EU Blue Card Salary Level and Paper Application Filing Fees Increased

The situation

Effective January 1, 2019, the minimum monthly salary for EU Blue Card workers in Finland has increased to EUR 4,732, up 1.5 percent from last year.

A closer look

• Existing employees. Employers of foreign nationals currently under an EU Blue Card must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule.
• Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew an EU Blue Card on or after January 1, 2019 must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending EU Blue Card applications as of January 1, 2019 must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Unaffected categories. Salary requirements for the Residence Permit for a Specialist and Residence Permit for an Employed Person remain unchanged.

Reminders on other requirements

• Benefits and allowances. As before, benefits and allowances cannot be included in the minimum salary calculation.
• Margin. As before, applicants paid close to the minimum salary level are likely to face clarification requests and/or refusals.

Government fee increases

Separately, government filing fees have decreased by 12.5 percent for online applications and increased by 17 percent for paper applications for all permit types (including Residence Permit for a Specialist, Residence Permit for an Employed Person and EU Blue Card).

Applicants should review online application options to benefit from the decrease.

Background

Finland increased the salary requirement for EU Blue Card applications by 1.2 percent for 2017 and 1.9 percent for 2018. The salary requirements for Residence Permit for a Specialist applications have not changed since 2016.

Salary increases between one and 10 percent are typical in Europe, typically seeking to keep the salary level aligned with the cost of living.

Looking ahead

Most European countries have published their new salary thresholds over the past weeks. Countries that have not yet published threshold changes at this time are not expected to implement any changes shortly.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].