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Work and study in Germany · EU Blue Card · Germany · Skilled immigration · Residence Act · Work permits

Germany EU Blue Card salary threshold: 2024, 2025 and 2026, and how it is set

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The Blue Card salary floor is 50 percent of the pension ceiling, which is 101 400 euros in 2026. It is 45.3 percent for shortage jobs and recent graduates.

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Close-up of a hand holding a pen over printed documents on a wooden deskIllustration
A person signing papers, used to illustrate a job contract for a Blue Card application. Illustration, not a photo/footage of the event. Credit: Storyblocks.

Germany does not write a fixed euro amount for the EU Blue Card into its law. Section 18g of the Residence Act ties the minimum gross salary to the annual contribution ceiling of the general pension scheme. The floor is at least 50 percent of that ceiling. It is 45.3 percent for listed shortage occupations and for people who graduated in the last three years. The ceiling is reset by regulation for each calendar year, so the salary floor changes every 1 January. The ceiling was 90 600 euros in 2024, 96 600 euros in 2025 and is 101 400 euros in 2026.

Latest update

First version: the Blue Card salary rule in section 18g, the official pension contribution ceiling for 2024, 2025 and 2026, and the main Blue Card conditions from BAMF.

What changed in this version

Version 1, : Record created.

Key facts

  • Under section 18g of the Residence Act, a university-educated skilled worker gets an EU Blue Card without approval from the Federal Employment Agency if the salary is at least 50 percent of the annual contribution ceiling of the general pension scheme. [1] [2] [3]
  • A lower floor of 45.3 percent of the ceiling applies, with the Federal Employment Agency's approval, to people in listed occupation groups and to those who obtained their degree no more than three years before applying. [1]
  • For 2026 the ceiling is 101 400 euros a year, or 8 450 euros a month. [6]
Bar chart of Germany's EU Blue Card minimum gross annual salary by year, calculated from the official pension contribution ceiling. 2024: ceiling 90,600 euros, standard floor 45,300 euros, lower floor 41,041.80 euros. 2025: ceiling 96,600 euros, standard 48,300, lower 43,759.80. 2026: ceiling 101,400 euros, standard 50,700, lower 45,934.20. The standard floor is 50 percent of the ceiling; the lower 45.3 percent floor applies to shortage occupations and graduates of the last three years.
Graphic by Stories of Record, from the sources below. Minimum Blue Card salary for each year since 2024: our calculation, applying the 50 and 45.3 percent shares in section 18g to the official ceiling for each year. Credit: Stories of Record (all rights reserved).

Timeline

  1. For 2026 the ceiling is 101 400 euros a year, or 8 450 euros a month. [6]
  2. For 2025 the ceiling rose to 96 600 euros a year. [5]
  3. For 2024 the pension contribution ceiling was set at 90 600 euros a year. [4]
  4. The current Blue Card rules come from the Act on the Further Development of Skilled Immigration, published in the Federal Law Gazette in August 2023, which BAMF says expanded the Blue Card rules again. [7] [8]

What is confirmed

  • The listed occupation groups are 132, 133, 134, 21, 221, 222, 225, 226, 23 and 25 of the international ISCO-08 classification. [1]
  • Without a degree, a Blue Card is possible only in ISCO-08 groups 133 or 25, with a salary of at least 45.3 percent of the ceiling and at least three years of relevant experience gained in the last seven years. [1] [2]
  • For 2024 the pension contribution ceiling was set at 90 600 euros a year. [4]
  • For 2025 the ceiling rose to 96 600 euros a year. [5]
  • The current Blue Card rules come from the Act on the Further Development of Skilled Immigration, published in the Federal Law Gazette in August 2023, which BAMF says expanded the Blue Card rules again. [7] [8]
  • A Blue Card is normally issued for four years, or for the length of the employment contract plus three months if that is shorter. The job offer must be for at least six months. [3]
  • In the first twelve months of employment, the immigration office can suspend a change of job for 30 days and refuse it within that period. [3]
  • Blue Card holders can get a permanent settlement permit after 27 months of qualifying work and pension contributions with basic German, or after 21 months with German at level B1. [3]
  • Spouses of Blue Card holders do not need to show German skills to get a residence permit, and may work immediately without restriction. [3]
  • Nationals of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the UK and the US can enter without a visa and apply for the Blue Card in Germany within three months; they may start work once it is issued. [3]
  • Someone who has held a Blue Card in another EU country for at least 12 months can enter Germany without a visa and must apply for a German Blue Card within one month. [3]
  • BAMF says there is a legal entitlement to a Blue Card when the conditions are met, and that it can be applied for in every EU country except Denmark and Ireland, with salary rules that differ by country. [3]
  • BAMF says Indian nationals received more than a quarter of all first-time Blue Cards issued in Germany in 2023, by far the largest group. [8]

What remains unconfirmed

No open questions are being tracked.

Why it matters

A job offer just under the floor means no Blue Card, and a salary that qualified last year may not qualify after 1 January. The Blue Card also shortens the road to a settlement permit to as little as 21 months and eases family reunification, so missing the threshold changes more than one permit.

What happens next

  • Each year's ceiling is set by its own social insurance values regulation, valid for that calendar year only. When next year's regulation is published, the new Blue Card salary floor follows from it and we will update this record. [6]

Questions

Is the Blue Card threshold a fixed amount in the law?

No. Section 18g sets it as a share of the pension contribution ceiling: 50 percent, or 45.3 percent for shortage occupations and recent graduates. The ceiling is set for each calendar year, so the euro amount changes on 1 January.

What is the ceiling for 2026?

101 400 euros a year, or 8 450 euros a month, under the 2026 social insurance values regulation. Our chart applies the two percentages in the law to it.

Who counts as a recent graduate?

Someone who obtained their higher education qualification no more than three years before applying for the Blue Card.

Can I get a Blue Card without a degree?

Only in ISCO-08 occupation groups 133 or 25, with at least three years of relevant experience gained in the last seven years and a salary of at least 45.3 percent of the ceiling.

How fast can a Blue Card lead to permanent residence?

After 27 months of qualifying work and pension contributions with basic German, or 21 months with German at level B1, according to BAMF.

Can I change jobs on a Blue Card?

Yes, but in the first twelve months the immigration office can suspend a change for 30 days and refuse it within that time.

Sources

  1. Act on the Residence, Economic Activity and Integration of Foreigners in the Federal Territory¹ (Residence Act – AufenthG), Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice)Original document
    Accessed 7 October 2026.
  2. § 18g AufenthG - Einzelnorm, Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice)Original document
    Accessed 7 October 2026.
  3. The EU Blue Card, Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF)Official (government)
    Accessed 7 October 2026.
  4. § 4 SVBezGrV 2024 - Einzelnorm, Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice)Original document
    Accessed 7 October 2026.
  5. § 4 SVBezGrV 2025 - Einzelnorm, Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice)Original document
    Accessed 7 October 2026.
  6. § 4 SVBezGrV 2026 - Einzelnorm, Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice)Original document
    Accessed 7 October 2026.
  7. Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I - Gesetz zur Weiterentwicklung der Fachkräfteeinwanderung - Bundesgesetzblatt, Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette)Original document
    Accessed 7 October 2026.
  8. Zahlen zur Blauen Karte EU, Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF)Official (government)
    Accessed 7 October 2026.

People, places and organizations

organization
Federal Office for Migration and Refugees
organization
Federal Employment Agency