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EU Blue Card: an invitation to skilled non-EU nationals
www.expatica.com
Our experts at Ernst & Young update you on the recently adopted Blue Card Directive and what that means for highly qualified third-country nationals thinking of working in the EU.
On 25 May, the Council of the European Union adopted the Blue Card Directive, aimed at establishing more attractive conditions for third-country workers to take up highly qualified employment in the EU, by creating a fast-track procedure for issuing a special residence and work permit: the ‘EU Blue Card’.
The Blue Card is intended to facilitate the holder’s access to the EU labour market and thereby attract and retain highly qualified third-country workers to the EU, with the ultimate goal of creating the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy worldwide.
To this end, the directive determines the common criteria to be set by the EU member states for applicants of the Blue Card, without prejudice to the member state’s autonomy to maintain and introduce new national residence permits for any purpose of employment, and without compromising its autonomy to determine how many third-country workers are admitted.
Common criteria for admission The admittance criteria for an EU Blue Card mainly concern:
Employment contract: the applicant must have been offered a job in the EU for at least one year.
Level of pay: the gross monthly wage must not be inferior to a national level defined by the EU member states which shall be at least 1.5 times the gross monthly or annual average wages in the member state in question.
Qualifications: higher education qualifications or higher professional qualifications are required to qualify.
Application procedure The third-country worker must lodge their application for the Blue Card in the EU member state where they wish to work. The competent authorities there must take a decision within 90 days of the application being lodged.
Blue Card holder rights The Blue Card will allow third-country workers to be employed in any EU member state except Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark, and enjoy certain social and welfare rights for themselves and their family members for a renewable period from one to four years. A Blue Card holder will also have the right to move freely with their family within the Schengen area for a total of up to three months.
After 18 months of legal residence as an EU Blue Card holder in one member state, the person concerned and their family may move, under certain conditions, to another member state for the purpose of highly qualified employment.
Next steps The 24 member states who have signed up for the Blue Card Directive have two years—till 19 June 2011—to transpose the directive into national law. Since the move to national law may result in simplified immigration procedures for third-country workers in some countries, its progress will be watched with anticipation by those intending to move to the EU for employment. For further information, please contact your local Ernst & Young Human Capital professional or Edith de Bourgraaf (tel. +31 10 406 85 42, email edith.de.bourgraaf@nl.ey.com) or Anne Kwint (tel. + 31 88 407 12 54, email anne.bijleveld@nl.ey.com).
Source: http://www.expatica.com/be/employment/employment_information/EU-Blue-Card_-inviting-skilled-non_EU-nationals-to-Europe_14446.html?ppager=0