Migration in the European Union
This site will provide you with everything you need to know about changes in immigration law in the EU.
EU Migration - The Big Picture
Pre-COVID, business travel in Europe was increasing—and becoming costlier, increasingly complex and more burdensome than ever. While the pandemic stalled most business travel in the region, the landscape has continued to evolve and governments have implemented more enforcement rules for business travel. This, coupled with the increased digitisation of migration processes in many European countries and at the border, means that governments can now track the movement of people more closely—making compliance more important for both businesses and individual travellers.
Unfortunately, with the movement of your workforce comes the financial expense and administrative burden associated with global mobility. With so many moving pieces, from EU legislation through to the various and contrasting implementations of rules across EU member states, you need an innovative partner to consider the big picture and work with you to develop a more streamlined and efficient mobility strategy tailored to your business.
As travel resumes post-COVID, having oversight of business visitors and cross-border moves throughout Europe will be mission critical to stay compliant and avoid penalties
Fragomen Consulting Europe takes an integrated approach to the migration of your professionals throughout Europe and we are deeply integral to the movement of people across borders and the laws that govern it. Our Group combines transactional, advisory and knowledge services, to assist you with your strategic workforce planning across all EU member states.
We can partner with you as your one-stop-shop for business planning and strategies that span the whole mobility landscape in Europe. We are also the only adviser that has a strategic input into the development of EU legislation and its implementation in member states—so your mobility programme can not only swiftly react to change, but also proactively effect change in migration laws across the EU.
By partnering with Fragomen to manage your mobility program in Europe, you will benefit from:
- Compliance and work-readiness for employees from day one of an assignment, taking into account immigration, posted worker rules and social security requirements
- Streamlined user experience for your businesses and travellers
- Automated compliance assessments and processing for posted worker notifications and social security A1 certificates using our innovative technology tool Nomadic
- Big picture insights on clients’ European mobility programmes
- Advanced data analytics and reporting
- A seat at the table with governments in the EU
EU Government Strategies
No other firm has the same depth of involvement in the design and development of migration legislation in Europe and the member states as Fragomen.
Think of it like this: the EU is a political and economic union of 27 member states. Its legislative triangle—composed of the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament—agrees to standardised migration rules for its member states. Member states have to implement the rules at the local level. While implementing and enforcing the EU rules, each member state maintains an important level of discretion and can have its own country-specific requirements and nuances in relation to a rule.
As a trusted adviser in the immigration sphere, Fragomen informs and advises the decision-making process at both EU/government and country/local levels. We leverage our legal experience and knowledge of the practicalities of migration legislation and how this affects our clients and businesses at the local level; and then feed back into the ongoing discussion at national and EU level and vice versa. We:
- Make sure our clients’ voices and business needs are heard at both the EU/national and local levels
-
Sit on the European Commission’s expert panel for economic migration and are registered in the European Commission’s Transparency Register
-
Provide advice to member states
-
Develop position papers on a spectrum of mobility issues (e.g., Posted Workers requirements, Intra Corporate Transferee permits, Blue Card permits, social security, highly skilled entrepreneurial innovators, investor migration policies, remote working, etc.), to share knowledge and effect change in policy
-
Meet regularly with EU institutions, representatives of member states in Brussels, governments in member states and opposition parties
-
Utilize strategic litigation, if needed, to reduce the unnecessary administrative burden of complying with EU and national regulations
Case studies
Situation: The European Commission formed the Expert Group on Economic Migration (EGEM) composed of various stakeholders including trade union associations, independent experts, business representatives, law firms, non-governmental organisations, etc. This group was created to improve immigration legislation and provide the government with expert knowledge.
Result: Fragomen has been, and continues to be, a member of the EGEM since its creation in 2015. As part of this group, we contributed to the development of the new EU Intra-Corporate Transferees scheme. Currently, we are monitoring the implementation of this scheme at national level and we are advising EU decision makers about the obstacles the new rules create for companies in practice, and how to overcome them, so that businesses can benefit from the scheme’s added value.
