EU issues most blue cards to Indians, Bulgaria to Russians

Bulgaria ranks 11th in the EU in attracting highly specialized personnel with a blue card, according to Eurostat data for 2024. The blue card allows people from third countries with high qualifications to stay and work in the EU. In Bulgaria, this residence regime is mainly used by Russians, while in the EU it is most often used by Indians.

In 2024, about 78,100 highly qualified personnel from third countries entered the EU with a blue card. Germany issued the most - 56,300, or 72% of all in the EU. Poland follows with 5,900 blue cards, Hungary is third with 2,900. France is in fourth place with 2,800 blue cards. For Bulgaria, the data shows that 628 blue cards were issued in 2024, which is more than in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, etc. According to segabg.com, the data differs from the national statistics (1,163 blue cards), probably due to the difference in number of approved applications and issued cards.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov
Photo: Pixabay