Commission proposes visa strategy to make EU more attractive in the global race for talent

The European Commission has presented an EU visa strategy to attract global talent, recognising the role of international students and researchers in filling skills gaps and driving innovation through employment and entrepreneurship.

The strategy was presented on 29/01/2026, alongside a five-year migration strategy.

The visa strategy aims to "support the EU competitiveness agenda with a more agile framework to attract global talent, foster knowledge transfer and international collaboration". It is designed to "deliver clear benefits to SMEs, start-ups and large enterprises seeking a diverse, highly qualified and skilled workforce", the strategy says. "To remain a world leader in innovation, the EU must become a preferred destination for the world’s most skilled and creative individuals."

The Commission to speed up work on swiftly rolling out digitalised visa procedures, exploring longer-validity multiple-entry visas and adapting the EU long-stay visa framework to better support innovation and research ecosystems.

The Commission also announced a Recommendation on Attracting Talent…