2. Fitness check of the EU’s legal migration policy
Situation: The European Commission ordered a fitness check and compliance assessment of existing EU legal migration directives. Fragomen was part of the group of European law experts providing input and guidance to the study.
Result: We leveraged our expert immigration knowledge and practical experience to identify gaps and inconsistencies in the current EU legal framework and to contribute towards better management of labour migration. The results of this exercise will be used to:
- Increase the EU’s attractiveness for businesses
- Improve the EU’s legislation efficiency
- Respond to the EU’s economic and skills needs
EU Advisory Services
POSTED WORKERS
Posted Workers notification and employment document retention requirements pose a huge challenge for businesses.
These requirements are different in each EU member state and vary based on, for example, the population affected, notification tools, different informational documents required, different retention periods, different language and storage requirements, etc.
These variations, in addition to other areas of law which come into play like social security and labour law, make it difficult to implement common processes and keep your global mobility programme compliant.
Fragomen has a solution.
Day One Compliance solution
In a time of increased compliance checks and changing travel patterns, we take an integrated approach to work readiness and mobility in Europe.
European work readiness strategies span the whole mobility landscape including immigration, Posted Worker regulations and social security, to ensure full compliance from day one.
By partnering with Fragomen to ensure “Day One” compliance, we can leverage the existing information we already hold for current clients to establish a consistent time- and cost-effective mobility and Posted Worker programme across the board. For new clients, the required information will only need to be provided once to reap the same benefits. This will efficiently ensure your employees can travel legally for work and business into and across Europe. We are uniquely placed to:
- Conduct audits to assess your risk profile, considering immigration, social security and Posted Worker compliance rules
- Provide a knowledge product on Posted Workers and social security requirements across Europe
- Develop consistent and efficient policies to maximise the compliance of your short-term traveller population
- Equip you with case management and compliance-boosting technology and programmes
- Leverage government relationships to shape the policy-making process and reduce administrative burden for businesses
Case studies
Situation: A large U.S.-based multinational organisation was sending assignees from one of their non-EU overseas plants to Luxembourg for a period of 1-2 months, to receive training as well as provide hands-on support.
Solution: The assignees could enter Luxembourg under a Schengen Visa without the need for a work permit, but the employer had Posted Worker and social security obligations to fulfil in Luxembourg. Fragomen worked with the employer to develop a strategy for work readiness on day one that combined compliance processes to address the immigration, Posted Worker and social security requirements. Due to our integrated approach, the employer was prevented from incurring significant potential penalties for non-compliance (up to a maximum of 50,000 EUR).
Situation: Our clients were struggling with diverse, burdensome and, at times, disproportionate requirements of the revised Posted Workers legal framework.
Solution: To mitigate this, Fragomen set up a government affairs team composed of lawyers, policy advisors and senior consultants to advocate for our clients’ interests with decision makers both at European level (where these regulations originate from) and in several EU countries (where the practical consequences were experienced by companies). We drafted a position paper aimed at relaxing or rescinding the problematic Posted Worker rules by EU and member states governments or, where possible, to come to business-friendly rulings. Fragomen continues to advocate for improvements to the Posted Workers regulations.
Situation: Our client was struggling to navigate the complex Posted Workers regulations throughout the EU.
Solution: Fragomen provided the client with several knowledge and strategic advice tools containing comparative information on Posted Workers requirements for varying types of short term travellers. The resources had a particular focus on business visitors in all EU and relevant EEA jurisdictions. We also provided the client with access to our compliance programme and risk assessment matrix, highlighted potential areas for improvement and increased efficiencies, and helped the company to drive compliance through their internal Posted Worker policies and practices. As a result, the client now operates a compliant and efficient Posted Worker notification programme
EUROPEAN INTRA-CORPORATE TRANSFEREES PERMIT (ICT PERMIT)
The EU ICT permit presents a huge opportunity for businesses to enhance their immigration flexibility and cost efficiency in Europe. Where once your non-European ICT employees required a work authorisation per EU country, with the new legislation, your employees coming to the EU may need just one ICT permit to work across multiple EU countries if requirements are met and certain processes followed.
