Reza Mahmud :
Dreams of nearly 200,000 Bangladeshi job seekers hoping to work in Italy have been dashed as Italian authorities recently detected a large number of fraudulent work permits.
This issue has left many applicants, who invested substantial sums to obtain Italy’s Nulla Osta (work permit), facing severe hardships.
Sources within relevant ministries attributed much of the crisis to delays in handling repatriation processes under the previous administration.
According to affected individuals and experts, the problem surfaced nearly two years ago, prompting protests and appeals for swift diplomatic intervention.
However, the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly took limited action.
This delay contributed to the Italian government postponing the visa issuance process, leaving applicants waiting for months.
Recently, the Italian embassy in Dhaka announced the suspension of all Nulla Osta permits issued to citizens of select countries, including Bangladesh, pending verification.
With the discovery of numerous counterfeit permits, the Italian government is now requiring indefinite verification checks for work authorization documents, affecting thousands of Bangladeshi workers who have already invested heavily.
Commenting on the situation, Mohammed Fakhrul Islam, Joint-Secretary General-1 of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said, “Recruiting agencies have minimal involvement in the issuance of Italy’s visas and work permits, as these processes are mainly managed by individuals in Europe.
This issue was flagged over a year and a half ago, with affected job seekers repeatedly urging government action to address it.”
Migration expert Shariful Hasan, Associate Director of BRAC Migration Programme, stressed the urgency of diplomatic intervention, noting, “Since thousands of hopeful job seekers have made significant financial investments, the interim government should prioritize diplomatic measures to resolve this issue.
Both governments need to ease the legal migration process to discourage illegal and perilous sea crossings.”
Many affected applicants, particularly those with limited formal education, relied on agents for assistance in the visa application process.
In some cases, intermediaries, including members of the Bangladeshi diaspora in Italy and local agents, issued fraudulent work permits after receiving significant payments.
There is also evidence of involvement by unscrupulous Italian nationals in producing fake permits.
Reegan Uddin, an applicant, expressed his frustrations after securing Nulla Osta in February 2023 but failing to obtain an appointment with VFS Global (the designated visa processing agency) over the past seven months.
“We invested so much money, yet we’ve been left waiting indefinitely,” he said.
Further compounding difficulties, applicants who submitted their passports for visa processing have been unable to travel to other destinations due to the delay.
Since October 20, the Italian embassy has started returning passports to applicants, providing some relief to those awaiting their documents.
