ROME (Xinhua) -- Italian Welfare Minister Paolo Ferrero said that Italy would be having a new immigration law before next summer to ease restrictions adopted by the previous center-right government.

Ferrero made the remarks after a meeting with Genoa authorities and immigrant associations, local media reported, adding that the Welfare Ministry and the Interior Ministry had nearly finished drafting the bill.

"The measure should start its passage through parliament in January and be finalized by spring," he said.

The law would relax restrictions introduced by the government of former premier Silvio Berlusconi in 2002.

The 2002 law has been criticized for only giving foreigners with an Italian work contract a two-year residency permit. If immigrants lose their job before the expiring date, they are required to leave the country.

Ferrero said that one of the most important ideas under consideration was doubling permit's duration.

The center-left cabinet promised a broad overhaul of the country's immigration legislation as part of its electoral platform and has reviewed a series of related issues since coming to power in April.

Other legislative changes under discussion include the introduction of a single asylum law and a points-based entry system to encourage managed immigration.

The new law will transfer authority to grant residency permits from the local police to the local municipal authorities. The change will allow foreigners to apply for their residency permits at local post offices rather than through police stations and aims to speed up the issuing process.