In a bid to reverse the brain drain out of Europe and attract talented foreigners to come work here, the EU is proposing to introduce a Blue Card visa, in a deliberate echo of the US’s much-coveted Green Card.
The Green Card grants the holder the permanent right to live and work in America.
The Blue Card would give highly skilled workers with at least 5 years’ relevant experience who have found a job that pays more than 1.7 the average wage in that European country a two-year visa that would allow them to live, work and travel in Europe.
Several European governments, notably Germany, think the proposal is too generous.