The EU Blue Card vs work permit question is usually asked the wrong way round. People assume the Blue Card is the premium option and the national permit is what you settle for. In several member states it is the opposite: the national route has the lower bar, and the Blue Card asks more of you.
Which is fine, because the Blue Card is not really competing on the salary threshold. It is competing on something else entirely, and whether you need that thing is the whole decision.
What the Blue Card actually buys
Three things, and none of them is a lower threshold:
- Mobility between member states. After a period in the first country you can move to another EU country considerably more easily than a national permit allows. A national permit is generally good in one country and nowhere else.
- Faster and more predictable family reunification, with rights set at EU level rather than left entirely to national discretion.
- A common framework. The European Commission sets out the shared rights, so employers and authorities across the EU recognise what it is without you having to explain.
That leads to a single question, and it is worth answering honestly before you compare any numbers. Do you intend to move to another EU country later? If yes, the Blue Card is worth clearing a higher bar for. If you are moving to one country and expect to stay, the mobility right is something you are paying for and will not use.
Where the national route is easier
The clearest case is the Netherlands. Its highly skilled migrant scheme is a national route, and it asks for EUR 5,942 a month, or EUR 4,754 if you graduated within the last three years. That graduate rate is lower than the Dutch Blue Card threshold and lower than most Blue Card thresholds anywhere. It is also faster to process.
So a recent graduate moving to the Netherlands and planning to stay there should almost certainly take the national route. See the highly skilled migrant scheme and the current thresholds.
Austria works differently again. Its Blue Card threshold is EUR 55,678, and higher where a collective agreement says so. The national alternative, the Red-White-Red Card, is points-based rather than threshold-based, which means qualifications, experience, language and age can carry you where salary alone would not. For a younger applicant with good credentials and a modest offer, that is a different and often easier test.
Germany is the case where the Blue Card wins outright, and it is worth being specific about why. Under Section 18g of the Residence Act an IT specialist with no degree can hold one on three years of relevant experience within the last seven, at EUR 45,934.20. And a Blue Card holder can apply for a settlement permit after 21 months with B1 German, or 27 with A1. No German national permit does either of those things.
Why the thresholds vary so much
Because the recast directive lets them. Member states may set the Blue Card threshold 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 makes the phrase “the EU Blue Card” slightly misleading:
| Country or region | Blue Card threshold |
|---|---|
| Spain | EUR 41,356, among the lowest in the EU |
| Germany | EUR 50,700, or EUR 45,934.20 reduced |
| Austria | EUR 55,678, unless a collective agreement sets more |
| Brussels | EUR 56,976 |
| Flanders | EUR 63,586 |
| Wallonia | EUR 68,815, the highest here |
Nearly twenty-eight thousand euros separates Spain from Wallonia for an identical entitlement. If you are choosing where to apply and the employer is flexible about which entity hires you, that is worth more than almost anything else on your list. Full detail in Blue Card thresholds country by country.
The decision, in four lines
| If you | Take |
|---|---|
| Plan to move between EU countries later | The Blue Card. The mobility right is the reason it exists |
| Are moving to one country and staying | Whichever route admits you. Usually the national one, and often at a lower salary |
| Are an IT specialist without a degree | The German Blue Card under Section 18g. There is no national equivalent |
| Want permanent residence quickly | The German Blue Card, at 21 months with B1 German |
| Have strong credentials but a modest offer | A points-based national route, such as Austria’s Red-White-Red Card |
One thing to settle early either way: your employer files most of this, not you, and on some national routes the employer must hold a specific licence or recognition. Check that before you negotiate the salary, because it decides which routes are even available. Our explainer on what visa sponsorship is covers who does what.
Related: what the EU Blue Card is, how to get your degree recognised for a Blue Card and the Netherlands and Germany compared. Browse shortage jobs with visa sponsorship on our board.
Last checked September 2026. Blue Card thresholds are set nationally, most are revised each January, and Belgium’s are set by region. National routes change independently. Confirm both before choosing.
