First introduced by the European Council in 2009, the Blue Card scheme allows highly qualified non-EU citizens to live and work in any of 25 member states. Only Denmark and Ireland have opted out.
In 2024, EU countries issued about 78,100 Blue Cards, according to the latest data from Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, with the vast majority (56,300) provided by Germany.
Italy, by contrast, handed out only a tiny fraction of this number – 633 in total.
READ ALSO: Which nationalities get the most EU Blue Cards and where do they go?
That’s thought to be partly down to the fact that Germany made a push to expand the card’s use in 2023 through its Skilled Immigration Act, while in Italy it remains relatively unknown.
The permit is available to third country nationals with a three-year university degree or an equivalent professional qualification who have a job offer with a salary that meets the threshold set by the country they want to move to.
In Italy, that threshold is moveable: it can’t be lower than the minimum salary for your sector under Italy’s national collective bargaining agreements, and must be at least as high as the average gross annual salary for an employee in your industry.
READ ALSO: The work visas you can use to move to Italy in 2026
As of 2024, it was around €35,500 on average, according to the government’s integration website for foreigners.
To be eligible, you need a binding job offer of at least six months' duration from an Italian employer, a three-year undergraduate degree or equivalent, and a professional qualification recognised by the Italian government.
This last part – getting your qualification recognised – can be a headache, as at least one Local reader has told us in the past.
The first stages of the application process however are handled directly by the employer, which makes things slightly easier on applicants.
After making a formal job offer and once the candidate accepts it, the employer files an online application for a work permit (nulla osta). The interior ministry then has up to 90 days to process the request and issue a work visa.
In Italy, the Blue Card is valid for an initial two years (with the option of renewal) for those on permanent contracts, and lasts for the duration of your contract plus three months for those on fixed-term contracts.
Significantly, the Blue Card isn’t subject to the strict quotas in Italy’s decreto flussi system, under which a very limited number of work permits are issued annually for non-EU workers in specific industries.
That (in theory) means anyone can move to Italy under the scheme at any point provided they meet the criteria – the hard part is getting the job offer in the first place.
Have you applied for or received an EU Blue Card to move to Italy? Let us know about your experience in the comments below or get in touch at news@thelocal.com.
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