Two distinct routes: ordinary skilled-worker residence and the EU Blue Card. Qualification, job fit, salary and approval conditions differ.
Route overview
Employer offer + qualification fit
Typical timeline / duration: Work residence generally up to four years; a shorter contract or employment approval normally adds six months, without exceeding the four-year cap.
Important notes
Ordinary skilled-worker residence requires a recognised/comparable qualification and qualified German job, not an auxiliary role. The job need not match the qualification subject, but regulated practice requires the relevant licence.
For the EU Blue Card, employment must last at least six months and match the qualifying academic/tertiary qualification, subject to the IT-experience exception.
2026 Blue Card gross salary is at least €50,700/year; eligible shortage occupations and qualifications completed less than three years ago use €45,934.20, with Federal Employment Agency approval for those lower-threshold cases.
The degree-free IT Blue Card branch needs relevant university-level IT experience for at least three of the last seven years, a qualifying six-month job and the published lower salary threshold.
For ordinary skilled workers over 45 taking their first German employment, the 2026 requirement is €55,770 gross/year or adequate pension provision; this is not the general Blue Card salary test.
Section 18(4) of the Residence Act supplies the four-year cap and six-month addition for a shorter employment/approval period. These are residence terms, not appointment or visa-decision estimates.
Ordinary skilled-worker approval generally checks domestic-equivalent employment conditions; Blue Card lower-salary cases have their own agency-approval conditions. No one salary threshold applies to every skilled job.
Chinese nationals generally obtain the appropriate entry visa before travel and complete the local residence procedure after arrival; professional recognition and immigration permission remain separate.
The 2026 salary figures remain year-specific references, not a newly established October eligibility reform.
Preparation checklist
Identify the ordinary worker, academic Blue Card or IT-experience branch that fits the actual job.
Arrange recognition or comparability documents and the required professional licence.
Check contract length, job duties, salary and any employment-agency approval with the employer.
Confirm whether the first-employment age rule or pension evidence applies to your chosen ordinary route.
Complete the correct consular file and schedule local registration/residence steps after arrival.