Route: skilled worker and Blue Card

Blue Card thresholds 2026, IT without a degree, settlement permit, recognition of US degrees.

Use this route if you have a qualification and a qualified job. It does not depend on your nationality, so US citizens can combine it with visa-free entry.

EU Blue Card (§ 18g AufenthG)

• Regular: €50,700 gross a year (50 percent of the 2026 pension contribution ceiling). No approval of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) needed.
• Lower threshold: €45,934.20 (45.3 percent) with BA approval for shortage occupations (ISCO groups listed 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 (ICT managers and professionals), at least 3 years of experience in the last 7 years at degree level, same lower threshold, BA approval.
• Degree: a German degree, a recognised foreign degree or one comparable to a German one, ideally via anabin (see below).

Source: § 18g AufenthG; thresholds from the Federal Employment Agency and the Make it in Germany portal.

Other skilled-worker permits

• § 18a (vocational qualification) and § 18b (academic degree): recognised qualification, qualified job offer, BA approval where required (§ 18a, § 18b).
• Recognition partnership (§ 16d (3)): needs German at A2, which the law calls "hinreichende" (adequate) language skills (§ 2 (10) AufenthG); B1 is "ausreichende" (sufficient, § 2 (11)).
• First permit at age 45 or over: salary at least about €55,770 (55 percent of the ceiling) 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.

Settlement permit (§ 18c)

• Skilled workers: 3 years with 36 months of pension contributions; 2 years / 24 months if you completed German vocational training or study.
• Blue Card holders: 27 months with simple German (A1) or 21 months with sufficient German (B1, § 2 (11)).
• Other conditions in § 9 (2) apply (secure living, housing, basic knowledge of the legal system). Source: § 18c.

Recognition of US qualifications

• anabin (anabin.kmk.org): check your US university (rating H+) and degree. Print the result for the LEA.
• Not listed or rated H+/-: ZAB Statement of Comparability (kmk.org/zab).
• Treatment of US bachelor degrees from accredited universities and of unaccredited or online degrees was not checked here; look up your institution in anabin.
• Vocational recognition: Recognition in Germany; in Berlin the chambers or state bodies per profession.

Steps

1. Job contract and recognition.
2. Enter visa-free and apply in Berlin within 90 days, see Entry.
3. Employer-side fast-track (§ 81a) if you want it.

Spouse: Family.