EU | Immigration | Amended EU Blue Card Directive Takes Effect

23 November 2023

Immigration

EU | Immigration | Amended EU Blue Card Directive Takes Effect

Impact: High

Summary
On 18 November 2023 the deadline passed, by which EU member states had to transpose the amended EU Blue Card Directive (2021/1883) into national law.

The proposal for a so-called ‘recast’ EU Blue Card Directive was adopted in November 2021. The aim of the amended Directive is not only to simplify the procedures and qualifying criteria, but also to widen the scope and increase the rights of EU Blue Card holders and their family members.

The amended EU Blue Card Directive applies to all EU member states except for Ireland and Denmark. While the implementation deadline has now passed, not all member states have currently implemented the amendments into national legislation. However it is expected that member states will do so in due course.

Background
The ‘recast’ of the EU Blue Card Directive was one of the key legislative measures of the European Commission’s Skills and Talent Package, aimed at establishing a more effective EU-wide scheme to attract highly qualified workers from third countries. This was mainly as a result of the previous EU Blue Card Directive (2009/50) having been far less popular and effective in practice than intended.

As a result, the most important revisions of this new Directive are linked to these goals. The new Directive introduces the following key changes:

• Facilitated possibility for EU Blue Card holders to undertake business activities in other EU member states.
• Minimum duration of an employment contract shortened from 12 months to 6 months.
• Currently Blue Card holders are allowed to move to another member state after a continuous stay of 18 months. This will be shortened to 12 months.
• Recognition of professional experience in addition to or instead of educational qualifications.
• Standard validity of the Blue Card to be increased from 12 months to 24 months, or the length of the contract plus three months.
• Reduction of processing time from 90 days to 60 days (30 days for employers included in a national trusted employer scheme).
• Greater flexibility in respect of the salary threshold, which can be between 1 and 1.6 times the average gross salary of the member state, instead of 1.5.

What this means
In principle, the above changes are likely to be welcomed by employers and third-country employees due to increased flexibility and simplified qualifying criteria. However it is yet to be seen how the EU Member States will implement this new Directive in their national legislation and what the practical impact will be.

If member states decide to implement some provisions more flexibly, this could lead to increased use of the EU Blue Card in those member states. For example, if a member state allows the holder of an EU Blue Card issued by another member state to perform work activities (as opposed to just business meetings), this could be seen by employers as a solution for certain cross-border workers.

Contact us
Vialto will continue to monitor the implementation of the new Directive. For further details on the above, please do reach out to your Vialto Partners contact or alternatively:

Nini Braken-Zheng
Senior Immigration Advisory Associate
nini.braken-zheng@vialto.com

Hugo Vijge
Director, Europe Immigration Advisory Lead)
hugo.vijge@vialto.com

Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com

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