The EU Blue Card is one of the most convenient and prestigious statuses for highly qualified specialists. However, it is not always the case that a candidate is invited by an existing employer: many foreign professionals prefer to establish their own company in an EU country to work on their own project, IT product, or consulting activity.
This approach is completely legitimate: a Latvian company can employ its foreign founder (a natural person) if they have the required qualifications (a bachelor’s degree in certain fields, including IT, or at least 5 years of relevant work experience). In addition, the specialist must be provided with the required salary level (currently, the salary for the Blue Card must be at least EUR 2588 or, if the profession is included in the list of high-demand professions approved by the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers, at least EUR 2022).
The law firm Inlatplus specializes in comprehensive support for exactly this type of residency: establishing a company, employing a foreigner in their own company, and obtaining the EU Blue Card.
This option is especially popular among:
- IT specialists, software developers, DevOps engineers, systems architects;
- technology entrepreneurs launching their own product or outsourcing business in the EU;
- professionals from regions with high demand for work in the EU: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, etc.;
- experts who want to independently control their career, projects, and working conditions.
Advantages of the EU Blue Card compared to a standard employment-based residence permit:
- No need to post a vacancy on the State Employment Agency portal (since there is no requirement to prove the impossibility of hiring a local specialist);
- The decision on granting a residence permit is usually made faster than under the standard procedure;
- The residence permit card is issued for 2 whole years, while a standard employment-based permit is issued only for 1 year;
- The possibility to relocate and work in another EU country after a certain period without restarting the process from scratch;
- More convenient rules for obtaining an EU long-term residence permit.
Why the Blue Card is particularly suitable for IT specialists from India, Pakistan, and other countries in the region:
- Flexibility — the ability to work with international clients or develop your own project;
- A straightforward qualification recognition process, even without an IT degree, since experience plays the key role in IT;
- High salary levels in the IT field make it easy to meet Blue Card salary requirements;
- Establishing a company provides additional legitimacy and facilitates further activities in the EU.
For many specialists, this is a way to:
- enter the European market,
- work with EU clients,
- simplify family relocation,
- obtain a promising type of residence.
The law firm Inlatplus offers full support for obtaining a Blue Card — from establishing a company and employing the specialist to preparing documents for family members (spouse and minor children), extending the Blue Card, and providing further consultations on migration and corporate law.
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