A Degree Buys Any Qualified Job, and the Blue Card Is Priced Off the Pension Ceiling
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Uruguay on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
98 exceptions recorded across 37 countries · none match Uruguay to Germany · Residency through work
Germany's skilled-worker route is written in one sentence: a skilled worker with academic training is issued a residence permit for the exercise of any qualified employment. No labour market test appears in it and no named employer. The Blue Card sits beside it with a price: a salary of at least 50 per cent of the annual contribution assessment ceiling in the general pension insurance, or 45.3 per cent for an occupation in one of the listed shortage groups and for someone who finished a degree within the previous three years. Settlement follows after three years of such a permit, 36 months of pension contributions, sufficient German and a job the permit allows.
At a glance
- Skilled worker with a degree
- A permit for any qualified employment
Section 18b, which is one sentence long.
- Blue Card salary
- At least 50% of the annual pension contribution ceiling
Section 18g(1) writes it as "mindestens 50 Prozent der jährlichen Beitragsbemessungsgrenze", quoted below.
- Shortage occupations and recent graduates
- 45.3% instead
Section 18g(1), for the ISCO groups it lists and for a degree obtained within the previous three years.
- Labour agency approval
- Not needed for the Blue Card at the higher salary
Section 18g(1); the lower threshold needs the agency's approval.
- Settlement permit
- After three years, with 36 months of pension contributions
Section 18c(1) writes the three years and the thirty-six months separately, both in the quotation below.
Requirements
- A recognised academic qualification, for the skilled worker permit
- For the Blue Card: a salary of at least 50 per cent of the pension insurance contribution ceiling, or 45.3 per cent in a listed occupation or within three years of graduating
- For settlement: three years on such a permit, 36 months of pension contributions, sufficient German, and a job the permit allows
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Uruguay
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Einer Fachkraft mit akademischer Ausbildung wird eine Aufenthaltserlaubnis zur Ausübung jeder qualifizierten Beschäftigung erteilt.»The whole section. It grants a permit for any qualified employment rather than for a job.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Germany's consolidated federal statute book, served as plain HTML with the whole Act on one page at a stable address built from its Bundesgesetzblatt number. Each Act carries a footer stating the amendment it is current to.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The portal states that the texts are not official and that the Bundesgesetzblatt governs. It is served as ISO-8859-1 with the charset in a meta tag, so a fetch assuming UTF-8 destroys every umlaut. The English translations published alongside are explicitly non-binding and are never quoted here.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Einer Fachkraft mit akademischer Ausbildung wird ohne Zustimmung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit eine Blaue Karte EU zum Zweck einer ihrer Qualifikation angemessenen inländischen Beschäftigung erteilt, wenn sie ein Gehalt in Höhe von mindestens 50 Prozent der jährlichen Beitragsbemessungsgrenze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung erhält und keiner der in § 19f Absatz 1 und 2 geregelten Ablehnungsgründe vorliegt. Fachkräften mit akademischer Ausbildung, die 1. einen Beruf ausüben, der zu den Gruppen 132, 133, 134, 21, 221, 222, 225, 226, 23 oder 25 nach der Empfehlung der Kommission vom 29. Oktober 2009 über die Verwendung der Internationalen Standardklassifikation der Berufe (ISCO-08) (ABl. L 292 vom 10.11.2009, S. 31) gehört, oder 2. einen Hochschulabschluss nicht mehr als drei Jahre vor der Beantragung der Blauen Karte EU erworben haben, wird die Blaue Karte EU abweichend von Satz 1 mit Zustimmung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit erteilt, wenn die Höhe des Gehalts mindestens 45,3 Prozent der jährlichen Beitragsbemessungsgrenze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicheru»The Blue Card and its two thresholds. They are percentages of a figure that moves every year, so the statute never has to be amended to track wages.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Germany's consolidated federal statute book, served as plain HTML with the whole Act on one page at a stable address built from its Bundesgesetzblatt number. Each Act carries a footer stating the amendment it is current to.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The portal states that the texts are not official and that the Bundesgesetzblatt governs. It is served as ISO-8859-1 with the charset in a meta tag, so a fetch assuming UTF-8 destroys every umlaut. The English translations published alongside are explicitly non-binding and are never quoted here.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Einer Fachkraft ist ohne Zustimmung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit eine Niederlassungserlaubnis zu erteilen, wenn 1. sie seit drei Jahren im Besitz eines Aufenthaltstitels nach den §§ 18a, 18b, 18d oder § 18g ist, 2. sie einen Arbeitsplatz innehat, der nach den Voraussetzungen der §§ 18a, 18b, 18d oder § 18g von ihr besetzt werden darf, 3. sie mindestens 36 Monate Pflichtbeiträge oder freiwillige Beiträge zur gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung geleistet hat oder Aufwendungen für einen Anspruch auf vergleichbare Leistungen einer Versicherungs- oder Versorgungseinrichtung oder eines Versicherungsunternehmens nachweist, 4. sie über ausreichende Kenntnisse der deutschen Sprache verfügt»Settlement for a skilled worker: three years and thirty-six months of contributions, which are not the same period and can diverge.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Germany's consolidated federal statute book, served as plain HTML with the whole Act on one page at a stable address built from its Bundesgesetzblatt number. Each Act carries a footer stating the amendment it is current to.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The portal states that the texts are not official and that the Bundesgesetzblatt governs. It is served as ISO-8859-1 with the charset in a meta tag, so a fetch assuming UTF-8 destroys every umlaut. The English translations published alongside are explicitly non-binding and are never quoted here.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The contribution assessment ceiling is set annually by regulation and is not in this Act, so the euro figure behind both percentages is not stated here.
Recognition of a foreign qualification is the step before all of this and is governed by separate law.
- consolidatesAufenthaltsgesetz, §§ 18b, 18c und 18g
Gesetze im Internet, Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
About this source
Germany's consolidated federal statute book, served as plain HTML with the whole Act on one page at a stable address built from its Bundesgesetzblatt number. Each Act carries a footer stating the amendment it is current to.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The portal states that the texts are not official and that the Bundesgesetzblatt governs. It is served as ISO-8859-1 with the charset in a meta tag, so a fetch assuming UTF-8 destroys every umlaut. The English translations published alongside are explicitly non-binding and are never quoted here.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source