Standard amounts income requirement 2026 for highly skilled migrants and Blue Card holders

Every year, the salary criteria for schemes such as the Highly Skilled Migrants and Blue Card holders are indexed, and 2026 is no exception. Curious about what this means for Highly Skilled Migrants in your organisation? We will break it down for you.

The criteria for highly skilled migrants and Blue Card holders for 2026 were published in the Government Gazette (Staatscourant 2025, 43553) and are listed by the IND in its overview of required amounts. The amended amounts come into effect as of 1 January 2026, an increase of 4.46% compared to 2025. The increase follows the CBS index of collectively agreed wages for October 2025 (Article 2.1(5) and Article 2.2(7) of the Implementing Decree of the Foreigners Employment Act 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:

• Highly Skilled Migrant of 30 years of age or older: € 5,942.00 per month;

• Highly Skilled Migrant under 30 years of age: € 4,357.00 per month;

• Highly Skilled Migrant with reduced criterion: € 3,122.00 per month;

• EU Blue Card: € 5,942.00 per month;

• EU Blue Card with reduced criterion (higher education qualification obtained no more than three years before the application): € 4,754.00 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 holiday allowance. In accordance with Article 2.1(6) of the Implementing Decree of the Foreigners Employment Act 2022, the salary must be at least in line with the 'market' (Article 3.30a of the Aliens Decree 2000) 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 bank account requirement also applies to the EU Blue Card (Article 2.2(8)). The market conformity test is explicitly inapplicable to the EU Blue Card; that scheme 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 2026? Contact Elke Lenting or Drenusha Hoxha. They are happy to help you out!