Can my two years of Dutch "highly skilled migrant" visa count towards a Blue Card?

Question

I have been woking in the Netherlands for the last two years on a Dutch Highly Skilled Migrant visa, the conditions for which are very similar to that of the EU "Blue Card".

I understand that if I were granted a German Blue Card and worked in Germany for two years, I could then move to another country in the Blue Card scheme and be legally able to work without being tied to a specific employer.

Is there any way I can have my two years' worth of work in the Netherlands counted against this requirement, or apply for a Blue Card here and have it backdated to when I started under the Skilled Migrant visa, so I could immediately move to another EU/Blue Card member state without having my visa tied to a specific employer or country for the next two years?

Answer 1

The Blue Card scheme is (deliberately) separate from national visas. There are no provisions to recognize previous stays or grant rights to some category of residents (even highly skilled migrants), you need to apply for it specifically.

There is a directive granting permanent residency rights to non-EU citizens who resided for some time under another status but those rights are distinct and in several ways not as extensive as those provided by the Blue Card. Furthermore, the relevant threshold is five years, not 18 months.