But there are complexities to the rules. Each EU member state has implemented the European ICT rules differently, so there are contrasting requirements your business will need to fulfil to remain compliant and enjoy the advantages it brings.
We can help you navigate and strategically plan the movement of your people in the EU in line with the ICT Directive and keep you compliant with laws and regulations in each member state. But, we’ll go further by mapping your resources, planning your immigration strategy across Europe, increasing efficiencies and delivering real cost savings.
Case studies
Situation: Our client’s international graduate programme involved four three-month assignments to different European countries, kicking off with an introduction week and ending with a feedback session at the company’s headquarters in the Netherlands.
Solution: We helped the client navigate through the various immigration policies of the different countries involved and we built an intra-EU mobility strategy to enable their young graduates to participate in this rotational programme in a compliant manner from an immigration perspective.
RESEARCHERS, TRAINEES AND STUDENTS
Businesses across the EU are competing to attract and retain young talent. More relaxed immigration rules for foreign researchers, students and trainees will be vital to continued innovation and growth.
In 2016, the EU issued a Directive on Students and Researchers, and member states are implementing the new legislation locally.
One way that businesses can attract researchers, trainees and students is through rotational placements and graduate programmes. With these programmes come an array of immigration compliance risks and legal barriers. For example, the typically lower salary brackets or certain nationalities can present issues at the application stage. We can:
- Understand your business and graduate recruitment practices, and highlight opportunities within EU legislation to help move your young talent where they need to be quickly
- Assess the feasibility of your graduate and trainee recruitment practices via a complex and proprietary matrix of immigration knowledge and best practices across member states
- Help shape and monitor the implementation of the EU rules in member states
- Set up and/or develop your company’s traineeship and graduate programme and policies in a strategic and compliant way
Case studies
Situation: A client was experiencing skills shortages and had many open vacancies they were finding difficult to fill.
Solution: We helped the client to build a traineeship programme across the EU for foreign students, to create a pipeline for new talent. We partnered with the client to find the best suited profiles for their vacancies and to integrate young talent into the company without having to worry if the students had completed their studies yet, or if they graduated from a university located in that member state, in another EU country or in a third country. This gave the client greater access to talent and helped towards future proofing the business.
Situation: A client, particularly active in the area of research and development, had been struggling to find suitable candidates with the right experience in Belgium.
Solution: As part of our ongoing involvement in government conversations around improvements to immigration policy, we identified the skills area of research and development. We discussed with the national authorities the experience of our client and other businesses, and how existing legislation provisions could be used to help clients benefit from immigration facilitations available for researchers. The client is now effectively capitalising on the opportunities offered by the immigration regulations.
ENTREPRENEURS AND START-UPS
Residency and citizenship by investment is an emerging immigration field that requires broad technical knowledge of global options—and familiarity with the goals and needs of foreign investors. Fragomen’s Private Client Practice has experience providing multi-jurisdictional solutions to investors and their family members, and we specialise in providing options in several jurisdictions, so investors can decide what works best for them.
If you are an entrepreneur looking to launch a business in the EU or a budding start-up considering EU cross-border expansion opportunities, Fragomen can help you plan a strategy and maximise the opportunities presented by immigration rules and trade agreements between countries.
Case study
Situation: Our client was looking to enter the EU single market, but was not interested in any particular member state—she only knew that she wanted to set up somewhere in the EU.
Solution: We were able to offer this client our multi-country knowledge and devised a residency plan that ensured her smooth arrival in the EU. This included working closely with the individual’s tax and wealth advisors to guarantee that her short-term residency goals and long term plans, such as permanent residence and citizenship, were properly planned from the outset.
BLUE CARD
Launched in 2011, the Blue Card was intended to attract highly skilled migrants to the EU. The Blue Card itself is a largely under-utilised work authorisation option due to the fact that many national schemes seem to be more attractive and easy to use.
