Among the permits that allow foreign workers to carry out work, albeit to a limited extent, are certainly those issued for study purposes. This permit is designed to allow foreign nationals from non-EU countries to reside in Italy in order to undertake various types of training programmes – it may, for instance, be preparatory to a university course, a vocational training course or even a work placement, which may also form part of a training programme already underway in their country of origin.

To be more precise, foreign students may initiate the procedure in order to lawfully attend:

• study programmes at higher secondary education institutions, higher technical education and training courses, higher technical education programmes and higher education training courses (Article 39-bis, paragraph 1, point (a) of the TUI);

• curricular internships included as part of higher technical education and higher training programmes, organised by higher education institutions, higher technical education institutions, schools and vocational training centres;

• vocational training courses and extracurricular internships.

From a regulatory perspective, the key sources are the Consolidated Law on Immigration (Legislative Decree No. 286/1998) and its implementing regulation (Presidential Decree No. 394/1999), which also s...