The EU Blue Card is a temporary residence and work permit for highly educated workers from third countries. It is issued by an EU member state and allows the holder to enter, live and work in an EU member state.
An application for the issue of a Blue Card must be lodged by a foreigner with a diplomatic representation of Slovenia abroad or by their employer with the competent administrative unit in Slovenia.
The Blue Card is issued by a competent administration unit based on the consent of the ESS.
The Blue Card has a validity of 2 years and can be extended for another 3 years, unless the employment contract itself is valid for less than 2 years. In that case, the Blue Card can be issued for less than 2 years as well, but for 3 months longer than the actual employment contract. In the case of an extension of a Blue Card, the same rule applies – if the employment contract is extended by less than 3 years then so too is the Blue Card, but it must remain valid for 3 months longer than the contract.
During the first 2 years of legal employment a foreign worker can change employers based on a written agreement of the competent public authority; after 2 years, such an agreement is no longer necessary although the worker must still inform the competent public authority of their intentions.