Hi, this is the picture of a Blue Card from one of my engineers. It is limited until 2014 because his passport will expire in 2014, otherwise they would have given a 4 years validation.

It is mentioned that this comes under § 19 a, which is the Blue Card law. When new engineers arrive in Germany they will get a visa for 3 month or for 12 month first and when the first period is over, they will receive this Blue Card. As long as § 19 a is mentioned in the visa it has the same value as the Blue Card and the time for the permanent residence counts from the 1st month of stay.

Have a nice weekend

Detlef