The EU Blue Card , Date: 2023.11.18 , format: Article , area: Migration and residence

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Purpose and target group

Contact

Hotline Working and Living in Germany

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90461 Nürnberg

Phone +49 30-1815-1111
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The EU Blue Card is a residence permit for University graduates and third-party nationals with specific professional experience, which facilitates and promotes the permanent immigration of highly-qualified workers to Germany from non-EU countries.

Conditions

Further information on the detailed requirements for an EU Blue Card application can be found at www.make-it-germany.com.

Competent authorities

Validity of the EU Blue Card

The EU Blue Card is a temporary residence permit that is issued for a period of four years as a matter of principle. If the duration of the employment contract is shorter than four years, the EU Blue Card is issued for the duration of the employment contract, plus three months. However, an employment contract or binding offer of employment for a period of at least six months is required in all cases. If the conditions are met, it can be extended. The competent foreign office can suspend a change in job of an EU Blue Card holder for 30 days and reject it within this period in the first twelve months of employment.

If you live outside the EU, you will generally require a visa for the purpose of gainful employment which will be issued by the competent German diplomatic mission. You can enter Germany on this visa. Prior to expiry of the visa, you must subsequently apply to the local immigration authority for the EU Blue Card.

The following exceptions apply:

• Nationals of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America may enter Germany without requiring a visa, and must subsequently apply for the EU Blue Card at the immigration authority that is responsible for the place where they live within three months. They may take up employment once the EU Blue Card has been issued.
• Individuals who have held an EU Blue Card in another EU Member State for at least 12 months may enter Germany without requiring a visa. They have to apply for an EU Blue Card in Germany at the immigration authority that is responsible for the place where they live within one month of entering the country.
• Individuals who are already living in Germany and hold another residence title may file an application for the EU Blue Card with the immigration authority competent for their place of residence.

Benefits of the residence title

Good to know!

An EU Blue Card can be applied for in all EU Member States apart from Denmark and Ireland. Slight differences apply with regard to the conditions, such as the amount of the gross annual salary.

• There is a legal entitlement to an EU Blue Card if the conditions are met.
• The EU Blue Card simplifies the requirements for mobility within the European Union.
• Relaxation of the conditions for family reunification: Your family members enjoy less stringent conditions pertaining to family reunification. Spouses are entitled to issuance of a residence title without requiring a knowledge of German, for example, and are granted immediate and unlimited permission to take up employment.
• Faster acquisition of a settlement permit: Holders of an EU Blue Card will receive a settlement permit after 27 months in Germany if they have been in highly-qualified employment and paid contributions into a pension fund during this period, and are able to make themselves understood in German on a basic level. The qualification period is shortened to 21 months for persons with an adequate knowledge of German (level B1). You must meet the following additional pre-conditions:
  • basic knowledge of the legal and social order and of living conditions in Germany,
  • sufficient living space for you and your family members living with you in the same household,
  • secured subsistence,
  • proof of holding all permits required for permanent employment,
  • the granting of a settlement permit must not be precluded by reasons of public safety and order.

  The legal basis

  • Section 18 of the Residence Act Policy on immigration by skilled workers
  • Section 18c of the Residence Act Settlement permit for skilled workers
  • Section 18g AufenthG (German Residence Act) EU Blue Card
  • Section 19f of the Residence Act Grounds for rejection
  • Directive (EU) 2021/1883