Skilled vs low-skilled work visas in Europe: software engineer or restaurant worker?
Verified 2026-10-04 · Routes for citizens of India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia
Europe wants software engineers, nurses and electricians — and a visa for them is usually straightforward. Europe also needs restaurant, farm and warehouse workers, but it almost never issues visas to non-EU citizens for those jobs. This guide shows the difference country by country, so nobody pays an agent for a route that does not exist.
At a glance
- Skilled workers (degree or recognised qualification, job offer at the required salary) have clear routes everywhere except Liechtenstein and Switzerland, where quotas make it hard. See the Blue Card thresholds.
- Low-skilled workers: 9 countries offer seasonal permits only (typically 6–9 months a year), 11 have employer-driven or quota-limited permits that depend on a local employer, and 9 are effectively closed.
- Germany has no general low-skilled visa for these five nationalities. The realistic doors are recognised qualifications — care, trades, IT — often via the Skilled Immigration Act.
- Never pay an agent upfront for a "guaranteed" restaurant or warehouse job. A legal work visa always starts with a signed contract from a registered employer; you do not buy it.
Last verified 2026-10-04. Research method: official-source collection for all 29 Schengen countries, then an independent cross-check with Perplexity. Where the two disagreed we used the official source; anything we could not confirm is labelled. See our editorial standards.
| Country | Skilled route (e.g. software engineer) | Low-skilled route (restaurant, farm, warehouse, care) |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇹 Austria | EU Blue Card — €55,678 (incl. 13th/14th salary) Red-White-Red Card - Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations — >=55 of 90 points; collective-agreement/customary minimum pay; 64… | Seasonal onlySeasonal quota permits in tourism and agriculture: up to 6 months per permit and 9 in 12. The employer applies, quotas are limited and fill quickly. |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | EU Blue Card (combined permit) — Brussels €56,976 · Flanders €63,586 · Wallonia €68,815 Single Permit - highly qualified worker — Flanders EUR 48,912; Brussels EUR 3,703.44/month; Wallonia EUR 53,220… | Seasonal onlyEU seasonal-worker permit (up to about 150 days) in agriculture and horticulture, plus single permits for shortage jobs. Dutch or French usually needed. |
| 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | EU Blue Card — ≈ €24,600 (estimate) (not confirmed) Single permit (work and residence) + type D visa — At least national minimum wage (EUR 620.20/month 2026) proof of… | Employer-drivenSingle permit and seasonal permit exist, but wages are the lowest in the EU (minimum €620.20/month gross) and the employer must prove no local candidate. |
| 🇭🇷 Croatia | EU Blue Card — ≈ €36,288 Stay and work permit (single permit) — No salary minimum beyond the contract; labour market test unless the… | Employer-drivenNo annual quota for seasonal or shortage jobs (tourism, construction), but permits are tied to one employer and Croatian helps a lot. |
| 🇨🇿 Czechia | EU Blue Card — CZK 885,876 (≈ €36,200) Employee Card — No skill/salary threshold beyond minimum wage (CZK 22,400/month… | Employer-drivenEmployee Card is legally open to any qualification; the real bottleneck is getting a consular appointment and an employer with a registered vacancy. |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | Pay Limit Scheme — DKK 552,000/year (2026), at least 30 h/week; counts pension and… Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme — DKK 446,000/year (2026); job must be posted on Jobnet and EURES for… | Effectively closedNo general low-skilled or seasonal work permit for non-EU citizens found; only the Positive List for shortage trades. |
| 🇪🇪 Estonia | EU Blue Card — €37,656 (€3,138/month) Temporary residence permit for employment (skilled worker) — at least average gross monthly wage: EUR 2,092/month (about EUR… | Effectively closedThe legal salary floor (about the national average gross wage, €2,092/month) is far above typical restaurant or farm pay, so low-skilled work is effectively closed. |
| 🇫🇮 Finland | Specialist residence permit — Gross salary >= EUR 3,937/month (2026); degree or documented… EU Blue Card — €47,244 (€3,937/month) | Seasonal onlySeasonal permits of 3–9 months exist; year-round work needs a direct offer and most service jobs require Finnish or Swedish. |
