How to Apply for NASpI 2026: Eligibility, Deadlines and Amounts

What NASpI is and who can claim it

Nadia worked for nine years as a warehouse logistics operator in Sesto San Giovanni. In September the company told her the contract would not be renewed, and the first question she asked us in the office was: how do I pay the rent now? The answer is called NASpI, the Nuova Assicurazione Sociale per l'Impiego: the unemployment benefit INPS pays every month to people who lose their job without choosing to, precisely to cover the period while they look for a new one.

NASpI is not an entitlement that arrives on its own: it has to be claimed, and whoever claims it must do so within the right deadlines and with the right documents. It is for employees who lose their job involuntarily, including apprentices, cooperative members on a subordinate contract, artistic staff hired on an employment contract, and fixed-term staff of public administrations. It is not for people who resign of their own free will or who end the contract by agreement with the employer, except for the few exceptions the law allows, which we cover further down.

The requirements: who can claim NASpI in 2026

Before you put the application together it is worth checking that you meet every requirement, because INPS verifies them against your contribution record and the filings made by your employers. There are few and they are clearly defined: if you have worked on a regular employment contract in recent years, in most cases you qualify.

• involuntary unemployment: you must have lost the job through dismissal, the end of a fixed-term contract or one of the other causes the law sets out, and you must declare your availability for work to the Employment Centre (Centro per l'Impiego) with the DID;
• at least 13 weeks of contributions in the last 4 years, counted before the unemployment period begins: credited maternity contributions, periods worked abroad and sickness absences for children all count as well;
• the requirement of 30 days of actual work in the last 12 months was abolished by the 2022 Budget Law, so since 2022 it no longer applies;
• you must not have qualified for an old-age or early pension, and you must not be receiving the support allowance for training and employment.

Watch out for one important change: anyone who resigned voluntarily from a permanent job and is then dismissed from the new one can claim NASpI only if they built up at least 13 weeks of contributions in the new job. That is the rule introduced by the 2025 Budget Law to stop people changing jobs purely to be dismissed and collect the benefit.

When NASpI applies even without a dismissal

There are cases where NASpI is due even though formally there was no dismissal, because the law treats the loss of the job as involuntary all the same. They are: resignation for just cause, where the company's conduct makes it impossible to carry on; resignation during the protected maternity period, from 300 days before the birth up to the child's first year; resignation after paternity leave, within the child's first year of life; a consensual termination signed through the conciliation procedure at the Territorial Labour Office; refusal of a transfer to a site more than 50 kilometres from your home or unreachable by public transport in at least 80 minutes; disciplinary dismissal; and the non-renewal of a fixed-term contract.

When to apply: the 68 days that count

This is the point where most people lose money. The NASpI application must be submitted within 68 days or the right expires, and the calendar almost always starts on your last day of work. Sixty-eight days pass quickly: between the end of the contract, untaken holiday and the time it takes to sort out paperwork, overrunning the deadline is a real risk. We always recommend sending the application within the first week.

• as a rule the 68 days run from the date the employment relationship ends;
• if there was a period of maternity, illness or work accident paid by INPS during the job, the deadline starts at the end of that period;
• if there was a union dispute or a lawsuit, the 68 days start when the dispute is settled or the judgment is served;
• in case of dismissal for just cause the deadline starts on the thirty-eighth day after the dismissal;
• the deadline is suspended if, within the 68 days, an INPS-payable maternity period, a payable common illness or a work accident intervenes; it then resumes with the days left.

A detail that sounds technical but makes a difference: if you find another job straight away in the first eight days after your employment ends, you lose nothing of what you have earned, but that NASpI does not start; when the new job in turn finishes, you will have to file a fresh application. Better to think it through calmly before sending, but without letting the weeks slip by.

When the benefit starts

The start date depends on how quickly you send the application. If you file within the eighth day after the employment ends, the benefit starts on that eighth day; if you file after the eighth day but still within the 68, it starts the day after filing. Dismissal for just cause follows the same mechanism but with the thirty-eighth day in place of the eighth. In practice: the sooner you move, the more months of benefit you are owed.

