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EU Immigration

European Immigration is one of the most famous and attractive program for most of the skilled and professional people from around the world. European authorities have established specific immigration routes in cooperation with European member states. This information in this article reveals benchmarks for those working in Europe or thinking to do so. This will also provide them an overview of the obvious routes to recognize their criteria and requirements for European immigration. The major routes to immigrate to Europe are as follows:

Table of Contents

1- EU Blue Card for Professionally qualified workers

Highly qualified professionals can find many routes to apply for a work visa in any of the European countries. The main basis is the EU blue card. Though all EU member states have their eligibility criteria for the EU blue card visa stream, the first and foremost requirement is to have a job offer from the intended country as per the required threshold. These types of work visas usually require applicants to prove that they are Master’s or Bachelor’s degree holders. Nowadays a recognizable professional experience can also be counted as equivalent to a degree requirement.

Eligibility criteria

The eligibility criteria for this work visa stream, in general, are as follows:

The applicants:

  • Must have an authentic degree from a recognized university;
  • Must have an official agreement of job in the European Union member country;
  • Must have a good experience of the job (required only by the employer);
  • Working as a salaried employer;
  • Total earnings per year must be 53,600 ( for Germany) and 53,836 ( for France) but these both are old salary thresholds*.

If you fall in the group of educated workers by meeting all the criteria mentioned above, then you will be granted the EU Blue Card. Here are the benefits of the EU Blue Card:

  • You will be granted the allowance to live and work inside and out of the EU state;
  • You will be granted long-term residence in the EU state;
  • You are allowed to travel freely within the EU as a citizen EU.

*New rules changes for EU blue card

There have been many changes announced for the EU blue card recently. The EU Commission and the EU parliament have agreed upon the following major changes in EU blue card eligibility criteria:

  • EU card for all – highly skilled beneficiaries of international protection will be eligible to apply for an EU Blue Card;
  • The salary threshold previously practiced has been reduced as it was very high. This now will be reduced to between 1 and 1.6 times the average gross annual salary;
  • Job contract upfront for a long time is not that easy for new entrants. Companies prefer to recruit the candidates first for mostly 6 months in the EU countries. The new law has some good understanding of this and requires the minimum duration for a contract of employment to be reduced to 6 months;
  • The degree will not be mandatory for all jobs in the labor market of the EU. New rules will facilitate the recognition of professional skills for occupations in the information and communication technologies sector. Applicants with professional experience equivalent to a higher education qualification in some specific sectors will also be eligible to apply;
  • During the first 12 months, EU Blue Card holders need only complete a new labor market test if they wish to change position or employer. Only after this period, EU Blue Card holders be subject to an obligation to notify change in their situation to the relevant national authorities;
  • Family members of EU Blue Card holders will be able to accompany them and access the EU labor market;
  • Permanent residency rules have also been made easy as EU Blue Card holders, and their family members will be able to move to a second Member State based on simplified mobility rules after 12 months of employment in the first Member State. Periods spent working in different Member States will also be taken into account, facilitating easier access to the EU long-term resident status.

More information about the EU blue card can be found here.

2- Intra Corporate Transferees (ICT)

Many international workers have to work within multinational company promises. For this reason, one can apply for the “Intra-company transfer” visa.

Eligibility criteria

If you meet the following criteria you will be able to apply for the visa through the ICT stream:

  • You belong to a non-EU country;
  • You have an agreement on the work in the agency outside the EU but one of the branches of that agency is in the EU. And you are transferred to this branch in the EU for a short period;
  • The branch of that agency must not be in the UK, Ireland, and Denmark. Other than these, all EU states are acceptable.

Facilities for ICTs

If you fall into the group of ICT, you will have the following ease after getting European Immigration:

  • Your partner (husband/wife) and children will also be granted the facility to live with you during this transfer;
  • Your partner will also be allowed to work in the EU.

3- Researcher visa

Researchers are always welcome by many EU member countries. Here is the information about the criteria to fall into this group.

