Many people want to know what would make them eligible for the European Union's proposed Blue Card. Currently, as the Blue Card skilled immigration scheme continues to be hammered out, there are a few ideas being tabled by EU authorities.

According to an article in the Prague Post, the Czech Republic's Labor and Social Minister Petr Necas said that his country would not adopt the EU Blue Card until other member states dropped labor restrictions for Czech citizens. The Blue Card is a proposed economic immigration scheme that would create a single process for highly skilled non-EU citizens to live and work in most member states, rather than the 27 different visa regimes that exist now.

In a BBC news Q&A article on the European Union's attempts to come up with an EU-wide immigration policy, the author asked "How does the EU plan to attract more high-skilled workers?"

The answer, of course, was the European Union Blue Card.

The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee will be voting on plans for the European Union's proposed Blue Card immigration scheme sometime in November.

The Committee is expected to vote on a number of issues related to a report drawn up by Ewa Klamt, member of the EPP-ED party that is spearheading the proposed blue card legislation.

One of the factors expected to be voted on is related to how the EU will designate a "highly skilled" individual who would be eligible for a Blue Card.

MEPs in parliament agree with Klamt's suggestion that it should either be someone who has a qualification earned through at least three years of university study or have at least five years of relevant skilled work experience.

Other issues, such as immediate family reunification and the Blue Card's two-year renewable validity, seem to be as close to set in stone as anything with this highly anticipated program.

The European Union has opened a job center in Bamako, Mali to help people in Africa find legal work in the EU. The center is an effort by the EU to encourage legal lower-skilled immigration.

Mali lies at the center of key immigration routes. It is also hoped the job center will spur development in the region.

The new job center is not a recruitment office as of now, so no specific job vacancies are on offer. European countries may recruit via the Bamako office in the future, however.

Spain is already offering seasonal contracts in Senegal such as hotel work and fruit picking jobs.