What is this permesso for?

You are entitled to subsidiary protection and the Permesso di Soggiorno per Protezione Sussidiaria if you don’t fulfill all the requirements for refugee status, but still face a real risk of suffering serious harm if you return to your country of origin.

Serious harm means the risk of:

• Death penalty or execution
• Torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
• Serious and individual threat to your life by reasons of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict

How long is it valid for?

This kind of permesso is valid for 5 years and can be renewed.

How long will it take to get it?

Italian government guidelines suggest it should take no longer than 1 year between the time you go for your commission interview and the time you get your Permesso per Protezione Sussidiaria. Unfortunately, most of the time, you may need to wait up to, or even over, 2 years.

How can I renew this kind of permesso?

To renew your Permesso per Protezione Sussidiaria, you’ll need to make an appointment at the questura. When it reviews your renewal request, the questura may:

• Ask the Territorial Commission whether the situation in your country of origin has changed, and whether you would still be in danger if you returned.
• Check whether you have been convicted of any crimes since receiving subsidiary protection.
• Examine whether you have traveled back to your country of origin since receiving subsidiary protection.

Can the questura find out whether I traveled to my country of origin?

When you go to renew your permesso, the questura will ask you to show your national passport or your travel document. If the questura sees a stamp from your home country, it will ask the National Commission for the Right of Asylum (CDNA) to advise on the renewal of your permesso.

The CDNA coordinates and guides the Territorial Commission on carrying out its tasks, and is responsible for revoking international protection.

The CDNA will consider each trip back to your country, and determine whether the reasons you traveled were important or urgent. It may see your trip as proof that the danger of serious harm, which is the reason you received subsidiary protection, no longer exists. This means they can decide not renew your permesso di soggiorno.

If you’re planning to travel back to your home country, make sure you first get in touch with a lawyer who can advise you on your situation. A lawyer can also help you determine whether your reasons for traveling would be considered important by the CDNA, who decide on a case-by-case basis.

What rights do I have as a holder of this permesso?

With subsidiary protection you have the right to:

• Stay in a SPRAR center. Your right to reception includes “material reception,” meaning food, medical attention and hygiene products.

• Work in Italy — but not any other European countries.

• Access the Italian health care system (SSN).

• Access the Italian public education system.

• Access the Italian welfare system.

• Ask to bring your family to Italy through family reunification.

• Register with the registry office of your local comune, which gives you the right to get a carta d’identità.

• Apply for Italian citizenship, after 10 years of holding this permesso.

• Obtain a travel document called a Titolo di Viaggio, which you can get if you cannot get a passport from your home country. (It’s a good idea to check with a lawyer before applying for a Titolo di Viaggio).

• Apply for the Permesso UE per Soggiornanti di Lungo Periodo to work or study in another European country, after 5 years of living in Italy and if you meet certain conditions.

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