There is no single EU Blue Card salary threshold. Each member state sets its own, and since the directive was recast they are allowed to set it anywhere between 1.0 and 1.6 times their average gross annual salary, where the old rule fixed it at 1.5.
The result is a spread that surprises people. The same card, carrying the same rights and the same mobility, requires around EUR 41,000 in Spain and nearly EUR 69,000 in Wallonia. If you are choosing where to apply, that difference is worth more than almost any other factor on your list.
The thresholds, country by country
| Country | Standard threshold | Reduced threshold | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | EUR 41,356 | Among the lowest bars in the EU | |
| Germany | EUR 50,700 | EUR 45,934.20 | Reduced rate for shortage occupations and recent graduates. Both are fixed shares of the pension ceiling, so you can check them |
| Austria | EUR 55,678 | Unless a collective agreement sets a higher figure, which it often does | |
| Brussels | EUR 56,976 | Belgium sets this regionally, not nationally | |
| France | EUR 59,373 | Issued as the Talent EU Blue Card, at 1.5x the national average | |
| Flanders | EUR 63,586 | Belgian region | |
| Wallonia | EUR 68,815 | The highest on this list | |
| Netherlands | EUR 5,942 a month | EUR 4,754 a month | Set monthly and excluding the 8% holiday allowance. Reduced rate for graduates within three years |
| Poland | PLN 13,355.34 a month | 150% of the average national salary, up from PLN 12,272.58 | |
| Lithuania | 1.5x the average wage | 1.2x | A multiplier rather than a figure. Reduced rate if your occupation is on the high value added list |
A word on how solid these are, because they are not equally solid. The German figures are derivable from a published government number and the Dutch ones were checked against an immigration law firm. France, Austria, Poland and Spain come from single commercial sources. Treat the ordering as reliable and the exact digits as needing confirmation.
Three things the table does not show
Belgium is not one country for this purpose
Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels each set their own threshold, and the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive is nearly twelve thousand euros. Which region your employer is registered in decides which figure applies to you, and it is worth asking before you negotiate. Our guide to the Belgian Work Permit B covers the regional split.
A multiplier is not a figure
Lithuania and France define the threshold as a multiple of the national average wage rather than as a euro amount, which means it moves the moment the statistical office publishes a new average. That is more honest than a fixed number and more annoying to plan around. Work from the multiplier and recalculate. See the Lithuanian shortage occupations list for how the multipliers work there.
The reduced rate is where the value is
Most countries cut the floor for shortage occupations and for people who graduated within the last three years, and that is how junior and hard-to-fill profiles actually get in. In Germany the reduced rate is nearly five thousand euros below the standard one. Establishing whether you qualify for it is the single highest value hour you can spend on this.
Choosing on the threshold alone is a mistake
A lower bar is easier to clear and it is also a lower salary. Spain at EUR 41,000 and Wallonia at EUR 69,000 are not the same job at a different price; they reflect what those labour markets pay. So the table tells you where you are eligible, not where you will be best off.
What the Blue Card gives you that a national permit usually does not is mobility: after a period in the first country you can move to another member state considerably more easily than a national permit would allow. If you expect to move again, that is worth more than a few thousand euros of threshold. The European Commission’s own page sets out the common rights.
And if you do not yet have an offer at any of these figures, the threshold question is premature. Germany’s route for that situation is covered in Opportunity Card vs Blue Card.
What to do with this
- Find the threshold for the country and, in Belgium, the region you are targeting. Confirm it on the national immigration site.
- Check whether your occupation qualifies for a reduced rate, and whether you count as a recent graduate.
- Compare that figure against what the role actually pays in that market, not against your current salary.
- If several countries work, weigh the mobility the card gives you over the threshold you cleared to get it.
Related: what the EU Blue Card is, how Germany’s thresholds got easier and the Netherlands thresholds in full. Browse shortage jobs with visa sponsorship on our board.
Last checked September 2026. Thresholds are set nationally and most are revised each January, and Belgium’s are set by region. Confirm the figure for your own case before relying on it.
