For employers · IND & Permits

IND salary thresholds 2026: what employers need to know

The IND updated the minimum salary requirements for highly skilled migrants. Here is what changed, who is affected, and how to stay compliant from day one.

By Lavesh Lakhina·Managing Director, HumanR·12 May 2026·4 min read
A rising chart of coin stacks year by year towards 2026, symbolising the annually indexed IND salary thresholds.

Every January, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) indexes the minimum salaries for the highly skilled migrant scheme. The 2026 figures are now in force, and if you employ or plan to employ a kennismigrant, they are not optional reading. Miss a threshold and the permit is not granted; let an existing salary slip below one and a sponsor falls out of compliance.

The 2026 figures. Gross per month, excluding the 8% holiday allowance: €5,942 for employees aged 30 and over, €4,357 for employees under 30, and €3,122 for recent graduates hiring through the zoekjaar route, available up to three years after graduation. Because the figures exclude holiday allowance, the true annual salary is higher than a quick multiplication suggests.

Who is affected. Everyone filing a new application in 2026, obviously. Less obviously: every existing permit holder. Recognised sponsors must review running salaries against the new thresholds each January, and the age boundary matters too. An employee hired under the under-30 rate who turns 30 does not suddenly need the higher norm, but new applications and certain changes do trigger a fresh test. The rules reward whoever is paying attention in January.

These are floors, indexed each year. The permit is simply not granted below them, and staying above them is a living obligation, not a one-time check.

Staying compliant. Salary changes must be reported, contract amendments filed, and the January review actually carried out by someone whose job it is. When HumanR is the formal employer, that monitoring is ours: we track every employee against the current norms and act before a problem exists. The full threshold explanation, including what the norms mean in practice, lives on our IND permits page, and the numbers in this article are maintained there year round.

Check a specific hire

Run age and salary through the eligibility checker for an instant read against the 2026 norms, or see the full employer cost including premiums.

Open the eligibility checker

Thresholds change every year. The discipline of meeting them should not.

HumanR is an Amsterdam based Employer of Record, payroll and highly skilled migrant specialist with 19 years of experience helping startups, scaleups and international businesses hire non-EU talent compliantly into the Netherlands. Recognised IND sponsor. SNA certified (NEN 4400).