Nine out of ten German feasibility checks for Filipino tradespeople come down to one line: can the role be paid at €45,630, or is the company bound by a collective agreement? This page sets out the 2026 figures, how they are calculated, what counts as salary and the difference between being tariff-bound and paying 'like tariff'.
Two ways to pass the salary test of the experience route in 2026: a gross annual salary of at least €45,630 (45 % of the pension contribution ceiling of €101,400 — €43,470 in 2025), or, for an employer bound by a collective agreement, employment at the collective-agreement conditions for the role with no minimum figure at all. Applying a tariff 'by orientation' without being bound by it does not count; the threshold then applies. Applicants aged 45 and over need €55,770 (55 %) or proof of adequate pension provision.
The figure is recalculated every January with the pension contribution ceiling, so an offer drafted in December against €45,630 may need adjusting for a visa issued in the new year. The Federal Employment Agency's approval additionally checks that pay and working conditions are not worse than those of comparable German workers — a role paid exactly at the threshold but below the going rate in the region can still be refused.
A company is tariff-bound when it is a member of an employers' association that has concluded a collective agreement (without opting out of the tariff), or when it has concluded a company-level agreement with a union; the role must then be employed at those tariff conditions. A company that is not bound but pays 'in orientation at' the M+E tariff is, for § 6 BeschV, not tariff-bound: the €45,630 threshold applies in full. The practical consequence: for a tariff-bound metal company an experienced Filipino fabricator in a mid wage group qualifies at the tariff rate even where that is below €45,630; for a non-tariff-bound competitor the same candidate needs the full figure.
We ask for the tariff status in the first conversation and build the offer around it; in a non-tariff-bound company the question becomes which roles can be paid at €45,630 — typically experienced welders, machinists and fitters, less often operators.
The gross annual salary the employment contract guarantees: base pay and fixed, contractually assured components such as a guaranteed 13th month. Variable or discretionary elements — overtime, performance bonuses, shift supplements that depend on the roster — are not relied on. Benefits in kind such as housing are not part of the figure. Where an offer reaches the threshold only with overtime, we restructure it or the route is not available.
No recognition procedure and no statutory German; the qualification is confirmed as state-recognised in the Philippines and of at least two years' training, and the two years' experience are documented. Where a candidate falls short of the salary test, the recognition partnership (§ 16d, A2 German) and, for younger candidates, the vocational-training visa (§ 16a, B1) remain; the fast-track procedure (§ 81a) can be combined with any of them.
Four German routes matter for Filipino candidates. The experience route (§ 6 BeschV) for workers with a state-recognised qualification of at least two years' training plus two years' experience, at a salary of at least €45,630 a year in 2026 — or at tariff pay in a tariff-bound company, where the threshold does not apply. The recognition partnership (§ 16d AufenthG) for the same profiles with German A2, with recognition completed after arrival. The vocational-training visa (§ 16a) for younger candidates with German B1 who start a German Ausbildung. And the skilled-worker visa (§ 18a/18b) once a qualification has been recognised as equivalent.
Recruitment in the Philippines runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024). Your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Berlin — recruitment agreement, job order, master employment contract, commercial-register extract — and the verified file is registered with the Department of Migrant Workers. Every selected worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate.
Everything here is subject to applicable German recognition, immigration, licensing and labour-law requirements.
The statutory rule is 45 % of the annual pension contribution ceiling (§ 6 BeschV), which for 2026 is €101,400 × 45 % = €45,630 — the figure on the Federal Government's dedicated page for the visa for professionally experienced workers. One overview page on the same portal shows €45,934.20 for 2026; the two are inconsistent, and the dedicated route page and the ordinance govern. We draft offers against the ceiling in force at visa issue and cite the route page, not the overview.
Gross, per year: €3,802.50 a month over twelve payments, or a lower monthly figure with a guaranteed 13th month that brings the annual total to €45,630.
No. Applying a tariff by orientation is not being bound by it; the threshold applies. Membership without opt-out, or a company agreement with the union, is what counts.
Every January, with the pension contribution ceiling: €43,470 in 2025, €45,630 in 2026. Offers are drafted against the figure expected to apply at visa issue.
€55,770 a year in 2026, or proof of adequate pension provision — in practice the salary line is the workable answer.
No. Only the guaranteed gross cash salary counts; housing, meals and travel are benefits outside the test.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.