EU Blue Card Eligibility & Salary Threshold Checker

The EU Blue Card is the employment-based residence permit for highly qualified non-EU workers, set by Directive (EU) 2021/1883 (the 2021 recast) and transposed by each participating country. This checker evaluates the three conditions that decide eligibility — it does not estimate or guess. Every branch maps to a cited legal rule or a published threshold number.

1. Participation gate. The Blue Card applies in every EU state except Denmark and Ireland, which opted out. If you pick one of those, the tool stops and explains why.
2. Qualification condition (Art. 5 & 26). You pass with a higher-education qualification from a course of at least three years, or — for the ICT roles the recast lists (ISCO groups 133 and 25) — with at least 3 years of relevant professional experience gained in the last 7 years. No degree and no qualifying experience means this condition fails.
3. Contract condition (Art. 5(1)(a)). You need a work contract or binding job offer of at least 6 months. Exactly 6 months passes.
4. Threshold selection (Art. 5(3)–(4)). Each country sets a general gross annual salary threshold between 1.0 and 1.6 times its national average wage. States may also apply a reduced threshold — no lower than 80% of the general one — for shortage occupations and recent graduates. The tool applies the reduced line when you flag either, and the general line otherwise.
5. Salary condition. Your offer must be at least the applicable threshold. The tool reports the surplus if you clear it, or the shortfall to both the reduced and general lines if you do not.

You are eligible when the qualification, contract and salary conditions all pass. Because thresholds are re-indexed every year and differ by country, the salary threshold field is editable: Germany's verified 2025 figures are pre-filled, and every other country links straight to its official portal so you compare against the current number. An independent re-derivation runs on every change and confirms the verdict — and that any stored reduced threshold respects the 80% floor in the Directive.

All three use Germany's 2025 thresholds — general €48,300, reduced (shortage occupation / recent graduate) €43,759.80 — and reconcile by hand.

• Directive (EU) 2021/1883 — the recast EU Blue Card Directive (EUR-Lex)
• European Commission — EU Immigration Portal: EU Blue Card (participating states, benefits)
• Make it in Germany / BAMF — EU Blue Card Germany thresholds
• Netherlands IND — EU Blue Card salary criterion

The Directive conditions, the participation list and Germany's thresholds were last cross-checked on 2026-07-17. Per-country thresholds are re-indexed every year — always confirm your destination's current figure on its official portal before applying. This tool screens eligibility only; it is not legal or immigration advice.