Route: skilled worker and Blue Card

Blue Card thresholds 2026, § 18a and § 18b, recognition, settlement permit, visa from Nairobi.

Use this route if you have a recognised qualification and a qualified job offer. You apply for a visa in Nairobi first: Visa and Embassy. Skilled workers with a vocational qualification or a degree, and Blue Card applicants, file through TLScontact Nairobi according to the Embassy page.

EU Blue Card (§ 18g AufenthG)

• Regular: €50,700 gross a year (2026). No approval of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) needed.
• Lower threshold: €45,934.20 with BA approval for shortage occupations (ISCO groups in § 18g (1) S. 2 Nr. 1) and for graduates within 3 years of their degree.
• IT without a degree (§ 18g (2)): ISCO groups 133 and 25, at least 3 years of experience in the last 7 years at degree level, same lower threshold, BA approval.
• Degree: German, or foreign and recognised or comparable; check anabin (Recognition).

Source: § 18g AufenthG; thresholds: Make it in Germany.

Other skilled-worker permits

• § 18a (vocational qualification) and § 18b (academic degree): recognised qualification, qualified job offer, BA approval where required (§ 18a, § 18b).
• Experience route (§ 6 BeschV): practical experience and a qualification recognised in the country of training, salary at least €45,630. Check the current figure and conditions at § 6 BeschV.
• Recognition partnership (§ 16d (3)): German at A2, which the law calls "hinreichend" (adequate, § 2 (10) AufenthG); B1 is "ausreichend" (sufficient, § 2 (11)).
• First permit at age 45 or over: salary at least about €55,770 or adequate pension provision. Basis: § 18 (2) Nr. 5 AufenthG / § 1 (2) BeschV; not for the Blue Card. Check before relying on the amount.
• Regulated professions (doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers) need a German licence first: Nursing and health.
• Employer-side fast-track (§ 81a): the employer applies at the Berlin immigration office (LEA). Whether it works with a Nairobi visa and how much time it saves: not verified.

Settlement permit (§ 18c)

• Skilled workers: 3 years with 36 months of pension contributions; 2 years / 24 months after German vocational training or study.
• Blue Card: 27 months with A1 or 21 months with B1 (§ 2 (11)). Further conditions in § 9 (2). Source: § 18c.

Steps

1. Job contract and recognition.
2. Prepare documents (start early).
3. Register for the Embassy channel, apply for the visa, travel, collect your residence card at the LEA Berlin.

Spouse: Family. Parents: § 36 (3) (see Family).