Blue Card enters in direct competition with Green Card

The desperate racefor the skilled employees stimulates the Europeans’ imagination, but not so much for following till the end the American example and to offer the emigrants the same generous conditions.The dark demographic prospects of the EU’s countries, liable to put under the sign of question the economic competitiveness and sustainability of the social insurance schemes in the next decades, puts pressure on the European Commission to stimulate the immigration of the high skilled labour force. Not the Chinese textile workers „imported“ at low costs for companies such as the ones from Romania are in demand by the Western European companies, but the technicians, engineers and IT specialists trained in India, China or Pakistan, are at the moment in great demand on the American labour market. It’s a real battle for wining this capital of intelligence that is looking for opportunities of material and professional accomplishment. The official statistics of the European Commission show that 85% of the immigrants that come in the member states are represented by unqualified labour force, only 5% being high qualified. On the other side of the Ocean, 55% of the immigrants are extra qualified in IT&C and technical domain, USA receiving them with opened arms and strongly discouraging the arrive of unskilled labour force. Otherwise, this represents only 5% of the number of immigrants.

Fear of immigrants dictates the national policies

With at least two decades ago, Europe’s demographic crisis was predictable, and the effects on the economy of member states were obvious. Despite all these, the attempts of liberalization the labour market and of opening the frontiers for the employees outside the communitary space are still blocked by the governments of the European Union’s countries. Their reticent attitude is caused in part by the alarming expectations towards the economic and social impact which the afflux of foreign labour force could have. The opinion surveys still signal out the worry of the population related to the possibility of losing their jobs and rights, once with the arrival of immigrants, as also the fear concerning a possible increase of criminality rate, as a result of the fail in integrating the new-comers in the society. The anxiety of most of the European citizens is real. The integration of the previous waves of immigrants wasn’t spared by convulsions. Sending the ethnic minorities originated outside European Union in the poor areas of the big European metropolis, with all the problems that derive from here - inter-ethnic tensions and violence, weak educational and professional performances of the new comers, increase of criminality rate and fear of terrorist attacks - are big factors of stress for the citizens of the member states. Their fears are nourished by the apparently failure of supervising the migration. Western Europe was overrun by illegal immigrants, for which there is demand on the labour force market in areas such as textile, constructions or services. The number was thicken by the ones which arrived through the networks of people traffic and all these moves, apparently uncontrolled, have increased the panic of the Europeans. It shouldn’t be ignored the political and general economic context in which the immigration waves from the West of the continent was produced. The states of the social welfare of European Union assume more and more difficult the role of guarantor of the social and economic security of citizens, leaving them on their own.

The eligible candidate has good income in his country

In September 2007, the European Commission has launched the proposal of granting a residence and labour permit in the member states, called Blue Card, related with the flag of European Union. It’s been a year quite difficult for the initiators. They had to negotiate the harmonization of the procedures regarding the access on the national labour markets with the governments, reticent to the idea of encouraging the immigration. Difficult mission, if we take into account that there are still member states that haven’t opened the labour markets not even for the citizens of the Eastern and Central European countries that have joined the European Union in 2004 and 2007. So, the negotiations announce to be on long standing, anticipating that in 2009, it could be reached to an agreement of adopting a common set of rules regarding the legal immigration and granting the Blue Card. Till then, the discussions regarding the rights that this permit should grant to the holder continue. For the moment, possessing Blue Card doesn’t grant the right of permanent residence on the territory of European Union, it’s valid for two years, after which it can be renewed and allows to the holder and to his family to travel and work in any of the member states. The eligible candidate for obtaining the permit must have at least university degree, professional experience, and especially accomplishes an essential criterion: his gross wage being of at least three times bigger than the minimum wage from his birth country.

Green Card

• Give holders permanent residency;
• Valid for ten years, renewable;
• Allows holders work and travel in the USA;
• It can be obtained by: employment, family links, visa lottery, if it can be proved the residence on the American territory before 1972, if the applicant wants to invest in USA;
• Holders can become US citizens after five years.
Blue Card

Blue Card (residence and labour permit in the European Union’s countries)
• Does not give permanent residency;
• Valid up to two year, renewable;
• Allows holders and families to work and travel in EU;
• Conditions: applicant must prove he has an internationally diploma; must have professional experience of minimum three years; the gross wage before emigration has to be of at least three-times higher than the minimum wage at national level;
• Permanent residency automatic after five years.