European Blue Card residence permit

Conditions you must meet

• Be a highly educated employee from outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland

  A European Blue Card is a European work and residence permit for highly educated employees from outside the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA), or Switzerland.

• Meet the requirements that apply to everyoneIND links a separate general-requirements page, not a registered source.

  You meet the requirements that apply to everyone.

• The work in the Netherlands must be highly qualified

  You will be doing highly qualified work in the Netherlands and:

• A foreign diploma must be evaluated by Nuffic

  Do you have a foreign diploma? Then Nuffic must evaluate the diploma. This means that Nuffic will examine what the foreign diploma (‘credential’) is worth in the Netherlands,

• Or 5 years of relevant experience at higher-education level — 3 years for IT rolesAn alternative to the diploma, not an addition. The IT exception is shorter but time-bounded: 3 years within the 7 years before applying.

  or you have a minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience. Your work experience is at the level of a higher education diploma. Are you an IT manager or IT professional? A minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience is required during the period of 7 years before the application.

• Meet the income requirementsNo figure recorded: IND links a separate income page that is not a registered source, and Blue Card salary criteria change annually. See blue_card_salary_higher for what this page DOES state about it.

  You meet the income requirements.

• The Blue Card salary criterion is higher than the highly skilled migrant reduced criterionRecorded because the two permits look interchangeable and are not. Someone choosing the Blue Card for its residency benefit needs to know the salary bar is higher.

  The reduced salary criterion is higher for the European Blue Card in comparison to the criterion for highly skilled migrants.

• An employment contract valid for at least 6 months

  Your employment contract is valid for at least 6 months.

• Your employer's company must carry out economic activity

  Your employer's company carries out economic activity.

• Your employer must not have been fined in the past 5 years under the named employment lawsIND lists the specific acts in Dutch immediately after; the list is not reproduced because it runs into links.

  Your employer has not been fined in the past 5 years for violating one of the following laws:

Documents you must provide

• A higher education diploma from a programme of at least 3 years, relevant to the profession

  you have a diploma of a programme in higher education. This programme was at least 3 years. The diploma is needed for the profession or sector and is appropriate for the profession or sector.

Steps in the process

• You or your employer may submit the applicationUnlike the highly skilled migrant permit and the student permit, both of which only a recognised sponsor can lodge.

  Your employer will apply to the IND for the residence permit. Your employer must do this within 3 months after you travel to the Netherlands. You may also apply to the IND yourself.

Government fees

• Application feeEUR 423

  The application costs € 423,00. For all fees and exceptions, visit our web page Fees: costs of an application.

Also stated by the authority

Not requirements in themselves. These are alternatives, exemptions, rights and warnings the authority publishes alongside the requirements — quoted here because they can change what applies to you.

• Your employer does NOT need to be an IND-recognised sponsorAn absence of a requirement, recorded deliberately: it is the main practical difference from the highly skilled migrant permit and the reason many employers can use this route at all.

  Your employer does not need to be a recognised sponsor in order to apply for a European Blue Card. For a highly skilled migrant application, this is mandatory.

• May allow EU long-term residency after 2 years instead of 5A benefit the permit grants, not an obligation. Recorded because it is the reason applicants choose this route over the highly skilled migrant permit.

  With a European Blue Card, you can in some cases apply for long-term EU residency after 2 years instead of 5 years.