At Fragomen, we don’t just advise you to choose the most commonly used category simply because it’s the easiest thing to do, we strategically look at your business and your expert population and advise on the right options. In certain circumstances, the Blue Card may be a more favourable choice for you and your employees. By partnering with Fragomen we can:
- Assess your population in the EU and advise on the right solution to suit your business and your individual workers
- Help you understand those countries and circumstances where the Blue Card may be preferable to a local work permit
- Reduce your administrative burden by discussing the Blue Card as an option to remove the requirement for annual renewals
- Help you leverage other facilitations linked to the Blue Card that will help your people move around Europe more easily
The European Commission acknowledged that the Blue Card programme in its current form has not been as popular as anticipated, so it undertook an evaluation and proposed to modify the existing EU Blue Card scheme.
The European Commission invited Fragomen to advise on the challenges associated with the practicalities of the Blue Card. We responded with a comparative analysis that leveraged our industry knowledge to highlight how the scheme could be improved for businesses.
As a result, a proposal has been adopted to improve the permit by relaxing existing eligibility provisions, improving intra-EU mobility rights of workers in the European Union and reducing processing times, among other changes. The new provisions are currently in the process of passing through the European Union's standard decision-making process, however the final adoption appears to be challenging given the reluctance towards immigration in many EU countries.
Fragomen is monitoring Blue Card developments closely. Watch this space!
Case studies
Situation: A client approached us as they wanted to understand more about the Blue Card Scheme and if it might be suitable for their business.
Solution: We consulted with the client to understand more about their priorities and business plans. We leveraged our findings to explain the differences between the national schemes for highly skilled migrants and the EU Blue Card; and how in certain instances one immigration route may be more preferable than the other. As a result, the client opted to switch some of their assignees onto EU Blue Cards because this led to administrative simplification (less renewal procedures) and more advantageous long-term residency planning opportunities for the individuals.
Situation: While conducting a work permit eligibility assessment for one of our clients’ top management employees, we identified that the Blue Card permit would enable the employee to become eligible for long term residency in Belgium sooner than any other type of highly skilled work permit we could have obtained.
Solution: As the employee was moving from Germany (where she held an EU Blue Card) to Belgium, we advised—as she was eligible—to apply for an EU Blue Card in Belgium. This allowed the employee to apply for an EU long-term residency permit in Belgium much sooner than if she had to fulfil the usual five year requirement. When the employee eventually applies for the EU long term residency permit, this will be the first of its kind obtained in Belgium via an immigration scheme that combines residence durations in two different EU member states.
SCHENGEN
More and more, we’re seeing that Europe wants to protect the Schengen area which spans the 26 countries that have abolished controls at their internal borders. This is leading to increased security checks, IT and database enhancements (e.g., Entry-Exit System, European Travel Information and Authorisation System, etc.). With the increased scrutiny, it’s vital that your business can effectively track and manage your short-term business travellers.
The rules on allowable activities for business travellers vary from country to country and this leads to confusion surrounding your business’ compliance obligations. Common questions include:
- “Can I enter the EU for extended business travel?”
- “What documents do I need to enter?”
- “How long can I stay?”
- “What are the limitations in terms of working?”
- “What are the limitations in terms of duration?”
- “Are there any solutions to extend my stay?”
By partnering with Fragomen, we can:
- Strategically look at your short-term business traveller population and design a programme and processes to manage the movement of your people in and out of the Schengen Area for work purposes
- Provide you with access to our proprietary technology to monitor, report and analyse your short-term traveller population
- Keep you one step ahead of compliance requirements and variations between countries
- Holistically manage your short-term traveller programme alongside your Blue Card, ICT and Posted Workers population
- Work on strategic solutions to overcome duration limitations in the Schengen Area
Case study
Situation: A company realised that its business traveller population was subject to a significant variety of rules across the EU and it was the company’s most difficult population to track.
Solution: We worked closely with the client to carefully review the duration and the nature of its business travellers’ trips from a compliance perspective. We conducted an audit to identify the risks the client was exposed to with respect to its business travellers and shared our results. We then helped the company to mitigate these risks through our compliance tools which combine work permit requirements, Posted Workers notifications and Schengen limitations for duration of stay. As a result of our efforts, the client feels confident that upcoming enhanced security checks and labour law inspections will not affect its business travellers and/or cause disruptions for the company.