Temporary protection in Italy for Ukrainians

This page is for people who arrived from Ukraine after 24 February 2022 or are helping relatives get legal status in Italy. It covers the steps from the application to permit renewal, the rights that protection gives and what changed in 2026.

# Who can get temporary protection?

Protection is granted to people who left Ukraine from 24 February 2022 inclusive. Under the 2022 Italian decision (DPCM of 28 March 2022), they are:

• Ukrainian citizens who lived in Ukraine before 24 February 2022;
• stateless persons and citizens of other countries who had international or equivalent national protection in Ukraine;
• family members of people in the two previous groups;
• stateless persons and citizens of other countries with a valid permanent residence permit in Ukraine who cannot safely return to their home country.

Ukrainians who were already in Italy before 24 February 2022 do not get temporary protection. Some of them have a special protection permit (protezione speciale), which under Decree-Law 201/2025 can be renewed at the holder’s request until 4 March 2027.

# The military obligations requirement from 5 August 2026

From 5 August 2026, temporary protection is granted only to people who meet their military obligations in Ukraine or are exempt from them, if they have such obligations. The EU Council decision notes that such obligations may exist regardless of age or sex. The only people the requirement does not apply to are those who had temporary protection in Italy on 4 August 2026 and keep it here without a break.

So the requirement applies, in particular, to:

• people who are asking for protection in Italy for the first time;
• people who applied earlier but had not received protection by 4 August 2026;
• people who are moving to Italy from another EU country;
• people whose Italian permit expired without renewal and who apply again. This is our inference from the text of the decision; it matters because in March 2026 the number of people under protection in Italy fell by 30,365 because permits expired at the same time.

It is up to the applicant to prove that they meet their obligations. A legal exit from Ukraine is confirmed by a legal crossing of the border on exit or an exit stamp in your passport. If the legality of your exit cannot be confirmed, you submit an official document, on paper or electronic, for example from the Reserve+ app. The Questura in Arezzo accepts an exit stamp placed by the Ukrainian authorities or another official document on exemption from military obligations or on meeting them.

On its page, the Questura in Arezzo gives the date 31 July 2026 from the original text of the decision. The decision was corrected on 5 August 2026: the requirement applies from 5 August, and the exemption covers people who had protection on 4 August. We give the corrected dates.

# Where and how do you apply?

You apply in person to the Questura where you live; the permit is issued in electronic form free of charge. If the need is confirmed, a travel document (titolo di viaggio) is also issued free of charge.

Each Questura has its own procedure. Examples from official pages:

• in Arezzo, the first permit is processed by appointment at the immigration office (Ufficio Immigrazione); you bring a copy of the housing declaration (dichiarazione di ospitalità) and, where required, documents on military obligations;
• in Milan, for a first application they ask for 2 passport-style photos, the housing declaration, a passport with an Italian entry stamp or, if there is no stamp, a declaration of presence, and documents on family ties, if you have any;
• in Biella, you need a valid passport or an identity document with a photo issued by the Consulate General of Ukraine in Italy.

Some Questura offices book appointments through the PrenotaFacile service; the link to it is at the bottom of the page.

# What to do in your first days after arrival

• If you entered through the border of another Schengen country and your passport has no Italian stamp, file a declaration of presence (dichiarazione di presenza) with the Questura within 8 working days. If you apply for temporary protection within these 8 working days, you do not need the declaration.
• If you live in private housing, the owner must file a housing declaration with the local public security authority within 48 hours.

When you apply, the Questura assigns you a tax code (codice fiscale), as provided by Civil Protection ordinance No. 881 of 29 March 2022. You receive a receipt for your application in any case, and it already gives you access to work, health care and enrolling your child in school.

# What does a temporary protection permit give you?

The permit gives you access to work, to education and to the national health service (SSN). According to a 2022 clarification from the Ministry of Labor, you can work as an employee (including seasonal work) and as a self-employed person (lavoro autonomo), and you can do so already with the receipt for your application, before the permit is issued.

Medical care is provided on the same terms as for Italian citizens after you register with the local health authority (ASL) where you are staying, which assigns you a family doctor or pediatrician. Before you apply, care is provided through an STP code, which is issued to foreigners who are temporarily in Italy. For people from Ukraine, this rule has been extended until 31 December 2026.

