EU Blue Card Scheme To Attract Skilled Labour

The EU has announced that it is launching a new ‘blue card’ working visa scheme, designed to tempt thousands of highly-skilled workers from outside of Europe to come and ply their trade on the continent. The idea is to replace the current system, in which every country has its own procedure, with a single application process, it also mirrors closely the "Green Card" scheme that has operated for many years in America.

Workers who qualify for the blue card will be entitled to live and work in Europe for an initial two-year period, bringing their family with them after an initial qualifying period, and will eventually be entitled to permanent residency after five years.

Employers will also have to guarantee the job’s pay is worth at least three times the amount of the country’s national minimum wage.

Despite the apparent skills gap in the UK it is likely that the government will opt out of the scheme, as it sets its own policy on immigration.Home Office minister Liam Byrne said: “These are simply the latest ideas from the Commission. Frankly we do not support these proposals. This is why we have secured an opt-in for all immigration measures and stay outside EU migration directives.”

The Home Office is to launch a points-based migration scheme next year to allow skilled migrants the opportunity to work in the UK.

Currently only 5% of skilled migrants currently migrate to the EU, compared with 85% of the world’s unskilled migrants.