Original research · 30 May 2026
The State of Skilled-Migration Salary Floors, 2026
What does it actually cost, in salary terms, to qualify as a skilled migrant in 2026? We computed it from 38 primary-sourced salary floors across 10 major destinations — and tracked which ones moved.
By Sam Parks, Editor and lead researcher.
Key findings
- The lowest skilled-relevant salary floor we track is 15,378 CAD (≈ $11,200/yr) — Canada's Start-up Visa — settlement funds (not salary).
- The highest is 1,050,000 USD (≈ $1,050,000/yr) — United States's EB-5 Direct investment minimum — a 94× spread across the set.
- The median floor sits around $48,000/yr (Australia).
- 7 tracked salary floors have changed in our recorded window — and 7 of them moved upward. Not one fell. The direction of travel is unambiguous.
The floors, lowest to highest
| Destination | Route | Floor | ≈ USD/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | Start-up Visa — settlement funds (not salary) | 15,378 CADannual | $11,200 |
| Portugal | D7 — passive income minimum | 10,440 EURannual | $11,300 |
| United Arab Emirates | Dependant sponsorship — resident employee | 48,000 AEDannual | $13,000 |
| Portugal | Tech Visa / HQA — indicative | 22,320 EURannual | $24,000 |
| United Kingdom | Skilled Worker — Health and Care Worker / education national pay-scale | 25,000 GBPannual | $29,500 |
| United Kingdom | Health and Care Worker — absolute minimum | 25,000 GBPannual | $29,500 |
| Spain | Non-lucrative Visa — passive-income minimum | 28,800 EURannual | $31,000 |
| Spain | Digital Nomad Visa — remote-work income | 31,752 EURannual | $34,300 |
| Canada | Provincial Nominee — typical employer-driven floor | 50,000 CADannual | $36,000 |
| Ireland | General Employment Permit — headline floor | 34,000 EURannual | $37,000 |
| Netherlands | Orientation Year search — reduced rate | 2,989 EURmonthly | $38,400 |
| United Kingdom | Skilled Worker — Immigration Salary List discount | 33,400 GBPannual | $39,000 |
| United Kingdom | Skilled Worker — STEM PhD / new-entrant / shortage | 33,400 GBPannual | $39,000 |
| Ireland | Critical Skills Employment Permit — general floor | 40,904 EURannual | $41,000 |
| Spain | Highly Qualified Professional (Startup Law) | 40,000 EURannual | $43,000 |
| United Kingdom | Skilled Worker — PhD relevant to job (Tradeable point C) | 33,400 GBPannual | $44,000 |
| Portugal | D8 (Digital Nomad) — remote-work income | 41,760 EURannual | $45,000 |
| Germany | EU Blue Card — shortage occupations (Engpassberufe) | 45,934 EURannual | $47,000 |
| Germany | General skilled-worker residence (§18a/§18b AufenthG) | 43,500 EURannual | $47,000 |
| Australia | Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) | 73,150 AUDannual | $48,000 |
| Australia | Core Skills Pathway (482) | 73,150 AUDannual | $48,000 |
| United Kingdom | Skilled Worker — general threshold | 41,700 GBPannual | $49,000 |
| Ireland | Intra-Company Transfer Permit — key personnel | 46,000 EURannual | $50,000 |
| Germany | EU Blue Card — general threshold | 50,700 EURannual | $52,000 |
| Netherlands | Kennismigrant — under 30 | 4,171 EURmonthly | $54,000 |
| Canada | LMIA — High-wage stream floor (indicative) | 75,000 CADannual | $54,000 |
| United States | H-1B — Level 1 prevailing wage (median across SOC codes) | 62,000 USDannual | $62,000 |
| Ireland | Critical Skills Employment Permit — non-CSOL fallback | 68,911 EURannual | $69,000 |
| Netherlands | Kennismigrant — 30+ | 5,688 EURmonthly | $73,200 |
| United States | L-1B specialised knowledge — indicative floor | 80,000 USDannual | $80,000 |
| Netherlands | EU Blue Card (Netherlands) | 6,666 EURmonthly | $86,400 |
| Australia | Specialist Skills Pathway (482) | 135,000 AUDannual | $89,000 |
| United Arab Emirates | Golden Visa — skilled employee minimum | 360,000 AEDannual | $98,000 |
| United Arab Emirates | Green Visa — freelancer minimum | 360,000 AEDannual | $98,000 |
| United States | H-1B — Level 4 prevailing wage (senior roles, typical band) | 150,000 USDannual | $150,000 |
| United Arab Emirates | Golden Visa — investor (public investment) | 2,000,000 AEDannual | $544,000 |
| United States | EB-5 Targeted Employment Area minimum | 800,000 USDannual | $800,000 |
| United States | EB-5 Direct investment minimum | 1,050,000 USDannual | $1,050,000 |
What moved, and when
- 1 March 2026 · Critical Skills Employment Permit — general floor salary floor: 38000 EUR (annual) → 40904 EUR (annual)
- 1 January 2026 · EU Blue Card — general threshold salary floor: 48300 EUR (annual) → 50700 EUR (annual)
- 1 January 2026 · EU Blue Card — shortage occupations (Engpassberufe) salary floor: 43760 EUR (annual) → 45934 EUR (annual)
- 22 July 2025 · Skilled Worker — general threshold salary floor: 38700 GBP (annual) → 41700 GBP (annual)
- 22 July 2025 · Skilled Worker — Immigration Salary List discount salary floor: 30960 GBP (annual) → 33400 GBP (annual)
- 9 April 2025 · Health and Care Worker — absolute minimum salary floor: 23200 GBP (annual) → 25000 GBP (annual)
- 4 April 2024 · Skilled Worker — general threshold salary floor: 26200 GBP (annual) → 38700 GBP (annual)
Full versioned record in the changelog.
Methodology
- Sample: every salary floor in our structured data with a positive amount and a USD reference (38 figures across 10 destinations), each mapped to a primary government source.
- Ordering: annual-equivalent USD (monthly ×12, hourly ×2,080). The USD conversion is a rough editorial reference for ranking only — rely on the local-currency figure.
- Movements: drawn from our temporal observation log, which records each figure's value, effective date, and source over time.
- As of: figures effective on their stated dates; report computed 30 May 2026.
Limitations
- Covers headline statutory floors, not occupation-specific going rates (which often bind higher).
- Ten destinations only — the set the site covers; not a global census.
- USD conversions are editorial, not live FX. Cross-currency ordering can shift with exchange rates.
- This is data journalism, not legal advice. Confirm any figure on its linked official source before acting.