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Working in Germany with the EU Blue Card: requirements, 2026 salary thresholds and visa

Written by KarirAman editorial team Approved by Kaiser Khan (editor), Updated and verified

Open EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU)

Open. Blue Card salary thresholds are set every year; the German Interior Ministry announced the 2026 figures on 2 December 2025.

Status as of 7 October 2026 Bundesministerium des Innern (Bundesanzeiger)

Summary

  • Germany's EU Blue Card is for university-educated skilled workers in a job matching their qualification, paid above an annual threshold.
  • Shortage occupations and graduates of at most three years use a lower salary threshold with Federal Employment Agency approval.
  • According to BAMF, the Blue Card needs an employment contract or binding job offer of at least six months and is usually issued for four years.
  • Employers can request an accelerated skilled-worker procedure from the local foreigners authority on your behalf (AufenthG section 81a).
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On this page
  1. What are the requirements?
  2. What does it cost and who pays?
  3. How much does it pay?
  4. Which visa is used?
  5. What are the steps?
  6. Which schools or training lead to Germany?
  7. Who gets the lower salary threshold?
  8. What are the warning signs of offers to Germany through this route?
Official routes, who runs them, and their legal basis
Route Run by Official link Who pays placement costs Legal basis
EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU) Blaue Karte EU · EU Blue Card Independent PMI (no agency), legal-entity employer Official source There is no placement agency; the applicant pays the visa fee and other requirements unless the employer covers them. Do not pay a placement fee to any middleman. See the cost rules Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id) Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id)

See this route in the comparison table

What do you need to work in Germany through EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU)?

Placement channels from Indonesia for working in Germany through EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU): Independent PMI (no agency), legal-entity employer.

Placement channels from Indonesia
Independent PMI (no agency), legal-entity employer An independent migrant worker goes without an agency, only to a legal-entity employer, and must report to the labour office and the Indonesian mission. This is not the same as an individual employer (a household), or an individual who places migrant workers, which is banned.
Job types
A job matching the qualification of a university graduate, Shortage occupations: including doctors, nursing professionals, vets, teachers, scientists and engineers, and ICT professionals (certain ISCO-08 groups)

What does working in Germany through EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU) cost, and who pays?

The EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU) route to Germany uses no placement agency: you pay the visa fee and other requirements unless the employer covers them, and no middleman is owed a placement fee.

  1. Law 18/2017 Article 30(1): Indonesian migrant workers may not be charged placement costs. Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id)
  2. Ministerial Regulation P2MI 17/2025: the employer bears placement costs. A worker may be charged only costs that are written and itemised in the Placement Agreement. Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id)
  3. Any request for money outside that document, in cash or to a personal account, is a red flag.

Cost rules for this route

What is the minimum pay for working in Germany through EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU)?

The official pay floor for the EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU) route in Germany is EUR 45,934.20 per year, in force from 1 January 2026 (Bundesministerium des Innern (Bundesanzeiger)). This is the legal minimum in Germany, not an offered wage.

Official floor
Area or group Official floor Approximate rupiah value
EU Blue Card, lower threshold Applies to: Lower threshold for shortage occupations (certain ISCO-08 groups), graduates of at most three years and experienced ICT professionals, with Federal Employment Agency approval EUR 45,934.20 per year In force from about IDR 919,039,071 rate as of 8 October 2026
EU Blue Card, standard threshold Applies to: Minimum gross annual salary for the EU Blue Card in Germany (AufenthG § 18g(1) sentence 1) EUR 50,700.00 per year In force from about IDR 1,014,391,911 rate as of 8 October 2026

Bundesministerium des Innern (Bundesanzeiger)

Which visa do you need to work in Germany through EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU)?

Visum Blaue Karte EU: National visa to enter as a future EU Blue Card holder. National visas are usually issued for 90 days, then the residence permit is applied for in Germany. Official source

What are the steps to work in Germany through EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU)?