How to submit your NASpI application

The application is filed online only: nothing is written on the form by hand any more and no registered letter is posted. The INPS platform that handles the whole thing is called ID 3.0 and it is the only channel for sending it, for citizens and patronati alike. First of all, though, your availability for work has to be declared: the DID, the Dichiarazione di Immediata Disponibilità, is made at the Employment Centre in your area and it is the condition that opens the door to unemployed status.

Three ways to send it

• on your own, from the INPS website or the official app, logging in with SPID, the CIE (Carta d'Identità Elettronica) or CNS: the fastest route for anyone who already has the credentials and knows their way around online services;
• through a patronato, which by law assists citizens: here at the CAF in Cinisello Balsamo we prepare and send the application for you, checking requirements, contribution weeks and dates first;
• by calling the INPS Contact Center: 803 164 from a landline or 06 164 164 from a mobile, at the rates set by your operator.

Whichever route you choose, keep a small kit ready: ID document, tax code, the details of your last employer and of the job that ended, any dismissal or non-renewal letter, and the IBAN of the account you want the payment credited to, which must be in your name or jointly held in yours. If a part-time contract was still running during the job, or you are already working, the picture gets a little more complicated: INPS asks you to declare your expected annual income on the NASpI-COM form, and in that case getting help saves time.

How much NASpI pays and how long it lasts

The NASpI amount is calculated on your pensionable earnings over the last four years: divide that by the number of contribution weeks and multiply the result by 4.33 to get your average monthly salary. If that figure is below the reference threshold INPS updates every year, the benefit is 75 per cent of the average salary. If it is above, you get 75 per cent of the threshold plus 25 per cent of the excess, up to the cap.

• 2026 reference threshold: 1,456.72 euros a month, set by INPS circular number 4 of 28 January 2026;
• 2026 maximum monthly amount: 1,584.70 euros gross, against 1,562.82 euros in 2025;
• NASpI duration: a number of weeks equal to half the contribution weeks of the last four years, up to a maximum of 24 months;
• a 3 per cent reduction each month, the so-called décalage, from the first day of the sixth month of receipt; for those who have turned 55 the reduction moves to the eighth month;
• NASpI months are covered by credited contributions, so they do not vanish from your social security statement.

An example makes it clearer. If over the last four years you earned an average of 1,800 euros gross a month, NASpI will not pay 1,350 euros: the calculation takes 75 per cent of the 1,456.72 euro threshold and adds 25 per cent of the difference, and the result stops below the 1,584.70 euro ceiling. If your average salary was 1,200 euros instead, the benefit is 75 per cent of that figure, in other words 900 euros a month. Payment arrives every month, normally credited to the account you gave in the application.

Working or starting a business while you claim NASpI

NASpI does not lock you indoors: you can look for work, take a short contract, try going self-employed. You only have to follow two rules, one about the numbers and one about reporting. The numbers concern the income you go on to earn: below certain thresholds the benefit continues but shrinks, above the thresholds a different regime applies. The thresholds vary by type of activity, which is why it pays to run the figures with someone who knows the subject before signing any contract.

• with a new job as an employee, NASpI is compatible up to 8,000 euros of annual income and is reduced by 80 per cent of the income earned, pro-rated over the remaining months; if the contract runs up to 6 months the benefit is suspended and then resumes, if it runs longer or is permanent and you file no communication you lose the right to it;
• with a co-ordinated and continuing collaboration, the compatibility threshold is 4,800 euros a year;
• with self-employed activity or a partita IVA, the ceiling for staying in the reduced regime is 5,500 euros a year;
• with occasional work, libretto or vouchers, you can cumulate everything up to 5,000 euros a year without losing anything;
• if you start a self-employed activity you can also ask for advance payment of NASpI, which from 2026 is paid in two instalments: 70 per cent straight away and 30 per cent at the end of the NASpI period and in any case within 6 months, once INPS has checked that you have not found a new job.

The reporting rule is the one that does the most damage: every time you start an activity, even if you earn nothing, you must tell INPS on the NASpI-COM form within a month, declaring your expected annual income. The declaration has to be renewed every year for self-employed and para-subordinate activities. Skip it and the benefit lapses, and INPS claims back what it has already paid: that is why so many cases that look in order end with a recovery of sums.

Frequently asked questions about NASpI

These are the questions we are asked most often at the counter, with short answers. If your case does not fall into any of these situations, call or come by the office: every employment has its own nuances and the exact answer depends on the documents.