EU Blue Card Salary Level Increased

The situation

Effective February 11, 2020, the minimum monthly salary for EU Blue Card applicants in Poland has increased to PLN 7,378, up 7.3 percent from 2019.

The exchange rate at the time of publication of this alert is 1 PLN to 0.25 USD.

A closer look

• Existing employees. Employers of foreign nationals currently under an EU Blue Card need not increase foreign nationals’ salaries 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 February 11, 2020 must increase foreign nationals’ salaries 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 February 11, 2020 must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused. Employers should submit confirmation on the salary increase (e.g., amended employment contract or contract addendum) to the authorities.
• Unaffected categories. As before, local hires must receive a salary similar to local workers and intracompany transfers must receive 70% of the average provincial salary (new quarterly figures are not yet published).

 

Reminders on other requirements

• Sufficient salary to support dependents. As before, the salary must be sufficient to support the foreign national and any dependents during their stay.
• Benefits and allowances. As before, benefits and allowances may not be included in the minimum salary calculation.
• Currency. As before, EU Blue Card applicants must be on local payroll and paid in PLN.

Background

Poland’s salary requirements are quite complex, with a mixture of national and provincial thresholds, annual and quarterly updates. Employers are advised to maintain a safe margin above these thresholds to anticipate quarterly fluctuations. Poland is in the middle range for EU Blue Card minimum salary amounts in Europe. See the below map for a representation of EU Blue Card salary amounts in Europe:

Looking ahead

Fragomen expects Polish authorities to develop measures to streamline immigration processing, following persistent workload issues and negative immigration audit results in 2019.

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].