EU Blue Card

EU Blue Card

The EU Blue Card is a European scheme designed to make working in the EU more attractive and to foster the mobility of highly qualified workers within the EU.

On the one hand the EU Blue Card gives its holder the ability to apply for the EC permanent residence permit after five years of stay in the EU, even if the worker has stayed in more than one country these five years. Other international workers will only be able to apply for the EC permanent residence permit after five years of stay in the same EU country. This increases the mobility of the Blue Card holders.

On the other hand should EU Blue Card holders apply for a new Blue Card when they move to another EU country. The second EU country will make a whole new assessment based on their own national criteria. This means that Blue Card holders do not automatically have the right to work in another EU country.

In its current form the EU Blue Card is not the preferred option for employers in the Netherlands. One of the main reasons why the Blue Card is not frequently used in the Netherlands, is that the salary threshold is higher than the threshold for the Dutch Highly Skilled Migrant Scheme. To be eligible for a Blue Card in the Netherlands, the worker has to earn a gross salary of at least € 5,403 per month, regardless of his/her age.

A lengthier process duration is also a reason why the Blue Card is not that popular in the Netherlands and moreover, there are additional documentation requirements that do not exist under the Highly Skilled Migrant Scheme.

The future of the EU Blue Card

The European Commission has proposed a new EU Blue Card Scheme. In the proposal, the salary threshold is lowered and the mobility of Blue Card holders is increased. If the proposal is accepted in its current form, the Dutch Highly Skilled Migrant Scheme will be abolished, as the two schemes cannot exist in parallel. It is, however, possible that the proposal will not be accepted in its entirety, in which case the two schemes may continue to co-exist. Valegis will closely monitor the developments with respect to the EU Blue Card.