Thought this might be of interest to some.
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Source :
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/23/business/immig.phpEU 'blue card' to lure highly skilled migrants
BRUSSELS:
The European Union is planning a "blue card" to lure highly skilled
migrants by offering financial and housing benefits, and reducing
bureaucracy.
The 27-nation bloc is trying to compete with the U.S. "green card"
system and programs in other Western countries to get the
best-qualified migrant labor, which is increasingly important to plug
labor gaps in the aging developed world.
The program, proposed by the European Commission on Tuesday, would offer candidates a fast-track procedure to get work permits.
It would be made easier for them to work in another EU country, have
their family join them, receive public housing and get long-term
residency status, a draft shows.
To qualify for a blue card, a migrant would need an EU job contract
of at least one year guaranteeing a salary of at least three times the
minimum wage in the country concerned plus health insurance, the text
shows.
The proposal aims " to improve the EU's ability to attract, and
where necessary, to retain highly qualified workers," the draft text to
be approved by the EU executive says.
"The EU as a whole," the text says, "seems not to be considered
attractive by highly qualified professionals in a context of very high
international competition."
The text referred in particular to the United States and Canada.
The plan must gain approval from all 27 member states and faces resistance in some countries, notably Germany.
The holder of a card would be able to have his or her family join
them, at the latest, six months after having asked for the card and
without having to prove that he or she had reasonable prospects of
obtaining a permanent residence permit.
The holder of an EU blue card would be treated in the same way as EU
nationals regarding tax benefits, social assistance, and payment of
pensions when moving to another country.
The migrant should also be entitled to the same access to public
housing and study grants, although a member government could chose to
do so only after the person had stayed three years in its territory.
The blue card would be valid for up to two years and could then be
renewed. It could be revoked if its holder lost his or her job and was
unemployed for more than three months.
The EU executive will also propose making it easier for young high-skilled migrants to get the blue card.
Those under 30 years old would need only to earn twice the minimum wage to be entitled to the program.
U.K. population to grow Britain's population will
grow to 65 million by 2016, more than previously expected, mainly
because of the impact of rising immigration, the government estimated,
Bloomberg News reported from London.
About 47 percent of the additional 4.4 million people will come from
overseas, with the rest due to a rising birth rate and longer life
expectancies, the Office for National Statistics said.
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