EU Blue Card salary threshold in Germany: which one applies to you

An offer that clears this year's threshold may not clear it at renewal. The thresholds are set again every calendar year, and an extension of the card is tested against the figures in force at the extension, not the ones in force when you were hired.

A salary that is enough when you sign can be too little when the card runs out. Germany's Interior Ministry announces the thresholds for each calendar year by the end of the year before. The new figure bites at the next test: when you apply to extend, and when you change employer in your first twelve months.

So the question for a tight offer is not only whether it clears the figure above today. It is whether it will still clear whatever the figure is in the year the card needs extending.

The figure above is the general salary threshold for the EU Blue Card: the gross annual salary your job in Germany must pay, as the federal government sets it. It is a salary your employer pays you, not a sum you hold.

Which threshold applies

Germany uses two thresholds:

• The general threshold, shown first.
• The reduced threshold, shown beneath it, if your job is in a shortage occupation, if you obtained a degree no more than three years before you apply, or if you are an IT specialist without a degree who meets the experience condition on the official page. On all three reduced grounds, the Federal Employment Agency must also approve the job.

The reduced threshold is tested again too. The Residence Act says that at an extension, the recent-graduate ground applies only if you obtained the degree no more than three years before you apply to extend, or, if your first card was issued on that ground, less than 24 months have passed since it was issued.

Either way, the job must last at least six months, and you need a German degree, a foreign degree comparable to one, or, for IT specialists, the experience route instead.

Fees come in two stages

The government fee shown above covers two charges: the national visa you apply for at the German embassy or consulate, and the Blue Card itself, which the local foreigners authority issues after you arrive.

Changing employer, and staying for good

You can change employer while holding a Blue Card. In the first twelve months of employment, the local foreigners authority can hold the change up for 30 days and refuse it if the new job does not meet the conditions, including the salary threshold. If a job ends early, at any point, the law requires you to tell the authority within two weeks.

The Blue Card also leads to permanent residence. Among other conditions, a Blue Card holder can get a settlement permit after 27 months of employment on the card, with pension contributions paid, and basic German (level A1), or after 21 months with intermediate German (level B1).

Reading the offer

The salary is the employer's side; the card's own charges are yours.

Paid by the employer:

• Your salary, at or above the threshold that applies to you.

Can fall to you:

• The visa fee and the fee for the card itself.
• An adviser's fee, if you hire one, listed apart from any government fee.

Ask:

1. Does the offer rely on the general threshold or the reduced one? If reduced, on which ground, and has the Federal Employment Agency approved the job?
2. By how much does the salary clear the threshold, and is there any room if the figure rises before your card is extended?
3. Is the salary in the contract stated as a gross annual figure, fixed in the contract?
4. Is your degree German, or has it been confirmed as comparable to a German one?
5. Will the contract run for at least six months?
6. If the job ends early, are you ready to tell the foreigners authority within the two weeks the law allows?

Answer no to the first question in the box below, since it does not read a job offer or employment contract, then type the gross annual salary from your German offer and choose Per year to place it against this year's figure on file, with no account. Where an agency is charging you for the placement or the visa, answer yes instead, and its fee proposal is read line by line. The check 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.