Eligibility criteria

The criteria for this stream is that the applicant:

  • Has an agreement with any official research institute in the EU;
  • is looking to do particular research in the EU for at least 3 months.

When you own a visa. The type of visa will depend upon the state to which you belong.

Benefits for researchers

If you fall in the researcher’s group, you will be granted the following facilities after achieving European immigration:

  • You will get a residence allowance for one year in the EU. This time duration also depends upon your research duration. But it is guaranteed that till the completion of your research, you can have residence in the EU;
  • You can also teach in the EU in the institution of your niche;
  • Your family members will also be allowed to live along with you during this research period.

The last two points are limited to some EU states, not all. It will be better to research the EU state you are going for the research.

4- Seasonal workers

Many EU member states hire seasonal workers for the time of 20 days to 9 months at most. Some also allow seasonal workers to stay more than that. In general, there are no specific rules such as qualifications or job experience required:

Eligibility criteria

If you meet the following criteria, you will fall in this category:

  • You are a seasonal worker who came on and off to the EU for work,
  • Have an agreement of the work with any authentic EU employer for the seasonal work,
  • Hold a justifiable passport,
  • The agency you rely on must be in any EU state, except Denmark, UK, and Ireland.

Requirements

If you fall into the category of a seasonal worker, must follow these points:

  • Apply for a visa or work permit;
  • Pay a registration fee for the application verification;
  • The application must be verified before your entrance into the EU.

Restrictions

Occasional workers have the following restrictions:

  • Their family is not allowed to come to the EU,
  • They are just supposed to work in the state where their agency is located,
  • Their visa will be valid till their one stay (for a single entry). For another season of work, they will have to apply for a visa again. Some countries however also offer extensions for these visas such as Italy.

5- Student visa or Study permit

This section will cover the information about criteria, facilities, and restrictions for students studying in Europe.

Eligibility criteria

There are simple criteria for this stream:

  • Get admission for the studies in any of the EU institutions for higher studies;
  • Submit all the required documentation to the embassy or consulate of your intended country. Many of the EU countries offer tuition-free education such as France (partially) Norway (partially) and Germany (fully).

Benefits

The students can enjoy many benefits while studying in an EU member state:

  • They can also work and earn while continuing their studies. The work duration is a minimum of ten hours per week to a maximum of 20 hours per week;
  • Some of the EU countries also allow you to stay there even after completing your education to find work;
  • You can bring your family members with you in most cases.

Unsalaried workers, Exchange school students, and other participants

There are the following criteria to fall into this group:

  • Have an agreement with any agency or institution for the unpaid training or you can say an internship,
  • Must fulfill the minimum age criteria.

Requirements

If you fall into this group, must submit the following documents:

  • Availability of your budget for your expenditures during the stay,
  • Medical reports,
  • Knowledge of the language you are going to study in.

Restrictions

There are the following restrictions implemented for unsalaried workers or students:

  • The residence allowance is just for one year;
  • If their internship is short-term like less than one year, after its completion, they will have to leave the state.

For more information about studying in Europe, click here.

6- Family reunification visa

Non-EU citizens living in any member state holding a residence permit or a settlement permit are allowed to bring their relatives with them. This is known as the ‘reunification of families’. To enter Europe, the relatives require a visa; to continue to stay, they require a residence permit. Reunification of families is limited to the spouse and joint minor children or for minors living in EU member states, their parents. Other family members, such as uncles, aunts, and grandparents, for example, may only follow in very restricted exceptional cases.

Eligibility requirements

All member states have their eligibility criteria for sponsoring families. Some general are as follows:

  • The identity of the person must be clarified (clarification usually happens using the passport). The same is required for proving their relation with the applicant;
  • Those individuals who the relative would like to move to live with must have sufficient income to be able to look after those moving to an EU member state, without depending on social benefits. This could be proven by having a full-time job and ample accommodation;
  • Relative moving to the EU member state should not have committed any offenses and the public safety and order in EU members should not be jeopardized.