Expert Conference on ''Red-White-Red Card'' held today



The Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina has organized today, in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Issues and Consumer Protection of the Republic of Austria, the Expert Conference on ''Red-White-Red Card''.

The purpose of the Conference was to present the ''Red-White-Red Card'' scheme.  Presentations were delivered by representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Social Issues and Consumer Protection of the Republic of Austria, IOS Management, Austrian Public Employment Service and Commercial Chamber of Austria.

The ''Red-White-Red Card'' scheme was introduced in July 2011 with the aim to enable access to the labour market of the Republic of Austria to foreign workers.  By late March 2013 the scheme has provided jobs to 3823 foreign workers, of which 386 workers are from Bosnia and Herzegovina constituting the largest number of applicants from one country.

Eligible applicants are the following groups of people: very highly qualified workers, skilled workers in shortage occupations in the Austrian labour market, other key workers and graduate students of universities and colleges of higher education.  The scheme is not subject to the quota system but the application is conditioned by the Austrian labour market needs which are at any moment as high as 15,000 unfilled vacancies.  Employment criteria are fulfilled on the basis of the point scoring and the required number of points depends on the relevant group of job seekers.  

The Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Issues and Consumer Protection of the Republic of Austria has defined the following occupations as shortage occupations in 2013: carpenters, roofers, floor layers, varnishers, agricultural equipment engineers, locksmiths, metal workers, metal turners, plumbers and pipe fitters, electricians and electrical fitters, welders and cutting torch operators, joiners, wood processing machinery operators, construction and furniture joiners,  graduate mechanical engineers, mechanical technicians with a  higher level of training, other mechanical technicians, graduate power engineers, other technicians with a higher level of training for power engineering technology, technicians with a higher level of training for data processing, general technicians with a higher level of training, graduate care workers and nurses.

The scheme has been designed so that interested persons search for a vacancy themselves without any job brokerage services involved.

The Red-White-Red Card is issued for the period of one year and it is valid for one specific employer and after a year and a minimum of ten months of work the holder is entitled to the Red-White-Red Card Plus which implies unlimited access to the labour market and possibility for family members to immigrate.

Besides Mr. Adnan Delić, Director of the Labour and Employment Agency of BiH, the Conference participants were addressed by the Ambassador of the Republic of Austria, His Excellency, Dr. Donatus Köck and Ms. Denisa Sarajlić-Maglić, Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH.

More information on application procedure and requirements will soon be available on the web page of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.