On 27 April 2022, the European Commission proposed a recast of the Single Permit Directive to inter alia streamline the application procedure and make it more effective, and to include new requirements to strengthen the safeguards and equal treatment of nationals of non-EU countries as compared to EU citizens and improve their protection from labour exploitation. 

The revised Single Permit Directive, which was formally adopted by the Council of the European Union, inter alia includes the following novelties:

• A third-country worker can submit an application from the territory of a third country or, if he or she is a holder of a valid residence permit, from within the EU.
   
• The revised Single Permit Directive comes with stricter deadlines for the decision to issue a permit. This should happen within three months of receipt of the completed application.
   
• Single permit holders will be able to change employer. Such a change may be subject to notification to the authorities, and Member States may carry out a labour-market check. EU countries may also require a minimum period during which the single permit holder is required to work for the first employer.
   
• If a single permit holder becomes unemployed, he/she is allowed to remain in the territory of the Member State if the total period of unemployment does not exceed three months during the validity of the single permit or six months after two years of the permit.

The Directive will enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Member States have two years to transpose the Directive into national law.

For further information, please read the press release from the Council of the EU.