TAR Emilia-Romagna overturns denial of student's work permit conversion

The Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Emilia-Romagna has overturned a decision by the Rimini Police Headquarters regarding the residence permit of a foreign student enrolled in a Master's degree in Economics and Tourism Management.

The student had requested a renewal of his study permit, but authorities denied it because he had not passed any exams during the previous academic year. In response, the student sought to convert his study permit into a work permit, citing over three years of stable subordinate employment and sufficient income. The police had initially rejected this request based on procedural irregularities, specifically the failure to submit the conversion application through the required electronic channels.

The court ruled that the administration must evaluate the merits of the conversion request concretely rather than dismissing it on purely procedural grounds. The judges also noted a formal error by the police for ignoring a previous request for case revision. The Rimini Questura is now required to reopen the file and conduct a substantive review of the student's application to convert his status from academic to professional.