EU Blue Card (Europese blauwe kaart)

The EU Blue Card is a residence permit for highly qualified employment that exists across the European Union. In the Netherlands it sits alongside the national highly skilled migrant scheme, and the choice between the two is a practical one rather than a matter of principle.

Legal basis and conditions

The card is governed by Directive (EU) 2021/1883, which replaced the original 2009 directive and was implemented in Dutch law. The applicant needs a higher education qualification obtained over a course of at least three years, or in some sectors comparable professional experience, together with an employment contract of at least six months and a gross salary meeting the annually indexed Blue Card threshold.

Unlike the highly skilled migrant route, the employer does not have to be a recognised sponsor, although a recognised sponsor can still file the application and benefit from the faster handling.

Blue Card against the national scheme

The national scheme is usually quicker and has no diploma requirement, which makes it the default for most employers. The Blue Card is the better choice where the employee wants mobility: after twelve months of lawful residence the holder can move to another member state under a simplified procedure, and periods in different member states count together towards EU long-term resident status.

The Blue Card also gives more freedom over time. After the first twelve months the holder may change employer with a notification rather than a fresh permit application in most cases.

Where it goes wrong

The diploma is the usual obstacle. A foreign degree needs to be evaluated for comparability, and that evaluation takes weeks that are rarely budgeted for. The second point is the salary threshold, which differs from the highly skilled migrant criterion; using the wrong figure produces a refusal that costs the whole procedure.