ANNUAL POLICY REPORT 2012 country, at the request of the Ministers of Interior and Labour, relating to existing labor needs for highly qualified personnel in the Greek territory. These needs are determined mainly based on the following criteria: the interests of the national economy, the purposefulness of the specific employment, available labor supply from national or European citizens or legally residing third countries’ citizens, by specialty and unemployment rates by sector of employment. Based on the above suggestions / opinions, the Ministry of Labour expedites the issuance of the abovementioned joint ministerial decision Applications for the grant and renewal of the "EU Blue Card" are filed and reviewed by the Directorate of Migration Policy of the Ministry of Interior, while the decisions are issued by the Minister of Interior. The competent authority shall consider the application with all the required documents and if the conditions specified in the law are met, an "EU Blue Card" is issued within 90 days from the receipt of all the required documents. The completion of the process from the central services of the Ministry of Interior and not at the level of the Decentralized Administration has been preferred so as to ensure the accurate implementation of the law and to speed up the procedure for the issuance of residence permits, taking into account the fact that implementation of the Directive is still at an early stage. Access to the labor market is limited to exercising highly skilled employment, while the change of employer during the first two years is permitted only upon approval by the authority granting the "Blue Card". After the first two years, the applicant shall declare to the competent authority, in accordance with applicable national legislation, any changes with respect to the change of employer. For family members of the holder of a "Blue Card" there are a series of favorable provisions. Specifically, residence permits for family members, if the conditions for family reunification are met, are granted within six months from the date the application was submitted, notwithstanding Article 7 paragraph 4 of Presidential Decree No.131/2006 (which provides for a deadline of nine months). Notwithstanding also the restrictions imposed by Article 10 of Presidential Decree No.131/2006, no time limit is applied with regards to family members’ access to the labor market. The L. 4071/2012 allows holders of a residence permit (especially those holding a residence permit for dependent employment) to request their transition to the status of "Blue Card" resident, provided that the relevant conditions are met. The law also provides TCNs who entered and reside legally in Greece as business executives, students, researchers or for obtaining medical specialty, with the possibility to change the purpose of residence and obtain the "Blue Card" status. This regulation is very important especially for students, taking into account the fact that students of higher education who entered Greece for studies can not continue to stay legally in the country after completing their studies, even if they have excelled, have completed postgraduate studies in our country and have career prospects as highly skilled employees in Greece. To fall under the above provision, the concerned citizens of third countries should meet (beyond the conditions set by law) a number of 7