Germany EU Blue Card in 2026: €50,700 standard salary and a lower eligible route

Germany's EU Blue Card has a standard gross annual salary threshold of €50,700 for 2026. The government's Make it in Germany portal also describes a lower threshold of €45,934.20 for specified eligible cases.

The two amounts are not interchangeable. A job offer should be matched to the appropriate route before an applicant assumes the lower figure is sufficient.

Check the job and qualification together

The official guidance requires a specific German job offer with employment lasting at least six months. The job must fit the relevant qualification requirements, and a regulated profession may require a licence to practise to be in place or in prospect at the visa stage.

Salary alone therefore cannot establish eligibility. Review the work to be performed and how the qualification or qualifying professional experience supports it.

When the lower threshold may apply

The portal describes the lower amount for shortage occupations with Federal Employment Agency approval, and for eligible recent graduates whose last qualifying degree was obtained less than three years ago. It also sets out a separate route for experienced IT specialists without a formal degree.

Use the exact conditions for the relevant case. Being new to Germany is not the same as being a qualifying recent graduate.

Build an offer-checking file

Our practical recommendation is to put the employment contract, detailed job description, qualification records and proposed start date in one file. Ask the employer to confirm the gross annual salary and the category it expects the application to use.

If a figure comes from a guide written for another year, recheck it: the government publishes these thresholds annually. For a start or application in 2027, do not assume the 2026 amounts will remain applicable.

Applicants who do not meet the Blue Card rules can review other official qualified-professional visa routes. Choose the route that fits the evidence rather than stretching the job title or qualification description to match a preferred label.