Effective May 1st, 2025, the gross minimum monthly salary required for czech blue card application increased to CZK 69,247.50. As a result, all new employment contracts should reflect the updated minimum salary.
Blue card salary requirement
The blue card is a type of long-term residence permit. It allows non-EU high qualified citizens to stay and work legally in the Czech Republic. One of its main requirements is to meet the minimum salary.
Specifically, the applicant must receive at least 1.5 times the average gross salary in the Czech Republic. This results in an annual minimum salary of CZK 830,970. The minimum amount must reflect on the work contract or a pre-employment contract.
Czech Republic requires one of the lowest annual salaries to qualify for a blue card in Europe.
In fact, such salary condition is the result of EU Directive 2021/1883. The Directive aid down the entry and residence conditions for qualified nationals. In details, it set the goal to ensure the salary threshold was at least equal to, but no higher than 1.6 times the average gross national annual salary. Each member state had to transpose the Directive into their legislation by November 2023. So did Italy, with the legislative decree No. 152 of October 18, 2023.
Czech blue card application
European directives set the result that member states must achieve with regards to the blue card. However, each state has implemented their own application procedure.
Blue cards in Czech Republic are issued for specific job positions. Such job positions are displayed in the central vacancy database for blue card holders. In fact, to file an application, the non-EU worker must first know the vacancy reference number.
Secondly, they must lodge their application with the competent diplomatic mission. The application must contain all the supporting documents not older than 180 days. Furthermore, supporting documents must be submitted in Czech. Foreign public documents must be legalized according to the procedure available in the origin country.
Finally, applicants must wait for the decision by the Ministry of the Interior. The legal processing time is90 days. If approved, the diplomatic mission at which the application was lodged issues a single-entry visa for 60 days. During this period the applicant must visit the local branch of the Ministry of Interior according to their place of stay and receive the blue card.
