Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Social Statistics Directorate (Statistics Austria)
Department V/8/a (Fedaral Ministry of the Interior)
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Statistics Austria
Guglgasse 13
1110 Vienna
Austria
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
26 June 2024
2.2. Metadata last posted
26 June 2024
2.3. Metadata last update
27 November 2024
3.1. Data description
Data collection on EU Blue Cards statistics based on EU Directive on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment. The EU Blue Cards statistics is produced under the Directive 2009/50/EC. From 19 November 2023 this directive is replaced by Directive (EU) 2021/1883. The new legal requirements regarding supplementary statistics are applicable starting with 2024 reference period.
The following datasets are collected in 2023 under this framework:
EU Blue Cards by type of decision, occupation and citizenship (migr_resbc1);
Admitted family members of EU Blue Cards holders by type of decision and citizenship (migr_resbc2);
EU Blue Cards holders and family members by Member State of previous residence (migr_resbc3).
Directive 2009/50/EC was transposed at national level on 1 July 2011.
Directive (EU) 2021/1883 was transposed at national level on 1 October 2022 (see BGBLA 106/2022, German only).
3.2. Classification system
See table 3.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Migration and asylum – Residence permits statistics, EU Blue Cards.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
3.5. Statistical unit
Number of Blue Cards.
3.6. Statistical population
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
3.7. Reference area
Austria.
3.8. Coverage - Time
See table 3.8. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Number of persons.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The Federal Statistics Act 2000, Federal Law Gazette I No. 163/1999 as amended, provides the general legal framework and contains the basic provisions for the compilation of federal statistics.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Statistics Austria and the Federal Ministry of the Interior signed a contract regarding the compilation and transmission of statistics to Eurostat in accordance with the Directive (EU) 2021/1883.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
The Federal Statistics Act 2000, Federal Law Gazette I No. 163/1999 as amended, provides the general legal framework and contains the basic provisions for the compilation of federal statistics. Artcle 17 of thisdocument regulates confidentiality of statistics.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Statistics Austria receives anonymised data from the Ministry of the Interior and applies the "need2know"-rule, i.e. only staff responsible for this project can access the data. Microdata are not accessible in any form for external users.
8.1. Release calendar
No statistical releases on national level.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable, see 8.1.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Not applicable, see 8.1.
No dissemination on national level; annual dissemination via ESTAT.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
There are no press releases by Statistics Austria on BC statistics.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Parts of BC statistics are included in the annual publication "Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsstatistik" by the Federal Ministry of the Interior -> Fremdenwesen Jahresstatistiken.
There are no publications by Statistics Austria on BC statistics.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
None besides the ESTAT database.
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not applicable.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Micro-data are not disseminated.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
There are no other dissemination formats by Statistics Austria on BC statistics.
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Not available.
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not applicable.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Not available.
11.1. Quality assurance
Continuous quality assessments of data retrievals by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and their division of ICT (Information and Communication technology). This also includes general plausibility checks and some data is also checked at random during the reference year. Any inconsistencies are reported to the competent authorities by means of a clearing house.
Quality evaluation cycle between the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Statistics Austria is based on the annual data exchange.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Quality of provided data is good as it is derived from the Austrian Central Foreigners Register, which includes all cases. However, not all breakdowns can be provided (see 12.3).
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The statistics collected under the Directive (EU) 2021/1883 are used in official publications and by users at national, European and international level. BC statistics produced are used by national administrations, academic researchers and civil society groups working on topics including the integration of immigrants, the development and monitoring of national asylum and immigration procedures, and the projection of the future population and labour force.
At European level, the main users of BC statistics are Eurostat and DG Migration and Home Affairs. These statistics are used in several publications of the Commission, as well as in the preparation of regular reports, policy proposals and analysis. These statistics also provide an input to the European Migration Network (EMN) studies and reports that address specific issues of current policy importance.
Main users at national level are government bodies and NGOs. Parts of data are however published on the website of the Ministry of the Interior and thus accessible to the general public.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
See table 12.3. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Not applicable.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Overall high accuracy: The reported statistics measure accurately the target population because the database includes all cases. Some cases that are entered into the database after data are retrieved for the data submission to Eurostat and therefore missing, which amounts to an underestimation of less than 1% in total.
