All over the EU, labour shortages and increasing demographic pressures are pushing EU MS governments to consider attracting third country nationals for labour migration purposes. However, data and knowledge on existing legal frameworks that would allow for effective talent attraction from outside the EU is scarce.
The legal migration landscape in the EU is very uneven too, with different national frameworks and initiatives, as well as different needs in line with the national economic, labour, employment and political context of the respective EU member states.
Mapping Legal Pathways in the EU 2023 -2024
MPF commissioned the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) to map legal pathways across the 27 EU member states, providing a snapshot of the state of affairs in late 2023-2024. The interactive tool below helps to visualise the 290-odd pathways that were active at the time of the research and updated to February 2024.
How can I use this tool?
By selecting filters on the left hand menu it is possible to visualise pathways for individual member states or filter the selection across several member states according to common requirements such as language, labour market quota and income. This tool is meant as a visual aide to the research conducted by ECPDM and local partners and does not replace official government information. Entry regulations for the labour migration pathways included in the overview can change frequently. Please obtain information from the official authorities in each EU member state for the most accurate and up to date requirements and procedures related to visas and permits.
A downloadable version of the research is available as infographics for every EU member state in the MPF Resources library.
There are also case studies, summaries and infographics available from the first edition in 2022 that mapped Estonia, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal.