New Italy law offers illegal Filipinos chance to acquire work permit

People stroll with their shopping bags past a woman begging for money in downtown Rome, on Dec. 7, 2012. Undocumented Filipino workers in Italy now have the opportunity to legalize their stay in the said country and shed their fear of deportation, according to the Department of Labor and Employment. AP PHOTO/GREGORIO BORGIA

MANILA, Philippines—Undocumented Filipino workers in Italy now have the opportunity to legalize their stay in the said country and shed their fear of deportation, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Italian government has passed a legislation called Sanatoria 2012, which allows Italian and European employers of undocumented immigrant workers to acquire a work permit for their employees and regularize their work conditions.

“Application for regularization of their undocumented employees may also be done by a non-European employer who is holding a long-term permit to stay,” Baldoz said, quoting a report by Labor Attaché to Milan Annabella Oliveros.