  1. Make sure your degree is recognised or comparable to a German degree; the German Embassy asks for recognition before the visa application.
  2. Get an employment contract or binding offer of at least six months for a job matching your qualification, paying at least the current threshold.
  3. For shortage occupations or recent graduates (at most three years), the lower threshold applies with Federal Employment Agency approval.
  4. Apply for the Blue Card visa through the Auslandsportal; employers can also use the accelerated skilled-worker procedure with the local foreigners authority (AufenthG section 81a).
  5. After arrival, apply for your residence permit in Germany, and report as an independent migrant worker to the labour office and the Indonesian mission (Law 18/2017 Article 63).

The order and timings are editor estimates, not promises.

Which schools or training lead to Germany?

The education and training routes linked to working in Germany through EU Blue Card (Blaue Karte EU): Bachelor's degree (S1) in Indonesia, Scholarships for Indonesians, Language tests for working abroad.

Who gets the lower salary threshold?

AufenthG section 18g sets two Blue Card salary thresholds. The standard threshold applies to university-educated skilled workers. The lower threshold, with Federal Employment Agency approval, applies to shortage occupations (including certain managers, scientists and engineers, doctors, nursing professionals, vets, other health professionals, teachers and ICT professionals), to graduates whose degree is at most three years old, and to experienced ICT workers without a degree. The 2026 figures for both thresholds are in the pay table on this page.

What are the warning signs of offers to Germany through this route?

How to check a P3MI agency in 5 steps Learn the signs of trafficking through job offers

KarirAman is 100% free. We never ask for money. Our no-fee policy

Not legal advice. Always check SISKOP2MI before you sign up.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a German EU Blue Card valid?

According to BAMF, the EU Blue Card is usually issued for four years and needs an employment contract or binding job offer of at least six months. People living outside the EU usually need a visa from a German mission first.

Can IT workers without a degree get an EU Blue Card?

In some cases. AufenthG section 18g(2) opens the Blue Card to ICT workers (ISCO-08 133 or 25) without a degree who have at least three years of relevant experience in the last seven years, a salary at the lower threshold and Federal Employment Agency approval.

Who wrote and reviewed this page?

Written by KarirAman editorial team Published Updated

Prepared with AI assistance. Checked against official sources and approved for publication by Kaiser Khan (editor). Approval date: .

Sources

The facts on this page come from these sources. Dates show when we opened them.

  1. The EU Blue Card Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) · accessed
  2. § 18g Aufenthaltsgesetz: Blaue Karte EU Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de) · AufenthG § 18g · accessed
  3. § 81a Aufenthaltsgesetz: Beschleunigtes Fachkräfteverfahren Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de) · AufenthG § 81a · accessed
  4. Fachkräfteeinwanderung (Imigrasi tenaga kerja terampil), Kedutaan Besar Jerman Jakarta Kedutaan Besar Republik Federal Jerman Jakarta · accessed
  5. Nationale Visa (Botschaft der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Jakarta) Deutsche Botschaft Jakarta (Auswärtiges Amt) · accessed
  6. Undang-Undang Nomor 18 Tahun 2017 tentang Pelindungan Pekerja Migran Indonesia Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id) · UU 18/2017 · accessed
  7. Peraturan Menteri P2MI/Kepala BP2MI Nomor 17 Tahun 2025 tentang Biaya Penempatan Pekerja Migran Indonesia Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id) · Permen P2MI 17/2025 · accessed
  8. Bekanntmachung zu § 18g des Aufenthaltsgesetzes über die Mindestgehälter für die Blaue Karte EU (vom 2. Dezember 2025) Bundesministerium des Innern (Bundesanzeiger) · BAnz AT 18.12.2025 B3 · accessed
How to cite

KarirAman (2026). Working in Germany with the EU Blue Card: requirements, 2026 salary thresholds and visa. Updated 7 October 2026. https://kariraman.com/en/work-abroad/germany/eu-blue-card/

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