Protection does not give you an automatic right to all benefits. The inclusion allowance (ADI) and the social allowance for people aged 67 and over are not available with it. INPS recognized the single child allowance (AUU) for holders of temporary protection in 2023, but the current law and a 2026 INPS circular do not list this permit among the qualifying grounds. Before you apply, check with INPS or a patronato (a service, often run by a trade union, that helps people file applications with INPS). More on the page Aid for Ukrainians in Italy.

# Is the permit renewed automatically?

No. In 2022 the permit was extended automatically for 6 months at a time, but for no more than a year in total. Later the law switched to renewal on application: permits expiring on 31 December 2024 could be renewed only at the holder’s request, until 4 March 2026. In the same way, on application, Questura offices renewed permits until 4 March 2027.

The consequences show in the statistics: in March 2026 the number of people under temporary protection in Italy fell by 30,365, or 47.4%, because many permits expired at the same time at the end of the month. Book your renewal before your permit expires: if your protection lapses, you will most likely have to confirm that you meet your military obligations when you apply again.

# What if your permit has already expired?

Go to the Questura as soon as possible and apply for renewal. While your application is being processed, the receipt for it gives you the right to stay in Italy legally and to work. The law forbids an employer to hire a person whose permit has expired if renewal was not requested on time.

In Milan, a temporary protection permit that has expired can be converted straight into a work permit: if less than 6 months have passed, through the post office, and if more, at the city’s Hub for Community center (viale Monza, 79), where you book in person or by phone.

If your protection has already lapsed, you have most likely lost the exemption from the military obligations requirement (our inference from the text of the EU Council decision). Prepare your proof in advance.

# How much does renewal cost and what documents do you need?

Renewal costs €16 for a revenue stamp and €30.46 for the electronic card; the first permit is free:

The €30.46 is paid by postal transfer on a pre-printed form at post offices with the Sportello Amico service (the Poste Italiane counter that accepts residence permit applications).

For renewal, the Questura in Milan asks for 2 passport-style photos, a passport with an entry stamp if you have one, a housing declaration, a declaration of residence or a declaration of placement in a reception center, the expired permit, and documents on family ties, if you have any. The Questura in Rome asks for a passport, the expired permit, a €16 revenue stamp, 4 passport-style photos and proof of where you live: a certificate of residence registration (certificato di residenza), a notice of transfer of a dwelling (cessione di fabbricato) or a housing declaration.

To add a child to your file, the Questura in Bergamo (page updated in 2025) asks for the parent’s passport in which the child is entered, or a birth certificate with a sworn translation into Italian, or a consular certificate of the family relationship.

# Until what date is protection valid?

At EU level, temporary protection has been extended until 4 March 2028. In Italy, renewals until 4 March 2027 are confirmed by the Questura offices in Milan, Rome and Venice, and renewals until 2028 so far only by the Questura in Arezzo.

• EU Council Decision 2025/1460 of 15 July 2025 extended protection until 4 March 2027, and Decision 2026/1912 of 30 July 2026 until 4 March 2028; the extension until 2028 applies from 5 March 2027.
• The Questura in Arezzo, on a page updated on 27 August 2026, writes that permits are renewed until 4 March 2028. As of 13 October 2026, the pages of Milan, Rome and Venice still give 2027.

The Italian legal basis for these renewals is weak. The Questura offices in Rome and Venice refer to Decree-Law 201/2025, but it concerns special protection permits for Ukrainians who were in Italy before 24 February 2022, and it only mentions the extension of temporary protection, with a reference to the EU Council decision. In other words, renewal relies on the EU Council decision, which Questura offices apply directly. The law extended most of the 2022 temporary protection rules only until 31 December 2025, and later extended only medical care, until 31 December 2026. Even so, Questura offices continue to issue and renew permits.

# When does protection end?

Temporary protection in Italy ends in these three cases, among others:

• The EU Council decides to end temporary protection. The permit then loses validity and is revoked even before it expires (DPCM of 2022, Art. 2; Decree-Law 202/2024, Art. 2).
• You are granted international protection. After that, you no longer have temporary protection.
• You move to another EU country. According to the 2022 brochure of the Italian Ministry of the Interior and the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), you lose protection in Italy when you do.

