Most articles about shortage jobs salary levels give you average earnings. Averages are interesting and they are not the number that decides anything. The number that decides whether your visa is granted is the statutory floor, it is published, and it is enforceable against your employer.
There is a catch in how those floors are built, and it catches almost everybody. Nearly every system sets the floor as the higher of two numbers: a national threshold, and the going rate for your specific occupation. The headline figure is the first one. The one that binds you is often the second.
Worked example, because this is the whole point
Take a vehicle technician applying to the UK under occupation code SOC 5231, which sits on the interim Temporary Shortage List:
- The national TSL threshold is GBP 33,400.
- The going rate for SOC 5231 is reported at GBP 35,500, with a lower rate of GBP 27,900 for qualifying applicants.
- The higher of the two applies. So the number that matters to this applicant is GBP 35,500, not the GBP 33,400 in every headline.
Two thousand pounds is easily enough to fail an application that looked comfortable. Before you negotiate anything, ask the employer for the occupation code and look up the going rate for that code. See what replaced the UK shortage occupation list.
The national floors, 2026
| Country | Salary floor | Reduced or alternative rate |
|---|---|---|
| Ireland | EUR 40,904 Critical Skills, with a relevant degree | EUR 36,848 recent graduate on the Critical Skills list; EUR 68,911 without a relevant degree |
| Spain | EUR 41,356 EU Blue Card | Among the lowest bars in the EU |
| United Kingdom | GBP 41,700 Skilled Worker | GBP 33,400 on the Temporary Shortage List, or the going rate for the code, whichever is higher |
| Germany | EUR 50,700 EU Blue Card | EUR 45,934.20 for shortage occupations, recent graduates and IT specialists without a degree |
| Brussels | EUR 56,976 | Belgium sets this by region |
| Flanders | EUR 63,586 | |
| Wallonia | EUR 68,815 | The highest EU Blue Card threshold here |
| Australia | AUD 79,423 Core Skills Income Threshold from 1 July 2026 | Up from AUD 76,515, and applied at nomination |
| Netherlands | EUR 5,942 a month highly skilled migrant | EUR 4,754 within three years of graduating. Both exclude the 8% holiday allowance |
| Poland | PLN 13,355.34 a month | 150% of the average national salary |
| Singapore | SGD 5,600 a month Employment Pass | SGD 6,200 in financial services, both rising in January 2027 |
Four things this table does not tell you
A floor is not a market rate
Spain at EUR 41,356 and Wallonia at EUR 68,815 are not the same job at different prices. They reflect what those labour markets pay. So the table tells you where you are eligible, not where you will be better off, and clearing a high floor narrowly in an expensive city is worse than clearing a low one comfortably somewhere cheaper.
Monthly and annual figures are not comparable as printed
The Dutch thresholds are monthly and exclude the 8 per cent holiday allowance, so multiplying by twelve understates your actual pay and comparing the result with a German annual figure compares unlike things. See the Dutch thresholds in full.
The reduced rate is where the value is
Germany’s reduced rate is nearly five thousand euros below its standard one, and it covers shortage occupations, recent graduates and IT specialists qualifying on experience rather than a degree. Establishing whether you qualify for a reduced rate is worth more than comparing countries. Full detail in Blue Card thresholds country by country.
Some systems test income rather than setting a floor
Korea’s E-7-4 skilled worker visa is a points system, and salary feeds the score rather than acting as a gate, alongside a requirement for an average annual income of at least KRW 25 million over the previous two years. Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker route sets no national salary threshold at all and instead requires pay equivalent to a Japanese worker doing the same job.
What the salary floor costs you elsewhere
One number is missing from every salary comparison and it is larger than most of the differences above. In the UK the immigration health surcharge is GBP 1,035 per person per year, paid up front, so a family of four on a five-year visa pays GBP 20,700 before any application fee. Australia charges its full visa fee of AUD 4,015 for each adult applicant.
Net of those, a lower nominal salary in a cheaper system frequently beats a higher one. The exception is the UK Health and Care Worker visa, which is exempt from the surcharge entirely and has a lower floor, and which is why healthcare is the one field where the UK is among the cheapest rather than the most expensive. Full costs in what a work visa really costs.
What to do with this
- Get your occupation code from the employer, in writing.
- Look up the going rate for that code, and assume the higher of it and the national threshold applies to you.
- Check whether you qualify for a reduced rate: shortage occupation, recent graduate, or the German IT specialist route.
- Convert honestly. Add the Dutch holiday allowance, and subtract the UK surcharge and the Australian per-adult fee.
- Compare against local pay, not your current salary. The floor tells you about eligibility and nothing about whether the offer is good.
Related: 15 European routes compared and the German skilled worker minimum. Browse shortage jobs with visa sponsorship on our board.
Last checked September 2026. These are statutory floors rather than salaries, most are revised each January, and occupation-specific going rates change with them. Confirm the figure for your own occupation code before relying on it.
