The issue of immigration is high on the agenda of the European Parliament. EU countries intend to make legalization easier and more accessible for highly skilled professionals and digital nomads. But they want to fight illegal migration.
The project has several important points:
- If the new changes are approved, the period someone is obliged to legally reside in a Member State to obtain EU long-term status will be shortened from five to only three years.
- EU long-term resident status holders can move to a second Member State for work or study purposes without additional requirements (such as labor market checks or integration requirements).
- Processing applications for long-term residence within 60 days at most
- Free language courses should be offered to those required to speak a language up to the A2 level.
- Criteria for adequate resources and health insurance should be simplified and clarified.
- Automatic long-term residence status should be granted to dependent children of persons already holding such a permit.
DailySweden cites a commentary by German speaker Damian Boeselager, who refers to the rapid aging of the European population and the lack of qualified personnel:
“To better attract and retain talented workers at all skill levels, we propose a portable EU long-term resident status with the right to move freely across Europe for work or studies. This right will allow migrants to travel and seek opportunities across Europe and fill in labour shortages where needed. We also propose to make the permit more accessible, by reducing the years of stay required from five to three years,” he pointed out.
In spite of the 16 abstentions, and 13 votes against, the report has been adopted with 36 votes pro, and a decision to open negotiations with the EU ministers on the final form of the law is expected to be taken during the upcoming European Parliament plenary session of April.
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