Volunteering and other ways to come to Italy

Important. These programmes change their rules, countries and dates every year. We checked everything on this page on the official pages linked below each section, but always read the official page and the current call before you apply. Corso Italy is not linked to any of these programmes. Real volunteering programmes are free: never pay anyone who promises you a “volunteer visa” or a place in a programme.

1. European Solidarity Corps

The European Solidarity Corps is the European Union’s volunteering programme. Volunteers work full time on a project, for example with young people, migrants, the environment or culture, in another country.

• Age: you must be at least 18 and not older than 30 when the activity starts.
• Who can take part: young people who live in the EU and in the countries listed on the programme’s countries page. These include the South Mediterranean countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia.
• The limit for these countries: volunteers from countries that are not associated with the programme, including the South Mediterranean countries, can join volunteering projects in the EU, but a project may use at most 25% of its grant for them. So most projects in Italy only accept volunteers from EU countries. Each opportunity lists the countries it accepts: check that yours is there.
• Length: an individual activity is full time (30 to 38 hours a week), and all your activities together can last at most 12 months. Volunteering teams last up to 2 months.
• What is covered: taking part is free. You get travel to the project and back, free accommodation, food or a food allowance, local transport, pocket money for personal expenses, insurance, training and free online language courses. It is not a salary.
• Visa: if you need a visa for Italy, ask the host organisation how it will support your application before you accept a place.

How to apply

1. Create a profile on the European Solidarity Corps portal.
2. Search for opportunities in Italy and open each one: the page shows which countries it accepts.
3. Contact an accredited organisation in your own country. SALTO EuroMed has information for the South Mediterranean countries.

Official pages: portal · countries covered · programme guide 2026

2. Italy’s civil service (Servizio Civile Universale)

A year of volunteering in Italy with associations, municipalities and other organisations, with a monthly allowance. It is not a way to come to Italy: it is open only to people who already live in Italy legally.

• Who can take part: Italian and EU citizens, and non-EU citizens who live legally in Italy (regolarmente soggiornanti), for example with a residence permit for study.
• Age: 18 to 28 on the day you apply.
• Length and allowance: projects last 10 to 12 months, with a monthly allowance of €519.47 (2026 call).
• How to apply: online only, on the national platform (DOL), with SPID or CIE. Foreign residents without SPID can ask for login details. You can apply for one project only.
• When: there is usually one big national call a year. The 2026 call closed on 8 April 2026.

Official page: information on the 2026 call (Umbria Region)

3. The Italian volunteering visa

Italian law has a visa for volunteering programmes of social benefit run by Italian non-profit organisations.

• Age: 25 to 35.
• Places: limited to a quota set by ministerial decree.
• Conditions: a written agreement with an Italian non-profit host organisation, which must take out insurance for you (health, accidents and liability) and pay for your travel, food and accommodation.
• Permit: it lasts as long as the programme, normally up to one year.

You cannot apply on your own: the host organisation starts the process. Official text: Legislative Decree 71/2018, art. 27-bis

4. University corridors for refugees (UNICORE)

UNICORE brings refugee students to Italian universities for a master’s degree, with UNHCR, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Caritas, Diaconia Valdese and many universities.

• Who can apply: people recognised as refugees who live in the countries listed in each year’s call. In UNICORE 8.0 (2026/27) these were countries in Africa and South Asia. You need a degree that gives access to the master’s, obtained in or after 2020, and good grades.
• What it offers: relocation costs, a study grant (the amount depends on the university), accommodation and, depending on the university, a fee exemption.
• When: the 8.0 call ran from 2 March to 17 April 2026. Check the portal for the next one and its list of countries.

Official page: UNICORE application portal (UNHCR) · example call: University of Chieti-Pescara, UNICORE 8.0

5. Humanitarian corridors

Humanitarian corridors bring vulnerable refugees to Italy safely by plane, for example Syrians from Lebanon. They run under an agreement between the Italian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Interior, the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI), the Waldensian Church and the Community of Sant’Egidio.

• How people are chosen: partner associations in the countries involved prepare lists of possible beneficiaries, which are then checked by the associations and the Italian authorities. There is no form to apply individually.
• Visa: a humanitarian visa with limited territorial validity. After arriving, people can apply for asylum, with legal support from the organisations, and are hosted in homes across Italy.

Official page: FCEI: how humanitarian corridors work

Other ways

Studying is the most common legal way to come to Italy. See our guides on how to apply, scholarships and funding and the scholarships directory.

This site gives general information only. Rules change often, so always check the official sources.