EU Blue Card
Blaue Karte EU (§18g AufenthG)
The main route for graduates with a qualifying job offer. It carries the fastest settlement timeline of any German title and relaxed rules on changing employer after the first year.
Who it is for. University graduates, and qualifying IT professionals without a degree, holding a German job offer at or above the salary threshold.
Worth knowing. The 2026 thresholds are €50,700 gross a year generally and €45,934.20 for shortage occupations, recent graduates and qualifying IT specialists. They are pegged to the pension insurance contribution ceiling and are reset every January, so recompute rather than relying on the stored figure. Settlement can follow after 27 months, or 21 months with B1 German.
- Income required
- €50,700
- Savings required
- Not stated
- Investment required
- None
- Application fee
- €100
- Processing time
- 30–120 days
- Permission lasts
- 48 months
- Permanent residence
- After 2.25 years
- Citizenship
- After 5 years
a year
Renewable
Application checklist
Tick things off as you go. Progress is saved in this browser and nowhere else.
0 of 12 done
Documents
Process
After you arrive
Renewal
Progress is kept in this browser. It will not follow you to another device, and clearing your site data clears it.
How the process runs
Lead times are the ones the authorities publish or that applicants consistently report. Added up, they come to roughly 10 months — start with whatever takes longest.
Have your qualification recognised
≈ 60 daysCheck your degree in the anabin database, or request a statement of comparability from the ZAB if it is not listed.
Secure a qualifying job offer
≈ 90 daysThe contract must meet the salary threshold for your occupation category.
Book the visa appointment early
≈ 90 daysAppointment availability at German missions is the most common source of delay; book as soon as you have a contract.
Enter Germany and register your address
≈ 14 daysAnmeldung at the local registration office within about two weeks of moving in.
Collect the Blue Card
≈ 45 daysAttend the foreigners authority to have the card issued.
Official forms
Always download the current version from the authority. Consulates publish their own variants, and an out-of-date form is a common reason for rejection.
National visa application (VIDEX)
eitherThe online application for a long-stay German national visa.
Auswärtiges Amt · German and English
Fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| National visaPayable to German mission abroad | €75 |
| Residence title issuePayable to Local foreigners authority | €100 |
Why we say this
The wording behind the headline figures on this page.
The EU Blue Card requires a gross salary of at least €50,700 a year in 2026, or €45,934.20 in a shortage occupation.
Section 18g of the Residence Act sets the threshold by reference to the contribution assessment ceiling of the general pension insurance, and the Federal Ministry of the Interior publishes the resulting figures each January.
Sources
Worth knowing. The 2026 thresholds are €50,700 gross a year generally and €45,934.20 for shortage occupations, recent graduates and qualifying IT specialists. They are pegged to the pension insurance contribution ceiling and are reset every January, so recompute rather than relying on the stored figure. Settlement can follow after 27 months, or 21 months with B1 German.
Check this against
- Aufenthaltsgesetz (Residence Act) — including §21 self-employment and §18g EU Blue Card (opens in a new tab)Bundesministerium der Justiz · Government department
- Make it in Germany — the official portal for skilled workers (opens in a new tab)Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour · Government department
- Directive (EU) 2021/1883 — conditions of entry and residence for highly qualified employment (EU Blue Card) (opens in a new tab)European Union (EUR-Lex) · Supranational authority