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.
Data collection on EU Blue Cards statistics based on the EU Directive on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment. EU Blue Cards statistics were produced under Directive 2009/50/EC. As of 19 November 2023, this Directive is replaced by Directive (EU) 2021/1883. The new legal requirements regarding supplementary statistics apply from the reference period 2024.
The following datasets were collected under the initial framework by 2023:
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).
Starting from the reference period 2024, EU Blue Cards statistics cover the following datasets:
Persons subject to EU Blue Card decisions by length of validity, age, sex, citizenship and occupation (migr_resbc11);
Persons subject to EU Blue Card decisions by length of validity, age, sex, citizenship and size of employer (migr_resbc12);
Persons subject to EU Blue Card decisions by length of validity duration, age, sex, citizenship and economic sector of employer (migr_resbc13);
Persons subject to decisions on residence permits for family reunification with EU Blue Card holders, by duration, age, sex and citizenship (migr_resbc2);
EU Blue Card holders admitted for long-term mobility by length of validity, age, sex, citizenship and previous country of residence (migr_resbc31);
EU Blue Card holders’ family members admitted for long-term mobility by age, sex, citizenship, and previous country of residence (migr_resbc34);
Persons subject to a rejected application for EU Blue Cards by reason, age, sex, citizenship and occupation (migr_resbc41);
Persons subject to a rejected application for EU Blue Cards by reason, age, sex, citizenship and size of employer (migr_resbc42);
Persons subject to a rejected application for EU Blue Cards by reason, age, sex, citizenship and economic sector of employer (migr_resbc43);
EU Blue Cards granted to beneficiaries of international protection by length of validity, age, sex and citizenship of the holder (migr_resbc5);
EU Blue Cards granted to beneficiary of free movement rights by length of validity, age, sex and citizenship of the holder (migr_resbc6);
Long-term permits granted to former EU Blue Card holders by age, sex, and citizenship (migr_resbc7).
Directive 2009/50/EC was transposed at national level in 2011.
Directive (EU) 2021/1883 was transposed at national level on 22 December 2023.
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
Persons.
3.6. Statistical population
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
3.7. Reference area
Malta.
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 NSO, as an office set up by the Malta Statistics Authority Act, aims to comply with both national and European Data Protection and statistical legislation, the said Act – Chapter 422 of the Laws of Malta, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act – Chapter 586 of the Laws of Malta.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Information provided to the NSO is treated as confidential. This information is used solely in the compilation of statistical reports. No information on individual returns can be given to any external public or private entity.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Micro data is collected in terms of the Malta Statistics Authority, in which Part VIII - Use of Records of Public Authorities and protection of collected information stipulates that:
All information furnished by any person, undertaking or public authority under this Act shall be used only for the purpose of statistical compilation and analysis.
No information obtained in any way under this Act which can be related to an identifiable person or undertaking shall, except with the written consent of that person or undertaking or the personal representative or next-of-kin of that person, if he be deceased, be disseminated, shown or communicated to any person or body except -
for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence under this Act, or
to officers of statistics in the course of their duties under this Act.
Furthermore, all data that is requested and collected is done so in line with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulations allowing for data to be shared for statistical purposes.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable as only the total aggregate figure is published therefore small count rules do not apply. Micro data is requested from Public Authorities in terms of the Malta Statistics Authority Act and in line with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulations allowing for data to be shared for statistical purposes.
8.1. Release calendar
The NSO online calendar is accessible through the NSO website.
8.2. Release calendar access
The NSO online calendar is accessible through the NSO website.
8.3. Release policy - user access
An advanced release calendar is published online. Requests may also be made to the NSO directly for any additional data.
Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not applicable.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not applicable.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Currently not available nationally. Data available on Eurostat 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
Not applicable.
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
NSO follows the methodological recommendations stipulated by Eurostat and the relevant Regulation/Directives in order to ensure harmonisation of results.
NSO also documents all work processes involved in the compilation of these statistics, which are currently available for internal purposes.
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not applicable.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Refer to 10.6.
