Last updated: 16 September 2026
Working remotely for a European company does not give you the right to live in Europe. To move, you need a work and residence permit from the country you want to live in. A company with a legal presence in that country has to be your employer there. In most cases that employer starts or backs the permit application. The main EU wide route is the EU Blue Card, which asks for a job that lasts at least six months, per the European Commission.
This page sets out the routes in, what each one asks of the employer, and why the same gross pay can leave you with a very different amount in the bank. It stays general on purpose. Permit rules turn on the job, the pay and the country, and only the issuing authority can say what happens in one case.
What are the main routes in?
There are two broad routes. The first is the EU Blue Card, a permit created by EU law for highly qualified work. The second is a national work permit, which each country writes and runs itself. Both give you the right to live and work in one country. Neither gives you a free pass to work across the rest of the EU.
The Blue Card rules come from Directive (EU) 2021/1883. The European Commission says the directive sets the rules in 25 EU Member States, and that Denmark and Ireland are outside it. Member States had until 18 November 2023 to put it into their own law. National permits exist alongside it in every country, so a country that is outside the Blue Card still has a route of its own.
What does the EU Blue Card ask for?
It asks for three things at once. You need a work contract or a binding job offer that runs for at least six months. You need pay at or above the salary level the destination country has set. And you need a higher education qualification. The Commission notes that professional experience of an equal standard is accepted in some key sectors, including information and communication technologies.
The salary test is the part that surprises people. The threshold is not one EU figure. Each country picks its own, and under the directive it must land between 1 and 1.6 times that country's average gross annual salary. Average pay differs a lot across the EU, so a salary that clears the test in one country can fall short next door. Always read the current figure on the destination country's own immigration page, with the year it applies to.
Family matters too, and it is worth checking early rather than late. The Commission says family reunification is fast tracked for Blue Card holders, and that family members can take up work in the EU. National permits handle families under their own rules, which is one more reason the country choice is not just a tax question.
| Question | EU Blue Card | National work permit |
|---|---|---|
| Where the rules come from | EU law: Directive (EU) 2021/1883, in national law since 18 November 2023 | The country's own law |
| Where it applies | 25 EU Member States. Not Denmark, not Ireland | The single country that issues it |
| Job length test | Contract or binding job offer of at least six months | Set nationally, check the country |
| Salary test | Between 1 and 1.6 times that country's average gross annual salary, exact figure set nationally | Set nationally, check the country |
| Family | Family reunification is fast tracked, and family members can work | Set nationally, check the country |
| How long it lasts | Set nationally, within the limits in the directive | Set nationally, check the country |
Who has to be the employer?
A company that can employ you under the law of the country you are moving to. That is the short answer, and it catches most people out. Your current contract with a company in another country does not travel with you. The job has to exist locally, on a local contract, with local payroll and local social security, before a permit is worth applying for.
That employer is also what the paperwork hangs on. Permit forms name the employer, the job title, the duties and the pay, and the employer usually has to show the job is real and that the pay meets the test. Some countries add a labour market check first. Our guide to work authorisation and sponsorship explains the vocabulary.
Companies reach a local employer in one of two ways. They set up their own entity, or they use an employer of record, a company already established there that employs the person on their behalf. What an immigration authority accepts for a given route depends on the country and the route, so put that question to a specialist before you pick a destination.
Why does the same gross pay change your take-home?
Because gross and net are two different numbers, and the gap between them is set by the country. Gross pay is the figure in the contract, before tax and social security come out. Net pay is what reaches your bank account. Income tax rates, social security rates and the reliefs you can claim all change at the border, so the same gross can leave very different amounts behind.
The employer's side moves too, because employer social charges are a national rate. So fixing the gross salary first, then choosing the country, pushes the whole difference onto one side: hold gross steady and the employee absorbs the tax swing, hold total cost steady and the gross has to move. Salary thresholds are normally written as gross figures too, so a fixed gross meets a different bar in each country. Work out gross pay, net pay and employer cost side by side for each country on the shortlist. Our country pages for Luxembourg and Belgium are a place to start.
How long does it take, and which country suits you?
Timing is set nationally, but EU law caps it. A single permit is one application covering both the right to work and the right to stay, per the Commission's page on legal migration for work. The recast Single Permit Directive (EU) 2024/1233 sets a three month time frame for issuing one, including any labour market test, and those rules apply from 22 May 2026, per the European Parliament. Read that as an outer limit, not a promise, and note the clock only starts once the file is complete.
The country choice comes down to four questions. Can the company employ you there. Does your pay clear that country's test for the route you want. What is left after tax. And what happens to anyone moving with you. What none of this can tell you is whether you will get a permit: that call belongs to the immigration authority, on the facts of your job, your pay and your papers. Our note on the HSW visa and the EU Blue Card compares two routes in more depth.