As with every year, January brings a wave of changes impacting newcomers in Germany. Here are the most important ones.
- Minimum income for blue card applications: raised to 41 041,80€/year for shortage occupations & 45 300€ for everbody else (source)
- Public insurance threshold: The compulsory insurance limit in statutory health insurance is raised 69,300€ per year. (source)
- Minijob salary: raised to 538€ (source)
- Minimum hourly salary: raised to 12,41€ (source)
- Cannabis will probaby legalized in Germany in the summer. Buying weed in Berlin is about to get much easier and safer.
- German dual citizenship: German resident of 5 years will be able to apply for a German passport and keep their other one. (source)
- ALG2/Hartz 4/Bürgergeld: allowance benefits raised to 563€/month. (source)
- Parental leave: an extra 10 days leave is granted to fathers after the birth of a child. (source)
- Tax thresholds and child exemption: raised to 11 604€ & 6 612€ respectively. (source)
Each of those changes have been updated in the guides on settle-in-berlin.com. Let me know if I have missed anything.
Happy new year!
Bastien
Photo by Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash