🎙️ Episode Title:
Special Residence Permit: The Bologna Court Recognizes Protection Based on Integration 🎧 Episode Script: Welcome to a new episode of Diritto dell’Immigrazione, the podcast presented by lawyer Fabio Loscerbo.
Today, we’ll discuss a significant ruling by the Court of Bologna, which once again confirms special protection as a legal safeguard of the right to private and family life when a foreign national demonstrates genuine integration in Italy. The case concerns a Moroccan citizen, assisted by myself, who had been denied a residence permit for special protection by the Modena Police Headquarters.
The man has lived in Italy for over three years, works regularly as a construction worker, speaks Italian, and lives with his brother, who holds a residence permit for work reasons.
Despite this clear and well-documented integration process, his application had been rejected. With a ruling issued on October 24, 2025, under general docket number 9812 of 2024, the Court of Bologna – Specialized Section for Immigration and International Protection – upheld the appeal, stating that: “Employment, social, and family integration constitute a form of private life deserving protection under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the Consolidated Immigration Act.” The Court reaffirmed that special protection must be granted when the removal of a foreign national would violate their right to private and family life.
In this case, the applicant had shown real and stable integration: regular employment, economic independence, family ties, and participation in language and training courses. The ruling also referred to two key precedents of the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione):
the United Sections’ judgment number 24413 of 2021 and order number 7861 of 2022, which clarified that integration in Italy — even in just one of its forms, whether family, social, or work-related — may constitute grounds for special protection. The Court therefore ordered the competent Police Headquarters to issue a two-year residence permit for special protection, renewable and convertible into a work permit.
This recognition confirms that integration is not only a social path but a legal value protected by the legal system. The message emerging from this ruling is clear: those who build their lives in Italy — who work, learn, and integrate — deserve to be protected.
Immigration law today is, more than ever, the law of integration. I’m lawyer Fabio Loscerbo, and I thank you for joining me in this episode of Diritto dell’Immigrazione. See you in the next episode!