The Directive sets the frame and the Member State sets the number that decides most applications: a salary threshold between 1.0 and 1.6 times the average gross annual salary, with two routes down to 80 % of it. Mobility after twelve months is what the card is actually for.
What the EU fixes, and what each country decides
The EU Blue Card rules were rewritten in 2021, and countries had to apply the new version by 18 November 2023. The EU sets the frame. Several of the numbers that actually decide an application are national — which is why two countries can apply the same rules and reach different answers.
What an applicant needs
a valid work contract, or a binding job offer where national law allows one, for highly qualified work lasting at least six months;
for most jobs, documents showing relevant higher professional qualifications; for regulated professions, proof that the national conditions for practising are met;
a valid travel document, and a visa if one is needed;
health insurance, or an application for it where national law allows that, for any period the employment does not cover.
The usual terms for that kind of work — whatever the law, the collective agreement or the practice in that industry requires — have to be met as well. A Blue Card does not sit outside the normal conditions of the sector.
The salary threshold, and the two ways it comes down
The gross annual salary in the contract cannot be below the threshold that each country sets and publishes. The EU rules do not fix the figure; they put it in a range. After consulting employers and unions, the threshold has to be at least 1.0 and no more than 1.6 times the average gross annual salary in that country.
Two exceptions let a country go lower — to at least 80 % of its own threshold, and never below 1.0 times the average salary:
for occupations where there is a particular need for workers from outside the EU, within the managerial and professional groups of the international occupation classification;
for applicants who finished their degree no more than three years before applying.
Whether a country has used either is its own choice, and the figure is published. It is the first thing to look up before assessing a candidate.
How long the card lasts
Each country sets the standard length, but it has to be at least 24 months. If the work contract is shorter than that, the card is valid for the contract plus three months, up to the standard length. If the person's passport expires sooner, the card lasts at least as long as the passport.
Moving between countries, which is the point of the card
This is what makes a Blue Card different from a national permit for the same job.
Short stays. Someone holding a valid Blue Card issued by a Schengen country can go to one or more other EU countries for business for up to 90 days in any 180, and the second country cannot ask for any permission beyond the card itself. If the card was issued by a country that does not fully apply Schengen, the same 90-in-180 right works on the card plus a valid travel document.
Longer moves. After 12 months of legal residence in the first country as a Blue Card holder, the person can move to a second EU country to take highly qualified work there, on the card and a travel document, under the conditions the rules set out.
The long game
For anyone planning a route to permanent residence, one point matters more than the rest. A Blue Card holder who has used the right to move can add up periods of residence in different EU countries towards the time needed for long-term resident status, instead of starting the clock again with each move.
What to establish first
The published national salary threshold, and whether either of the reduced ones applies.
Whether the profession is regulated — that changes the evidence entirely.
For anyone who already holds a card elsewhere, the date they completed twelve months of residence.
The procedure, the fees and the authority handling it are all national, so the Latvian specifics are worth confirming locally rather than assuming from the EU text.