Requirements EU Blue Card
Everything you need to know about the requirements you need to meet for the EU Blue Card
Here you learn ...
the necessary salary level and exceptions to the salary level
how the recognition of university degrees works
when the EU Blue Card employment contract is legal
whether you need a special professional license
Requirements Blue Card (2025)
Due to the many advantages and privileges of the Blue Card and its status as a “ premium residence permit ”, the Blue Card also has the highest requirements when applying. Originally, the EU Blue Card could only be issued to academic professionals in Germany. However, since the reform of November 18, 2023, other groups of people (especially IT specialists ) in Germany can also receive the EU Blue Card (see Section 18g Paragraph 2 of the Residence Act ). The requirements for applying for the various versions of the EU Blue Card have since differed as follows:
Applying for the Blue Card with a recognized university degree (1.)
Applying for the Blue Card as an IT specialist (2.)
Applying for the Blue Card as a new professional (3.)
The most important requirements for applying for the EU Blue Card are presented below.
1. Blue Card with university degree
The most important requirements for the issuance of the EU Blue Card are an employment contract with a German company (domestic employment relationship) and a German or foreign recognized university degree ( Section 18 Paragraph 2 No. 4 of the Residence Act ).
Overall, the requirements are as follows (checklist of EU Blue Card requirements):
1. Legal employment contract with a German company (Section 18, Paragraph 2, No. 1 of the Residence Act)
2. Minimum salary (2025) of 48,300 euros (so-called “large” Blue Card) or 43,759.80 euros in shortage occupations (so-called “small” Blue Card) (Section 18g of the Residence Act)
3. German accredited or foreign university degree recognized as comparable in Germany ( Anabin recognition or certificate evaluation of the ZAB ; Section 18 Paragraph 2 No. 4 AufenthG)
4. Fulfillment of the general visa requirements (valid passport, no criminal record, (travel) health insurance valid in Germany, § 5 AufenthG),
5. Permit to practice a profession if you practice a regulated profession (e.g. engineer, doctor, lawyer, etc., see BERUFENET ) (Section 18 Paragraph 2 No. 3 of the Residence Act)
6. adequate retirement benefits if you are over 45 years old (Section 18, Paragraph 2, No. 5 of the Residence Act),
7. Never applied for humanitarian protection (e.g. asylum) in a Member State of the European Union (Section 19f, Paragraph 2 of the Residence Act)
8. The application must appear “plausible” overall
1.1 Blue Card employment contract
The most important requirement for applying for the Blue Card is a legal employment contract (at least 6 months (Section 18g Paragraph 3 of the Residence Act)) with a German company ( Section 18g Paragraph 1 of the Residence Act ). The employment contract must be legal, i.e. in particular it must not violate employee protection regulations or residence laws (e.g. with regard to the amount of the salary ( Residence Act ), compliance with working hours ( ArbZG ) or granting of minimum holiday ( BUrlG )).
Furthermore, the employment contract must be concluded with a German company. The company must therefore have its registered office in Germany (so-called domestic employment relationship). Employment at a foreign company is therefore not possible with the EU Blue Card as long as this company does not have a branch in Germany. You can check whether the employer is German in the German commercial register .
1.2 Salary level Blue Card
Applying for the EU Blue Card still requires that the required minimum salary within the meaning of Section 18g of the Residence Act is reached. The minimum salary is based on the contribution assessment limit for pension insurance and is adjusted every year by the federal government (so-called “ Social Insurance Calculation Sizes Ordinance”). In 2025, the minimum salary for the EU Blue Card will be 48,300 euros (standard issue) since the reform of November 18, 2023.
However, this salary limit only applies if there is no exceptional case . The most common exception when applying for a Blue Card is working in a shortage occupation (especially in STEM subjects). However, since the reform of the Blue Card on November 18, 2023, there are also these other exceptions:
IT specialists only need a salary of 43,759.80 euros (Section 18g Paragraph 2 of the Residence Act)
Shortage occupations only require a salary of 43,759.80 euros (Section 18g Paragraph 1 Sentence 2 of the Residence Act)
Newcomers to the job market only need a salary of 43,759.80 euros (Section 18g, Paragraph 6 of the Residence Act)
1.3 Recognized university degree EU Blue Card
A prerequisite for the EU Blue Card is that the applicant has a recognized university degree (Section 18g Paragraph 1 of the Residence Act). The easiest way to obtain recognition is if the degree was completed in Germany. In this case, no separate recognition needs to be presented. If the degree was completed abroad, the degree must, however, be classified as comparable in the “ Anabin ”. The Anabin is a central database for all degrees that are recognized in Germany.