However, some data breakdowns are not available, see table 12.3. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not applicable.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not applicable.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
Not applicable.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
National rules allow for retrospective entries of permits into the database within six months after a decision on permits has been taken. This means that data for permits issued at the end of December would only be final by the end of June. Adding sufficient time for processing this would translate into data delivery by the end of August. However, as this occurs in only few cases, it is sufficient to extract the database four months after the end of the reference period and transmit data within the six months allowed by Directive (EU) 2021/1883.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
See table 14.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Statistics are comparable between geographical areas within Austria.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Not applicable.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Data are coherent across BC domains.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable, as no sub annual data are submitted to ESTAT.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Statistics are consistent within a given dataset.
Since administrative data are used, there are no costs/burden on respondents.
17.1. Data revision - policy
On national level, monthly statistics are revised when annual results (based on a retrospective data extract) become available, usually in spring of the following year. There is no need to revise data sent to Eurostat, as those data are derived from the final annual statistics.
17.2. Data revision - practice
See table 17.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
On national level: monthly, annually.
18.3. Data collection
Applications for BC have to be submitted at the Austrian representative authority abroad. Certain groups of persons may also file first applications in Austria (e.g. family members of nationals or EU-citizens, children with foreign citizenship born in Austria, researchers etc. - for an exhaustive list please refer to §21 (2) of the Austrian Residence Act [NAG]).
Additionally, applications for BC can also be filed by Austrian employers wishing to employ a third country national.
The applications are entered into a centralised database (IZR) by the competent authorities. The BC are granted by the competent authorities for Settlement and Residence of First Instance (Provincial Governor, district commission or magistrate) in Austria after the person has entered Austria by visa or, if enabled, without visa (as specified in regulation EC 539/2001).
Data are processed by the competent authorities and transmitted by file transfer to the Central Foreigners Register (Zentrales Fremdenregister - IZR).
The department responsible for statistical analyses at the Federal Ministry of the Interior receives data extracts from IZR on a daily basis for evaluation purposes. These are stored in a separate database, of which Statistics Austria receives extracts of individual data for data processing of European BC statistics.
Prior to 2014 data has been stored in a different database called Foreigners Information System (Fremdeninformationssystem - FIS). The main advantage of moving data to the IZR is that this database contains all relevant administrative information on foreigners in a single database - stretching from possible asylum applications via asylum decisions to any residence permit issued and also possible information of the foreign police.
18.4. Data validation
Validity checks include:
Checks of totals consistency;
Checks of magnitude of changes over time;
Checking the data integrity over each processing step;
Checking the consistency between EU Blue Cards from first permits (RP3) and EU Blue Cards data collection (BC1-BC3).
Data collection on EU Blue Cards statistics based on EU Directive on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment. The EU Blue Cards statistics is produced under the Directive 2009/50/EC. From 19 November 2023 this directive is replaced by Directive (EU) 2021/1883. The new legal requirements regarding supplementary statistics are applicable starting with 2024 reference period.
The following datasets are collected in 2023 under this framework:
EU Blue Cards by type of decision, occupation and citizenship (migr_resbc1);
Admitted family members of EU Blue Cards holders by type of decision and citizenship (migr_resbc2);
EU Blue Cards holders and family members by Member State of previous residence (migr_resbc3).
Directive 2009/50/EC was transposed at national level on 1 July 2011.
Directive (EU) 2021/1883 was transposed at national level on 1 October 2022 (see BGBLA 106/2022, German only).
27 November 2024
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
Number of Blue Cards.
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
Austria.
Calendar year.
Overall high accuracy: The reported statistics measure accurately the target population because the database includes all cases. Some cases that are entered into the database after data are retrieved for the data submission to Eurostat and therefore missing, which amounts to an underestimation of less than 1% in total.
However, some data breakdowns are not available, see table 12.3. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
Number of persons.
Not applicable.
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
No dissemination on national level; annual dissemination via ESTAT.
National rules allow for retrospective entries of permits into the database within six months after a decision on permits has been taken. This means that data for permits issued at the end of December would only be final by the end of June. Adding sufficient time for processing this would translate into data delivery by the end of August. However, as this occurs in only few cases, it is sufficient to extract the database four months after the end of the reference period and transmit data within the six months allowed by Directive (EU) 2021/1883.
Statistics are comparable between geographical areas within Austria.
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