11.1. Quality assurance
The NSO has a commitment to quality management and this is ingrained in the NSO’s operations. Moreover, rigorous standards for confidentiality and data protection were validated by ISO 27001 certification in 2019. The NSO also maintains a dedicated website related to metadata reporting which can be found here: NSO Metadata (gov.mt)
In October of 2022, the National Statistics Office (NSO) underwent a peer review conducted by a team of European experts. This review aimed to evaluate the NSO’s operations and its adherence to the European Statistical System’s (ESS) Code of Practice.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Not applicable.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The statistics collected under the Regulation 862/2007 are widely used in official publications and by a wide range of users at national, European and International level. The Residence permits statistics produced are regularly used by national administrations, academic researchers and civil society groups working on a wide range of 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.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Information on the user satisfaction survey conducted by the NSO can be found at the NSO website.
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
Centralised national databases are used for data extraction by the data source. No specific accuracy issues have been identified.
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
N + 6 months.
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
All data is extracted from one national database and comparability in terms of geography is considered accurate with time.
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
Non-EU migration flows estimated for demographic statistics are calculated using the Residence Permit data. Coherence between third-country national migration flows based on the usual residence definition and first permit was assessed by Eurostat. The relative difference for MT was below 5% and can be explained by differences in definitions and methods applied within the two domains. With regards to beneficiaries of asylum data, data for RP4 is extracted from the Asylum applicants database – this is the same source used to estimate flows for asylum seekers for demographic statistics. On the other hand stock figures for beneficiaries for asylum are not available.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable - only annual statistics produced.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Refer to 15.3.
Not applicable.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Any revision of data as required by Regulation 862/2007 is conducted in line with article 9 of the regulation.
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
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
Data extracts are collected annually following data requests to the data owners.
18.4. Data validation
Checks of totals consistency.
Checks of magnitude of changes over time.
Checking the consistency between flow and stock data.
Checks of trends over time in specific breakdowns and face validation.
18.5. Data compilation
The information is compiled from an IT system which was launched in 2013. The data is extracted by the third-party company managing the system following a formal request for this data. The system is an administrative database used to register and manage Resident Permit applications. All reports related to Blue Cards are extracted from this system.
Data collection on EU Blue Cards statistics based on the EU Directive on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment. EU Blue Cards statistics were produced under Directive 2009/50/EC. As of 19 November 2023, this Directive is replaced by Directive (EU) 2021/1883. The new legal requirements regarding supplementary statistics apply from the reference period 2024.
The following datasets were collected under the initial framework by 2023:
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).
Starting from the reference period 2024, EU Blue Cards statistics cover the following datasets:
Persons subject to EU Blue Card decisions by length of validity, age, sex, citizenship and occupation (migr_resbc11);
Persons subject to EU Blue Card decisions by length of validity, age, sex, citizenship and size of employer (migr_resbc12);
Persons subject to EU Blue Card decisions by length of validity duration, age, sex, citizenship and economic sector of employer (migr_resbc13);
Persons subject to decisions on residence permits for family reunification with EU Blue Card holders, by duration, age, sex and citizenship (migr_resbc2);
EU Blue Card holders admitted for long-term mobility by length of validity, age, sex, citizenship and previous country of residence (migr_resbc31);
EU Blue Card holders’ family members admitted for long-term mobility by age, sex, citizenship, and previous country of residence (migr_resbc34);
Persons subject to a rejected application for EU Blue Cards by reason, age, sex, citizenship and occupation (migr_resbc41);
Persons subject to a rejected application for EU Blue Cards by reason, age, sex, citizenship and size of employer (migr_resbc42);
Persons subject to a rejected application for EU Blue Cards by reason, age, sex, citizenship and economic sector of employer (migr_resbc43);
EU Blue Cards granted to beneficiaries of international protection by length of validity, age, sex and citizenship of the holder (migr_resbc5);
EU Blue Cards granted to beneficiary of free movement rights by length of validity, age, sex and citizenship of the holder (migr_resbc6);
Long-term permits granted to former EU Blue Card holders by age, sex, and citizenship (migr_resbc7).
Directive 2009/50/EC was transposed at national level in 2011.
Directive (EU) 2021/1883 was transposed at national level on 22 December 2023.
6 August 2026
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
Persons.
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
Malta.
Calendar year.
Centralised national databases are used for data extraction by the data source. No specific accuracy issues have been identified.
Number of persons.
The information is compiled from an IT system which was launched in 2013. The data is extracted by the third-party company managing the system following a formal request for this data. The system is an administrative database used to register and manage Resident Permit applications. All reports related to Blue Cards are extracted from this system.
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
Annual.
N + 6 months.
All data is extracted from one national database and comparability in terms of geography is considered accurate with time.
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables EU Blue Cards’.
