Member States shall determine whether applications for an EU Blue Card are to be made by the third-country national and/or by his employer.

The application shall be considered and examined either when the third-country national concerned is residing outside the territory of the Member State to which he wishes to be admitted or when he is already residing in that Member State as holder of a valid residence permit or national long-stay visa.

By way of derogation from paragraph 2, a Member State may accept, in accordance with its national law, an application submitted when the third-country national concerned is not in possession of a valid residence permit but is legally present in its territory.

By way of derogation from paragraph 2, a Member State may provide that an application can only be submitted from outside its territory, provided that such limitations, either for all the third-country nationals or for specific categories of third-country nationals, are already set out in the existing national law at the time of the adoption of this Directive.