EU Blue Card Essen
The EU Blue Card - The application process for the EU Blue Card in Essen
Requirements for the acquisition of an EU Blue Card in Essen
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The EU Blue Card
There are various residence permits for residence in Germany. The so-called EU Blue Card is an EU-wide residence permit for highly qualified skilled workers who wish to live in Germany and pursue gainful employment.
Conditions for issuing the EU Blue Card
Although the EU Blue Card is intended to facilitate immigration to Germany for highly skilled workers, it is subject to some special requirements.
The applicant must have a university degree recognized in Germany and an employment contract or at least a concrete job offer in Germany for an activity for which a certain minimum salary threshold must be exceeded. If necessary, a license to practice a profession must also be granted.
However, there is an important exception that opens the way to the EU Blue Card for certain applicants who have not completed a university degree. This exception applies to all employees in IT, as they are in particularly high demand on the German labor market. They can obtain an EU Blue Card without a degree if they have been able to gain three years of professional experience in the past seven years and have thus acquired theoretical knowledge that is demonstrably at the level of a degree. We explain the details of this exception here.
The application for an EU Blue Card must be made in person at the responsible foreigners authority in Essen. This means that the applicant first needs an entry visa in order to be able to submit the application on site. Nationals of so-called friendly countries are exempt from this requirement: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan and South Korea. Citizens of these countries can also enter Germany without a visa and submit the application in person without having to obtain an entry visa first.
Further information on the requirements for obtaining an EU Blue Card can be found here (as of Nov. 23).
Competent authority in Essen
In Essen, the EU Blue Card must be applied for at the responsible foreigners authority. There, the so-called "Welcome and Service Center (WSC) " deals with immigration law issues.
The address of the WSC is:
Contact foreigners authority in Essen:
About the city of Essen
Essen is a major German city in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the tenth largest city in Germany with a population of around 580,000.
As one of the largest cities in Germany with a significant industrial past, Essen's labor market is highly qualified and broad-based. Many large corporations and medium-sized companies have sites in Essen, which means that there is a wide range of jobs on offer - including for international specialists.
With an average rent of around EUR 8.50 per square meter, the rent index in Essen is slightly above the German average, but still well below the major German cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. Nevertheless, the rent can of course vary greatly depending on the location and rental property.
Here you can find more information about the city of Essen.
Need for an entry visa
If you need an entry visa to apply for a Blue Card in Essen, this will significantly affect the application process. An entry visa must be applied for first, which of course delays the receipt of the Blue Card. However, there are also ways to speed up the process. For example, the implementation of an accelerated skilled worker procedure in accordance with § 81a AufenthG. You can find more detailed information on this procedure here.
If you are planning to apply for an EU Blue Card in Essen, we are happy to provide advice and support throughout the application process as experienced lawyers in migration law with our expertise.
More information about the EU Blue Card can be found here.
