European Blue Card: WHat does the new reform of the Entrepreneurs' Law consist of?

The recent transposition of various European Union Directives has substantially modified the migration regime of highly qualified people, and has once again reaffirmed its objective of attracting talent, focusing on foreigners holding the European Blue Card. 

Thus, by reforming -among others- Law 14/2013, on support for entrepreneurs and their internationalisation, the text has attempted to finally settle the outstanding accounts that Spanish legislation has with the timely transposition of European law regulations. Law 11/2023 came into force on 10 May, i.e. the day after its publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

What is the European Blue Card?

The European Blue Card, also known as Blue Card, has been in existence since 2009, and was introduced as a way of attracting talent from abroad. It is intended for workers who can be considered highly qualified professionals, although the requirements for obtaining it are, however, more demanding than for the rest of the members of this category who apply for permission to live in Spain. 

In return, those who are able to prove the necessary requirements and obtain this card will automatically benefit from the advantage of being able to reside and work - for the duration of the card's validity - in any country of the European Union (except Denmark and Ireland), with no further restrictions once they have the Blue Card.

As third-country nationals, holders of the European Blue Card are treated as soon as they obtain the card with the same rights of free movement as Europeans. This, logically, has direct benefits for companies, generally large multinationals with headquarters in different European Union countries, which see the usual obstacles removed when transferring non-European Union workers between their different subsidiaries.  

The European Blue Card, in short, facilitates the attraction of talent by simplifying the international transfer processes of highly qualified workers for companies, since once the worker in question is a Blue Card holder, it is already possible for him or her to reside in different EU countries.

Benefits for family reunification

Firstly, in order to encourage the family reunification of highly qualified professionals, thus encouraging an increasing number of applications for residence in this category, the reform adds an express mandate to the administrative bodies responsible for resolving these files. 

In cases where the applications for the highly qualified professional authorisation of the holder and of the family members to be reunited are submitted simultaneously, the mandate states that the latter shall also be decided at the same time. 

In this way, the aim is to provide an immediate response to family members who are dependent on the holder and who will be residing with him/her in Spain, thus directly benefiting foreigners who intend to reside and work in this way.

New permit modality for Highly Qualified Professionals: EU-Blue Card Holders

Thus, the most relevant aspect of the current reform of the Entrepreneurs Act lies in the creation of a new type of permit for foreigners who can prove that they are highly qualified professionals according to the requirements of the law and, in addition, have the abovementioned EU Blue Card. 

The new type of permit for highly qualified professionals holding an EU Blue Card will be granted to those workers who choose Spain as a member country of the European Union to use their Blue Card, i.e. to move with the intention of residing and working. 

The law stipulates that they must be employed in a job requiring a higher education degree of at least 3 years' duration or, failing that, at least 5 years of professional experience equivalent to such studies.

However, for ICT professionals and managers, the minimum duration of professional experience shall be shorter: three years within the seven years prior to the application for an EU Blue Card.

Revocation of the EU Blue Card

On the other hand, it is important to highlight that the reform foresees the loss of the right to the EU Blue Card, despite it being in force, when the holder no longer has a valid work contract for a highly qualified job, and has accumulated three months or more of unemployment. The EU Blue Card is also revoked when the foreign national who holds the card moves to another EU Member State and obtains the EU Blue Card there.

What are the requirements?

For its part, the basic modality - the Highly Qualified Professional Residence Permit - is maintained as an option, with comparatively less demanding requirements for its applicants. 

It will therefore be applied for by those workers who are going to carry out a work activity that requires an educational qualification lower than that required for the EU Blue Card (the specific studies allowed are indicated in the law) or, failing this, a minimum of 3 years of professional experience equivalent to this qualification.

What is the duration of this new permit?

Regarding the duration of the residence permit - both for the general CAP and for holders of the European Blue Card - the reform maintains the system of three years of validity of the permit, renewable for another two years if the conditions that granted it have not been lost. 

However, it adds a three-month extension - which, in turn, cannot result in exceeding the three years referred to - for those leaves which, because it is clear from the duration of the employment contract, must be less than the maximum of three years allowed by law.

Streamlining the process for businesses

The reform establishes a provision that aims to simplify matters for companies that repeat the permit application process for their workers more than once.

Thus, according to the current law, companies will only have to prove compliance with the requirements for the processing of highly qualified professional authorisations - and intra-corporate transfers - once. Subsequently, the company will be automatically registered with the Large Companies and Strategic Collectives Unit. 

For the next 3 renewable years - if there are no changes to the initially accredited requirements - it will be possible to avoid the repetitive submission of documentation with each application for a permit from your employees.

If you need advice with your application, you can contact our team of lawyers who are experts in residence permits.

Patricia Ruiz

Lawyer in Labor Area and expert in International Mobility