| 🇫🇷 France | Passeport Talent - Carte bleue europeenne — EUR 59,373 gross/year; contract >= 6 months Passeport Talent - salarie qualifie — EUR 39,582 gross/year; Master-equivalent diploma; contract > 3 months | Seasonal onlySeasonal-worker permit (up to 6 months in 12) for agriculture, tourism and hospitality; the employer must start the file and prove no local candidate. |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | EU Blue Card — €50,700 Skilled worker with professional experience (Sec. 19c(2)… — EUR 45,630/yr or collective-agreement-bound employer (EUR 55,770 if… | Effectively closedNo general low-skilled visa for nationals of India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka or Indonesia. The Western Balkans rule and seasonal schemes cover other countries. Recognised-qualification routes (care, trades, IT) are the realistic doors. |
| 🇬🇷 Greece | EU Blue Card / E.1 highly qualified employee (Law 5038/2023… — €31,918.83 (2024 figure) (not confirmed) E.4 salaried employment by employer invitation ('metaklisi') — At least the unskilled-worker minimum wage (EUR 920/month gross from… | Seasonal onlySeasonal permits (up to 6–9 months) and quota-limited employer invitations; recruitment runs mostly through bilateral agreements (e.g. Albania). |
| 🇭🇺 Hungary | EU Blue Card — HUF 12,012,576 (≈ €32,500) Residence permit for employment (single permit) — No published salary threshold; labour-market test applies | Effectively closedSince January 2025, and especially June 2026, effectively closed to new low-skilled workers from India, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Indonesia; only a few nationalities (including Filipinos) remain eligible. |
| 🇮🇸 Iceland | Work permit for expert knowledge — No published minimum salary; terms similar to other experts in the… Work permit due to shortage of employees — No salary minimum stated; employer must advertise (>=3 weeks via… | Effectively closedAlmost closed: jobs are first filled from the EEA/EFTA labour market; work permits for shortage jobs are rare. |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | EU Blue Card (Carta blu UE) — ≈ €36,279 Highly-qualified worker permit (Art. 27 TUI, outside quota) — no figure found on loaded pages | Quota-limitedYearly Decreto Flussi quotas (164,850 entries for 2026) for seasonal and some non-seasonal work; employer-led applications on fixed 'click days'. |
| 🇱🇻 Latvia | EU Blue Card — €32,676 (€2,723/month) Temporary residence permit for employment (employer sponsored) — at least EUR 1,815/month (national average gross 2025) or sector… | Employer-drivenPossible with a local employer who registers the vacancy and pays at least about €1,515–1,815 gross a month — well above the minimum wage. |
| 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | Short-stay permit L (employment) / residence permit B for… — no salary threshold; locally customary wage required (Art. 15)… Cross-border commuter permit (Grenzgaenger) — none; domestic-priority and wage conditions apply | No routeNo route: permits go only to managers, specialists and qualified staff. |
| 🇱🇹 Lithuania | EU Blue Card — ≈ €38,000 (estimate) (not confirmed) Temporary residence permit for work (highly qualified, MIGRIS) — 1.5 x / 1.2 x average wage exempts from the annual quota; lower-paid… | Quota-limitedEmployer-led and quota-limited seasonal and general permits; exact quotas and salary floors could not be confirmed from official pages. |
| 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | EU Blue Card — €65,652 Salaried worker residence permit (ADEM labour-market test) — no fixed threshold found; vacancy declared to ADEM, 3-week wait | Effectively closedNo seasonal or low-skill scheme; the employer must prove no registered candidate exists and French, German or Luxembourgish is needed. |
