is the thing that decides, in practice, whether this route exists in a given year. That decree is not read here.

Sources1 · all accessed 2026-10-09
  • consolidates
    Testo unico sull'immigrazione, articolo 22

    Normattiva, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri

    About this source

    The Italian state's portal for legislation in force. It shows each article as currently amended, with an explicit testo in vigore dal date, and links the amending instruments.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: It gives the text and not its interpretation. Article 3-bis reads clearly and has still generated years of litigation over what it means, which is why the Constitutional Court is watched alongside it. A consolidated text can also lag a very recent amendment.

    We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source