EU Blue Card in the Netherlands: no shortcut to EU long-term residence, still five years in a row
Netherlands · EU Blue Card
Income required
EUR 5,942 per month
General salary threshold for the EU Blue Card — gross monthly salary, not counting holiday allowance, the same for a first permit, an extension and a change of employer
Also on file
EUR 4,754 per month
Reduced salary threshold for the EU Blue Card, for an application within three years of graduating — gross monthly salary, not counting holiday allowance
Government fee
EUR 423
Government fees on file, main applicant, initial application
Official source · Government fee checked 26 Oct 2026 · No rule-change history on file for this route — check the official source for changes · Figures read from the official rules on file at the time this page was served.
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The Blue Card does not cut the five years before EU long-term residence. It can let years spent in another EU country count, but only if you held a Blue Card there for the 12 months before your last two years here.
Picking the Blue Card over the highly skilled migrant permit to settle sooner does not shorten the five years. The Dutch immigration service's (IND) page on exceptions to the five-year term sets conditions that must all apply: five years in a row in the EU on a valid permit, the last two here on a Blue Card, the 12 months before those on a Blue Card in another EU country, and limits on time away.
Time on the highly skilled migrant permit or a research permit counts too, and study time counts at half. The Blue Card's other advantages: years in another EU country can count, and more time abroad is allowed during the five years.
When each permit fits
The Blue Card suits you when:
- Your employer is not a recognised sponsor. The IND says the Blue Card needs none; the highly skilled migrant permit does.
- You already hold a Blue Card in another EU country. Only then can years outside the Netherlands count here.
The highly skilled migrant permit is easier when:
- You are under 30. It sets a lower bar for under-30s; the Blue Card figure above ignores age.
- The contract is short. A Blue Card needs one running at least six months.
Both have a lower bar for people applying within three years of graduating, but for different graduates. The highly skilled migrant one needs a Dutch degree, a degree from a foreign university the IND lists, or a recently ended researcher's permit. The Blue Card one is open to anyone who finished a higher-education programme. The amounts change every 1 January.
The IND's charge and the agency's
To the IND: the application fee shown above, charged again for an extension. That fee covers the main applicant only; each family member pays their own.
To the agency or adviser: its service fee, with document legalising and translation listed separately.
Ask:
- If the IND already recognises your employer as a sponsor, will you use what the Blue Card adds: time in another EU country, or more time abroad?
- Is the general salary bar or the graduate one being applied, and from which graduation date?
- If settling sooner is the selling point, which earlier Blue Card months in another EU country does that rely on?
- If the IND refuses the permit, or the rules change after you pay but before filing, what happens to the agency's fee?
An agency's or adviser's quote for this permit can go through the box: answer yes at its first question, and the quote is read line by line against the published rules. The box does not read a job offer or employment contract: with only an offer, answer no, take the second option, enter its gross monthly salary and choose "Per month". The check compares a document or a figure with the published rules, and does not look at your application or advise on it; for advice on your own case, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.
General information, not legal advice.