If the degree is not registered in Anabin, a so-called certificate evaluation must be submitted to the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) . The ZAB then checks the submitted documents to determine whether the foreign university degree meets the criteria for studying in Germany.
1.4 Qualification context
Another prerequisite for issuing the Blue Card is that there is a so-called " qualification connection " between the course of study and the desired activity (Section 18g of the Residence Act). The knowledge acquired during the course of study must therefore be used at least in part in the job. For example, a chemist is not allowed to work as a language teacher. However, this requirement is often handled comparatively generously; for example, the Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt ruled that a dentist may work as an authorized signatory ( Saxon Higher Administrative Court, judgment of February 11, 2021, 3 A 973/18 ). If you are unsure, a VISAGUARD-certified lawyer can advise you on this.
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1.5 Professional license and other requirements
In certain cases, a professional practice permit is required to apply for the EU Blue Card ( Section 18, Paragraph 2, No. 3 of the Residence Act ). This is required for so-called “regulated” professions (e.g. doctors, lawyers, engineers). You can find out whether your activity is a regulated profession on the website of the Federal Employment Agency ( list of regulated professions at BERUFENET ). However, for engineers, the special feature is that the professional practice permit is not required for the activity itself, but only for the use of the professional title ( Section 1 of the IngG ). The professional practice permit is therefore not required if, for example, you want to work as an engineer as a “project manager”. All you need to do is adapt the relevant job description. If in doubt, a VISAGUARD-certified lawyer can advise you on this.
Finally, in addition to the requirements outlined above, the general residency requirements must also be met. In particular, a valid passport must be presented and the application must appear "plausible" overall (see Section 5 of the Residence Act). You can find further details on this in our guide to applying for a visa or guide to applying for a residence permit .
2. Blue Card for IT specialists
In contrast to other skilled workers, IT specialists do not generally need a university degree to apply for an EU Blue Card in Germany ( Section 18g, Paragraph 2 of the Residence Act ). IT specialists are therefore very highly privileged in Germany (even more so than other professional groups in shortage occupations). In this way, the federal government is trying to meet the demand for labor in the IT sector, which exists particularly in the major cities (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main). This is particularly true for Berlin, which, with 71,000 skilled workers in the IT industry, is the largest IT location in Germany. Every year, an average of 700 new digital companies and 10,000 additional jobs in the IT sector are created in Berlin. This demand for labor cannot even begin to be met by the domestic labor market, which is why Berlin is heavily dependent on further immigration for further economic growth.
In order to meet this demand, the German government has once again significantly simplified immigration options for IT specialists at the end of 2023. As of November 18, 2023, the Blue Card can also be applied for without a recognized university degree, which was previously a prerequisite for all variants of the EU Blue Card.
To apply for the Blue Card for IT specialists without a university degree, you must meet the following requirements:
Salary of at least EUR 43,759.80 (45.3% of the annual contribution assessment limit; in 2025),
have worked in the IT sector at a professional level for at least 3 years in the last 7 years ,
the job in Germany is at skilled level ,
no grounds for refusal within the meaning of Section 19f of the Residence Act.
The IT specialist must provide evidence of the above requirements when applying for a visa or residence permit. This applies in particular to three years of professional experience within the last seven years. Ideally, references from your last employers are available. If no detailed references are available (as is often the case in the USA and India, for example), you can also provide evidence of professional experience through your CV and your own job descriptions. Both can then be presented as proof of experience at the embassy appointment. If in doubt, you should consult a lawyer specializing in immigration law .
3. Blue Card for Newcomers to the Job
Since November 18, 2023, it has been possible to apply for an EU Blue Card as a career starter ( Section 18g, Paragraph 6 of the Residence Act ). Previously, career starters and trainees were often unable to apply for a Blue Card because in some professional groups it was unrealistic to achieve a corresponding salary in the first year of work. Since the reform, however, it is sufficient for career starters if they meet the salary threshold for shortage occupations (EUR 43,759.80 gross per year in 2025). The prerequisite for this, however, is that the university degree was obtained no more than three years before applying for the Blue Card (Section 18g, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2, No. 2 of the Residence Act).
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