Amnesty / Regularisation
Plain English
A one-off regularisation program where the government lets undocumented migrants apply for a residence permit during a specific window. The last big one was in 2020, mostly for domestic workers, carers, and agricultural workers.
Why it matters
When it happens, it\'s the only legal path out of irregular status for people without family or asylum routes. Outside those windows, getting a permit from inside Italy without status is essentially impossible.
Real example
"During the 2020 sanatoria, Esperanza had been working as a badante in Palermo for years without papers. Her employer filed the application on her behalf and after a long wait she finally received her first permesso di soggiorno."
Common confusion
A sanatoria is not the same as a Decreto Flussi. The Decreto is for new hires from abroad. The sanatoria is for people already in Italy without papers, during a one-off window.
Official source
Ministero dell'Interno