🎙️ Podcast Title:
“Residence Permit and the Pandemic: The Council of State Protects Those Who Couldn’t Return” 🎧 Podcast Script: Welcome to a new episode of Immigration Law, hosted by lawyer Fabio Loscerbo. Today we discuss a very important decision by the Italian Council of State, judgment no. 7904 of 2025.
The case concerns a Chinese citizen whose request to renew her residence permit for self-employment was rejected by the Naples Police Headquarters, on the grounds that she had stayed abroad for too long. However, the woman explained that her absence was not voluntary — she was stuck in China during the Covid-19 pandemic, unable to return because of lockdowns and international flight restrictions. The Council of State accepted her appeal, stating that an absence cannot be considered a fault when it is due to force majeure.
It emphasized that the travel restrictions of 2020 were “facts of global knowledge,” and that no one should be required to prove something universally known. The decision also reaffirmed a key principle: even if such justifications were not presented during the administrative phase, the judge can still evaluate them during judicial review.
Finally, the Council of State acknowledged the woman’s strong ties to Italy — where she lives with her children and works — and annulled the rejection, compensating the legal costs. This ruling reaffirms the importance of proportionality and the protection of private and family life, even in cases where residence was interrupted due to extraordinary events such as the pandemic. I’m lawyer Fabio Loscerbo, and this is Immigration Law, the podcast that tells how judicial decisions can change people’s lives.
See you in the next episode!#ImmigrationLaw #LawyerFabioLoscerbo #ResidencePermit #CouncilOfState #Pandemic #Covid19 #ForceMajeure #HumanRights #Proportionality #FamilyLife #Italy #LegalDecision