Compare a job offer with the published 2026 EU Blue Card salary thresholds in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, France and Sweden, and with the Dutch highly skilled migrant amounts.
This tool shows what the published thresholds say. It is not immigration advice and it is not a decision. Meeting the salary threshold is only one condition. You also need professional recognition or a licence, a qualifying degree and an employer, and the immigration authority decides. Only a regulated immigration adviser or lawyer can advise on your case. Check the official page linked with each result before you apply or pay.
A regulated health job also needs professional recognition or a licence to practise before you can work. Read Approbation and Berufserlaubnis in Germany or find your route with the route finder.
Method
Worked example
A doctor offered €48,000 a year in Germany
A 31-year-old nurse offered €5,100 a month in the NetherlandsWhat the rules say
| Country | Threshold | Basis and when it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Germany |
| Gross a year. Every 1 January (§18g(7) AufenthG). |
| Netherlands |
| Gross a month without the 8% holiday allowance. Every 1 January. |
 Austria |
| Gross a year including special payments, 2026. |
 France |
| Gross a year. Service-Public page checked 1 June 2026. |
 Sweden |
| Gross a month, since 15 July 2026. Set each year. |
Not shown: Spain, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Czechia, Poland, Italy, Portugal and other EU countries, because we could not confirm their 2026 amounts on an official page. Ireland does not issue EU Blue Cards.
FAQ
The Federal Ministry of the Interior set €50,700 a year gross for 2026, and a reduced €45,934.20 for the occupation groups listed in §18g(1) of the Residence Act and for people whose degree is no more than 3 years old. The amounts change every 1 January.
The reduced threshold covers ISCO-08 groups including medical doctors (221), nursing and midwifery professionals (222) and other health professionals (226), such as dentists and pharmacists. At the reduced level the Federal Employment Agency must approve the job. A licence to practise, such as Approbation for doctors, is also needed.
The IND's 2026 gross monthly amounts, without the 8% holiday allowance, are €5,942 if you are 30 or older, €4,357 if you are younger than 30 and €3,122 under the reduced criterion. Doctors in training to be a specialist have a lower amount, €1,635.90 from 1 July to 31 December 2026.
€5,942 gross a month without holiday allowance in 2026, or €4,754 where the reduced criterion applies: the application is made within 3 years of completing a higher education programme.
Austria: €55,678 a year including special payments (2026). France: €59,373 gross a year. Sweden: SEK 53,625 a month since 15 July 2026. Each amount is shown in its own currency.
No. Ireland does not issue EU Blue Cards. Health professionals usually come on an employment permit; the Critical Skills Employment Permit minimum is €40,904 a year for occupations on the Critical Skills Occupations List.
Not necessarily. Salary is one condition. You also need a qualifying degree, a job offer, professional recognition or a licence for a regulated health job, and the immigration authority decides. Check the official page and get regulated advice for your own case.
We only show thresholds we could confirm on an official government page. For other countries we found amounts only in secondary sources, so we have left them out until we can verify them.
Sources
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