Standard amounts income requirement 2022 for highly skilled migrants and Blue Card holders

Every year the salary criteria for, among others, highly skilled migrants and Blue Card holders are indexed slightly (which in practice always amounts to a small increase). Do you want to know what this means for the highly skilled migrants in your organisation? We will break it down for you.

The criteria for knowledge migrants and Blue Card holders for 2022 are published in the Communication of the Minister for Social Affairs and Employment. The amended amounts in the relevant laws, decisions and regulations will come into effect as of 1 January 2022. Below you can find an overview of the changed amounts of the salary criterion, in other words: the minimum wage for highly skilled migrants:

·        Knowledge migrant 30 years of age or older: € 4,840.00 per month;

·        Knowledge migrant under 30 years of age: € 3,549.00 per month;

·        Knowledge migrant reduced criterion: € 2,543.00 per month;

·        EU Blue Card: € 5,670.00 per month.

All these amounts are gross salary amounts per month (and therefore not a social insurance wage or the like) to which in principle all fixed additional allowances may be added if they are recorded in writing, are not variable and are paid monthly. These amounts expressly exclude the statutory holiday allowance of 8%. In accordance with Article 1d (5) of the Implementing Decree of the Foreigners Employment Act among others, the salary must be in line with the ‘market’ and must be deposited by the employer over a period not exceeding one month into a bank account intended for wire payment, in the name of the highly skilled migrant. The market inconsistency test is explicitly inapplicable to the EU Blue Card; the stated regulation does, however, contain an education requirement which is not as such covered by the highly skilled migrant scheme.

The above does not affect existing residence permits; but changes in circumstances may have consequences. The IND says quite correctly on its website: The age-dependent salary criterion applies for as long as the highly skilled migrant continues working for one and the same employer, even after becoming 30 years old. Has the highly skilled migrant started working for another employer? Then the new employer should pay the salary criterion that applies for the age of the highly skilled migrant at that moment. The exception to this rule applies to a highly skilled migrant who falls under the reduced salary criterion. This low criterion also remains in effect when the highly skilled migrant subsequently changes employers. The reduced salary criterion is not age-dependent.

Do you need more information on the salary criteria for 2022? Contact David Wernsing, Drenusha Hoxha or Thom Schot. They are happy to help you out!