| 🇲🇹 Malta | EU Blue Card (SL 217.27) — ≈ €38,600 Key Employee Initiative (KEI) - fast-track Single Permit — EUR 45,000 gross/year (CSB Group/Mondaq, secondary); degree not… | Employer-drivenSingle Permit through an employment licence. English is co-official and wages are low; year-round low-skilled jobs are tightly controlled. |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | Highly Skilled Migrant (kennismigrant) — EUR 5,942/month gross age 30+; EUR 4,357 under 30; EUR 3,122 reduced… EU Blue Card — €71,304 (€5,942/month) | Seasonal onlySeasonal farm work (up to 24 weeks) via a labour-market test; restaurants, warehouses and care have no dedicated low-skill route. |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | Residence permit for skilled workers (faglaerte) — NOK 545,400/year (bachelor-level) / NOK 624,700 (master-level) where… | Seasonal onlySeasonal permits under quotas with a labour-market test; no route to settle long-term in unskilled hospitality or warehouse jobs. |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | EU Blue Card (temporary residence permit for highly qualified… — PLN 160,264.08 (≈ €36,600) Temporary residence and work permit (single permit) — At least the statutory minimum wage (PLN 4,806/month in 2026) and not… | Employer-drivenWork permit type A with an employer. The simplified declaration route covers only neighbouring countries, not India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka or Indonesia. |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | EU Blue Card (Cartao Azul UE) — Not published (not confirmed) Highly-qualified subordinate activity residence visa — 1.5x annual gross salary or three times IAS (1.2x certain sectors)… | Seasonal onlySeasonal-work visas (up to 9 months in 12) for agriculture, hospitality and food processing; an employer contract comes first. |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | EU Blue Card — ≈ RON 110,000–117,000 (≈ €21,000–22,000) (not confirmed) D/AM1 long-stay employment visa (highly skilled and special… — Not found | Quota-limitedA real option for care, hospitality, construction and logistics: 2026 quota of 90,000 under the new D/AM visas, but the system was rebuilt in April–August 2026. |
| 🇸🇰 Slovakia | EU Blue Card — ≈ €23,300 (estimate) (not confirmed) Single permit - temporary residence for employment — Labour Office confirmation that the vacancy can be filled (or consent… | Employer-drivenLegally possible with a Slovak employer who has run the vacancy test; no self-sponsored low-skilled visa. |
| 🇸🇮 Slovenia | EU Blue Card (single permit for highly qualified employment) — ≈ €30,432 Single residence and work permit with ESS consent (standard… — no fixed threshold found; employment-law pay applies; qualification… | Employer-drivenEmployer-driven single permit for shortage occupations plus a seasonal agricultural quota; pay is near the minimum wage. |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | EU Blue Card (Tarjeta azul-UE) — €39,269.92 Highly-qualified professional permit, Law 14/2013 (Large… — no threshold on the EU portal page | Seasonal onlySeasonal authorisation (up to 9 months a year) and collective hiring at origin under yearly forecasts; always employer-driven. |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | Work permit for employees (national, highly qualified/other) — Gross salary >= 90% of Statistics Sweden median = SEK 34,470/month… EU Blue Card — SEK 643,500 (≈ €57,000) | Effectively closedA June 2026 reform raised the general salary floor to SEK 34,470/month, above typical cleaning, kitchen or warehouse pay; only a 9-month seasonal permit remains. |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | L or B permit for qualified third-country workers… — No fixed salary threshold; pay customary for region and sector… | No routeNo route: third-country nationals are admitted only as managers, specialists or other qualified workers. |
How to tell a real offer from a scam
- The employer should be a registered company you can verify in the national business register.
- The authority — not the agent — issues the permit. Check the application on the official immigration site.
- You should never pay for the job itself. Visa and translation fees are paid to the authority or an accredited provider with a receipt.
- Salary and hours in the contract must meet the legal minimum — see the minimum-wage data on each country page.
Realistic next steps
- Skilled applicants: check the Blue Card or national threshold, then use the take-home calculator to compare real pay.
- Without a degree: look for countries with shortage-occupation lists and recognised vocational qualifications (care, construction, hospitality management).
- If your goal is simply to work in hospitality or farming, study the seasonal schemes — they are legal, time-limited and employer-sponsored.
We give you the map. The official authority gives you the decision. Immigration and tax rules change, and your own situation (nationality, qualifications, family, employer) can change the outcome. Always confirm with the official source linked on this page before you apply or sign a contract.