What to do if your permit has simply expired is explained above, in the section on expired permits.

# How do you switch to a work permit?

If you work, you can convert your temporary protection permit into a work permit. The law has allowed this since 1 January 2024 “for the work you are actually doing”, and since 2025 also during renewal. Such a conversion opens the way to ordinary family reunification and, later, to an EU long-term residence permit. With a work permit for employment valid for more than 6 months (permesso unico), the law expressly provides the right to the single child allowance.

The conversion costs:

The card and the fee are paid in a single payment: €70.46 or €80.46. The Questura in Arezzo gives €70.46 in 2026.

How to apply, using Arezzo as an example: you fill in the application pack (kit) at a post office with the Sportello Amico service. You add to it:

• the application with a €16 revenue stamp;
• a copy of your passport or identity document;
• a copy of your electronic temporary protection permit;
• a copy of your housing documents;
• the receipt for payment of the card and the fee;
• documents on the work you are doing now.

In Milan, the kit is submitted through the post office if the permit expired less than 6 months ago; if more than 6 months ago, you go to the city’s Hub for Community center (viale Monza, 79).

While your application is being processed, you can work with the receipt for it. Since 22 May 2026, a conversion application must be decided within 90 days.

# Can you travel?

Yes, with a valid travel document and an identity document. According to the 2022 brochure of the Italian Ministry of the Interior and EUAA, people who have applied or hold a permit can leave Italy, return and travel to Ukraine. A protection holder without a passport can ask for a travel document (titolo di viaggio) for trips to other EU countries of no more than 90 days.

# What happens if you move to another EU country?

You will lose temporary protection in Italy. According to the 2022 brochure, after moving you can ask for protection in the new country, but in Italy it will be lost. In its preamble, the 2026 EU Council decision recommends rejecting an application if the person has already received such a permit in another EU country, and notes that a country is not obliged to issue a new one.

The exemption from the military obligations requirement applies only to people who keep protection in the same country without a break. So in the new country you will have to meet this requirement.

# What about your family?

For temporary protection, family members are a husband or wife or a long-term partner, unmarried minor children (yours or your spouse’s) and other dependent relatives who lived with you as one household. They must prove the family relationship and that they were legally staying in Ukraine before 24 February 2022. Within temporary protection, you can be reunited only with relatives who are outside the EU.

Ordinary family reunification is closed to holders of temporary protection. It becomes possible after conversion to a work permit, under the income and housing conditions described on the page Legal status in Italy.

You can enroll your child in school already with the receipt for your application.

# Can you apply for asylum while you hold temporary protection?

Yes, at any time, but your application is not examined until temporary protection ends. If you are granted international protection, you will no longer have temporary protection. According to the 2022 brochure, when you apply for asylum you hand in your passport, and the Questura keeps it. The preamble of the 2026 EU Council decision recalls that desertion and evasion of military service are not in themselves grounds for international protection.

# What mistakes should you avoid?

• Waiting for the permit to be extended automatically and missing the renewal deadline.
• Thinking that the military obligations requirement applies only to new applicants: it applies to anyone who did not have protection in Italy on 4 August 2026 or did not keep it without a break.
• Taking the date 31 July 2026 from old publications: under the corrected text of the decision, the requirement applies from 5 August 2026.
• Moving to another EU country without considering that you will lose protection in Italy.
• Applying for conversion without a current job: the law allows it only for work you are actually doing.

# What has not yet been officially confirmed?

Several questions have not yet been officially clarified:

• we have not found an Italian act or a Ministry of the Interior circular on renewing permits until 2028;
• whether ordinance No. 881, under which the Questura assigns the codice fiscale, is formally still in force in 2026;
• what will happen with medical care after 31 December 2026 for people who do not work;
• the legal provisions on conversion name only permits that expired on 31 December 2023 and 31 December 2024; Questura offices accept conversions of permits renewed until 2027 or 2028, but there is no separate provision for them;
• which documents on military obligations other Questura offices accept, and whether they need an apostille or legalization;
• we have not found a provision that would revoke a permit because of a long absence from Italy;
• we have not found an extension of protezione speciale permits until 2028.

We will update this page as soon as clarifications appear.