NASpI Unemployment Benefit in Italy: Who Qualifies, How Much, and How Long

In a Nutshell

NASpI (Italy's unemployment benefit — Nuova Assicurazione Sociale per l'Impiego) is a monthly payment from INPS (Italy's social-security agency — pensions, unemployment, family benefits) for people who have lost their job involuntarily. It's not charity: it's a social-insurance benefit you've already funded yourself through the contributions deducted from your paychecks. The basic entry requirement is just 13 weeks of contributions in the past 4 years.

At a Glance

Cost	Free. You apply on inps.it or through a patronato (free union-run office helping with social-security paperwork) at no charge.
Timeline	First payment: 1–2 months after submitting your application. Payments arrive monthly by the 10th of the following month.
Where in Rome	Apply online at inps.it or at a patronato (ACLI, INCA-CGIL, ITAL-UIL, INAS-CISL). INPS phone: 803 164 from a landline / 06 164 164 from a mobile.
Documents	SPID (Italy's digital identity for accessing online public services) / CIE (Italian electronic ID card) / CNS, Codice Fiscale (Italian tax ID), your own IBAN, residence permit if non-EU.

When You're Entitled to NASpI

You're entitled to NASpI when you lose your job through no choice of your own. Qualifying situations include:

• Dismissal for any reason (including disciplinary or operational redundancy)
• End of a fixed-term contract
• Resignation for just cause (e.g. unpaid wages, workplace harassment, materially worse working conditions imposed by the employer)
• Resignation during the protected maternity period (from conception through the child's first birthday)
• Mutually agreed termination at a formal conciliation hearing at the Territorial Labour Inspectorate
• Mutually agreed termination following refusal of a transfer to a location more than 50 km from your home or reachable in more than 80 minutes by public transport

Voluntary resignation without just cause does not qualify for NASpI. If you're considering quitting, talk to a patronato first — there may be alternatives you haven't considered.

Requirements: What You Actually Need

Two conditions must be met at the same time.

Condition 1 — Unemployed status: you lost the job involuntarily (see above) and you must file a DID (Dichiarazione di Immediata Disponibilità al lavoro — declaration of immediate availability for work). If you apply for NASpI through the INPS portal, the DID is registered automatically. Alternatively, you can file it at your local Centro per l'Impiego (public employment office).

Condition 2 — Contributions: you must have paid at least 13 weeks of unemployment contributions (DIS contributions) in the 4 years preceding the date your employment ended.

What counts toward those 13 weeks:

• Contributions actually paid by your employer
• Notional contributions for compulsory maternity leave and parental leave (provided the employment relationship already existed when the leave began)
• Periods of illness or workplace injury
• Periods worked in EU countries or countries with a social-security agreement with Italy (you'll need form U1/PD U1 from the foreign social-security authority)

One important update: from 1 January 2022, the old requirement of 30 days of actual work in the 12 months preceding dismissal was abolished by the 2022 Budget Law (L. 234/2021). If you find guides that still mention it, they're out of date.

How Much You Receive Each Month

The amount is calculated on your average taxable monthly pay over the last 4 years. For 2025 the formula works as follows:

• If your average monthly pay was €1,436.72 or less: you receive 75% of that figure.
• If it was higher: you receive 75% of the ceiling (€1,077.54) plus 25% of the amount above the ceiling.
• In any case, the gross monthly cap is €1,562.82 (2025 figure, adjusted annually to ISTAT inflation).

NASpI is subject to IRPEF (Italian personal income tax) just like employment income — INPS withholds tax at source. There is no 13th-month payment.

From the 6th month onward, a sliding reduction (decalage) kicks in: the amount drops by 3% per month. If you were 55 or older on the date you applied, the reduction starts from the 8th month instead. In practice, a €1,000 initial payment becomes €970 in month 7, €940.90 in month 8, and so on.

How Long It Lasts

Duration depends on how many weeks of contributions you paid in the last 4 years. The formula is straightforward: half the number of contribution weeks, up to a maximum of 24 months.

Some practical examples:

• 26 weeks of contributions (roughly 6 months of work): NASpI for about 3 months
• 52 weeks (1 year): NASpI for about 6 months
• 104 weeks (2 years): NASpI for about 1 year
• 208 weeks (4 full years): NASpI for 24 months — the maximum

Periods already used to calculate a previous NASpI payment or other income-support benefit are not counted again.

Who Can Apply — Including Foreign Nationals

NASpI is available regardless of nationality:

• Italian citizens
• EU/EEA citizens registered with the Anagrafe (civil-registry office at the Comune, handles residency)
• Non-EU citizens with a valid residence permit that authorises work (employment, self-employment, family reunification, long-term EU residence, asylum, subsidiary protection)
• Non-EU citizens holding a postal receipt for a permit renewal

If your permit has expired at the time of application, you cannot apply — even if your dismissal occurred before the expiry date. Act as soon as you have the renewal in hand.

Eligible worker categories include: private-sector employees, apprentices, worker-members of cooperatives with an employment contract, performing-arts workers with an employment contract, fixed-term public-administration employees, on-call and seasonal workers, and agency/temp workers.

Not eligible: purely self-employed workers (who have ISCRO instead), permanent public employees, and old-age or early-retirement pensioners.

Mistakes to Avoid

1. Waiting too long. You have 68 days from the end of your employment to submit the application. Miss this deadline and you lose the right entirely.
2. Not reporting a new job. If you find work while receiving NASpI, you must notify INPS within 30 days using the NASpI-COM form. If your annual income from the new job exceeds €8,500, NASpI ends; below that, it's suspended and reduced proportionally. Failure to report can result in repayment demands and penalties.
3. Using someone else's bank account. NASpI can only be paid to an account in your name or jointly held with you. Prepaid cards with a named IBAN are fine. A family member's or third party's account is not.
4. Thinking the 30-day rule still applies. That requirement was abolished in 2022 and has no effect on your application.
5. Paying someone to "unlock" your application. The process is completely free on inps.it or through a patronato. Anyone asking you for money to file your NASpI is running a scam.

Special Cases

NASpI paid as a lump sum: if you want to open a Partita IVA (Italian VAT number — required to invoice as a self-employed worker), start a business, or join a cooperative as a member, you can ask INPS to pay out the remaining NASpI entitlement in a single upfront payment. The application must be submitted within 30 days of starting the activity. If you return to salaried employment within the year, you must repay the lump sum.

Finding work while on NASpI: salaried work with annual income above €8,500 — NASpI ends. Income at or below €8,500 — NASpI is suspended and reduced proportionally. Self-employment income above €5,500 per year — NASpI ends. Income at or below €5,500 — NASpI is reduced by 80% of the projected income.

Pregnancy while receiving NASpI: if you become pregnant while on NASpI, the maternity allowance (which is more generous) replaces NASpI for the duration of maternity leave. Apply for the maternity allowance directly with INPS.

Contributions from multiple employers: if you worked under multiple fixed-term contracts or for several employers during the last 4 years, all contributions from all those contracts are pooled together when calculating both the duration and the amount of your NASpI.

Official Sources

• INPS — NASpI: monthly unemployment benefit
• Ministry of Labour — NASpI
• Normattiva — D.Lgs 22/2015
• ANPAL — Active labour market policies

Legal references: D.Lgs 4 marzo 2015 n. 22 artt. 1–14, L. 28 giugno 2012 n. 92, L. 30 dicembre 2021 n. 234 art. 1 c. 221 (abolition of the 30-day requirement), L. 29 dicembre 2022 n. 197, Circolare INPS n. 94/2015, Circolare INPS n. 142/2022, Messaggio INPS n. 1567/2024.