Points-based
Red-White-Red Card — Very Highly Qualified Workers
4 steps · 4 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Work authorisation
Every permit we can source,
one page each.
A permit decides whether you may work somewhere. It never decides whether your profession needs a licence there, and this half of the answer is the one almost every guide treats as the whole of it.
3 permits
Austria
Points-based
Red-White-Red Card — Other Key Workers
EUR 3,465 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
EU Blue Card
EUR 55,678 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →3 permits
Denmark
Checklist
Fast-track Scheme
DKK 552,000 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Pay Limit Scheme
DKK 552,000 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Positive List for People with a Higher Education
4 steps · 2 possible outcomes
What it asks for →4 permits
Estonia
Checklist
EU Blue Card
EUR 3,138 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Temporary residence permit for employment
EUR 2,092 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Digital Nomad Visa (long-stay visa for teleworking)
EUR 4,500 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Startup Visa
6 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →2 permits
Finland
Checklist
Residence permit for a specialist
EUR 3,937 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
EU Blue Card
EUR 3,937 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →3 permits
France
Checklist
Multi-year residence card "talent – salarié qualifié"
EUR 39,582 a year (2025 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Multi-year residence card "talent – carte bleue européenne" (EU Blue Card)
EUR 59,373 a year (2025 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Residence card "salarié" (open-ended contract) or "travailleur temporaire" (fixed-term contract)
EUR 1,867.02 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →3 permits
Germany
Checklist
EU Blue Card
EUR 50,700 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Residence permit for skilled workers with academic training (§ 18b AufenthG)
4 steps · 2 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Points-based
Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte)
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →3 permits
Ireland
Checklist
Critical Skills Employment Permit
EUR 40,904 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
General Employment Permit
EUR 36,605 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit
EUR 49,523 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →2 permits
Luxembourg
Checklist
Residence permit for salaried workers
4 steps · 2 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
EU Blue Card
EUR 65,652 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →4 permits
Malta
Checklist
Key Employee Initiative (KEI)
EUR 45,000 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Specialist Employee Initiative (SEI)
EUR 30,000 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Single Permit (standard track)
4 steps · 2 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
Nomad Residence Permit
EUR 42,000 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →3 permits
Netherlands
Checklist
Highly Skilled Migrant (kennismigrant)
EUR 5,942 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
EU Blue Card
EUR 5,942 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Orientation Year for Highly Educated Persons (zoekjaar)
3 steps · 2 possible outcomes
What it asks for →3 permits
Portugal
Checklist
Residence visa for highly qualified activity performed by a subordinate worker (D3, Art. 61.º-A)
EUR 1.5× the average national annual gross salary, or 3× the IAS — whichever the consulate applies. A reduced floor of 1.2× the average salary or 2× the IAS applies to specific shortage groups that the Council of Ministers designates by resolution. a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Residence visa for remote work / digital nomads (D8)
EUR €3,680 a month (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Tech Visa — certified-employer track feeding into the highly qualified activity visa (D3)
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →3 permits
Spain
Checklist
Residence authorisation for highly qualified professionals — national route
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
Tarjeta azul-UE (EU Blue Card)
EUR 41,356.36 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Teletrabajador de carácter internacional (international-teleworking visa and residence authorisation)
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →2 permits
Norway
Checklist
Residence permit for skilled workers
5 steps · 4 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
Residence permit for jobseekers (recent graduates and researchers)
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →2 permits
Switzerland
Checklist
Work permit for qualified workers from a third country (permit L or permit B)
9 steps · 4 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
Young professional (trainee) permit under a bilateral exchange agreement
8 steps · 4 possible outcomes
What it asks for →3 permits
Australia
Checklist
Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482)
AUD 79,423 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Points-based
Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) — Points-tested stream
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186) — Direct Entry stream
AUD 79,423 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →3 permits
Canada
Points-based
Federal Skilled Worker Program, through Express Entry
7 steps · 4 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
Provincial Nominee Program
5 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
Employer-specific work permit through the Global Talent Stream
5 steps · 4 possible outcomes
What it asks for →4 permits
New Zealand
Checklist
Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)
4 steps · 2 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Points-based
Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa
NZD 35.00 an hour (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Straight to Residence Visa (Green List, Tier 1)
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
Work to Residence Visa (Green List, Tier 2)
4 steps · 2 possible outcomes
What it asks for →3 permits
United Kingdom
Checklist
Skilled Worker visa
GBP 41,700 a year (2026 figure)
What it asks for →Checklist
Global Talent visa
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Checklist
High Potential Individual visa
4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
What it asks for →Why every figure carries a year
Salary floors move, most of them annually and some of them on a date the authority publishes in advance. A threshold quoted without its year and its condition is how someone rules themselves out of a permit they would have qualified for.
Why we never score you
6of these are scored rather than checked against a list. We set out the factors and link the authority’s own calculator. Producing a number here would read as a prediction of a decision we have no authority to predict.
Both halves, not one
Which of these applies to you?
Which permits are open to you depends on where you qualified, and whether you also need a recognition decision depends on your profession. The planner answers both.