A European blue card is a work and residence permit for highly skilled workers (expats) with a nationality of a country outside the EU, EEA, or Switzerland. The application is done with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, or IND.
The European blue card can be applied for in the following situations:

  • The highly skilled worker comes to work in the Netherlands and the current residence is outside the EU, EEA, or Switzerland at that moment.
  • The expat already holds an EU Blue Card in another participating EU member state and moves to the Netherlands for work and residence.


Conditions European blue card

  • The gross monthly salary for 2023 should be at least € 5867,- excluding holiday allowance.
  • The expat is highly educated and has an employment contract in the Netherlands for highly skilled work.
  • The education meets several requirements. In case of a foreign diploma, Nuffic will have to value the diploma.
  • The employment contract is for a minimum of 12 months.
  • The highly skilled employee must hold a registration in the BIG-register, if he/she is going to work in individual healthcare.
  • Does the expat have a protective profession (lawyer, doctor, etc.)? Then proof must be provided that the profession can be practiced in the Netherlands.
  • The employer must not have been fined for violation of Article 2 of the Foreign Nationals Employment Act (Wav) or for insufficient or non-payment of wage tax/premiums.


Advantages European blue card
Holding a European blue card has several advantages:

  • Applying for an EU blue card in other participating EU member states is easy.
  • After 2 years (instead of 5 years), the expat can apply for EU long-term resident status.
  • Family members can also apply for a humanitarian non-temporary continued residence permit after 2 years.


European blue card versus highly skilled migrant
The main difference between the residence permit of a highly skilled migrant and a blue card is the salary criterion. Which is a lot lower for highly skilled migrants, distinguishing between workers aged 30 and over or under 30. In addition, the residence permit of highly skilled migrants, is specifically focussed only for living and working in the Netherlands.


Recognized sponsor
In order to apply for the European blue card for your new employee (and their family members), it is advisable to apply for it through the so called “recognized sponsor” status with the IND. Recognized sponsors can apply for a residence permit faster and easier.
Is your organization not yet a recognized sponsor? Then it is wise to first apply for this recognized sponsorship status for your company. This is a reliable status issued by the IND, allowing the expat to come to the Netherlands to start working faster.
If your company has healthy financial figures, the IND will normally decide on this recognized sponsorship application within 3 months.
After approval, the European blue card can be applied for the expat. The decision period of the IND is maximum 3 months. Normally they decide within 2-4 weeks, however this is not a guarantee.

Would you like more information about the European blue card or IND recognized sponsor? Feel free to contact us at info@globalRcompass.nl or 00316 823 80 801.